Luis Rengifo

Talk about making the most of one's opportunities! Rengifo went from someone projected to filling a utility role to inheriting a starting position as the Angels roster fell apart and having one of the more surprising seasons for waiver wire fodder. He had 14 homers and 13 steals between Triple-A and the majors in 202, but previous exposure to MLB pitching gave us little reason to believe he would finish the 2022 season with 17 homers while finishing fourth on the club in homers. The impatient hitter looks for fastballs early and often and 10 of his 17 homers came off such pitches last season. He walks almost by accident which limits his on-base opportunites and thus capped his stolen base chances last season. The skills profile needs the volume to produce the results because his ability to avoid strikeouts is his one outstanding offensive skill as nearly everything else grades out below average. The normal worries of a regression in homers do not really apply here as the GB/FB rateand the HR/FB rates in 2022 are mirror images to what he did in 2021 in more limited playing time. A healthy Anthony Rendon (it can happen!) pushes Rengifo back to second base but he retains his dual-eligibility heading into the season with an additional shortstop qualification if your league has a 10-game threshold.

Rengifo was said to be traded to the Dodgers along with Andy Pages in exchange for Joc Pederson, but Angels owner Arte Moreno nixed the deal. That was just the beginning of a tumultuous 2020 for Rengifo. He was placed on the IL in early July for undisclosed reasons and then battled hamstring tightness later in the month, costing him a spot on the Opening Day roster. His season was bookended by more hamstring trouble, and Rengifo also battled a thumb sprain in September. In 106 PA around all the injuries, Rengifo was awful and even demoted at one point due to poor performance. There are some glimmers of light including a 13.4 BB% and three steals on four attempts. Rengifo was also playing in the Dominican Winter League, so he's ostensibly healthy again. Jose Iglesias was brought in this winter to play shortstop, which leaves Rengifo to likely fill a utility role to begin 2021.

Rengifo played most of the season at the big-league level before a hamate injury ended his season. The impressive thing for Rengifo is that he played the season as a 22-year-old, so we can somewhat forgive his below-average production. Throughout the minors, he was a high-contact hitter who was willing to accept his walks and take bases when opportunities presented themselves. Last year, he was still able to get on base at a decent clip even though he struggled to hit for average adjusting to major-league pitching. The switch hitter has the athleticism to play both second and short as he did last year, but only qualifies at his true home (second base) on draft day. We can see Rengifo hitting for a better average in 2020, but the fact he was thrown out stealing in five of his seven attempts last year is going to make it tough to project a spike in steals, and he faces more obstacles to playing time now following a trade to the Dodgers.

Future utility players do not typically climb from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A at 21 while being above league average at every stop. Yet, many evaluators still see Rengifo as a high-end utility player due to his glove fitting best at second base and doubts about his ability to make enough impact offensively to profile there. It would be a mistake to close the book on him being a valuable fantasy asset for several reasons. His 75:75 K:BB in 590 PA suggests he has a high batting average floor and high OBP ceiling. While not a true plus runner, Rengifo's instincts are so good that he was able to swipe 41 bags on 57 attempts. Even if we dial back the attempts, he could steal 20 bases in the majors. If the switch hitter's hit tool turns out to be as good as he showed at High-A and Double-A, he could be a leadoff hitter with sneaky pop. He might already be better than the big-league options at the keystone, so we should see him this summer.