Angels' Luis Rengifo: Team concerned about WBC time
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Angels manager Phil Nevin expressed concern about Rengifo's lack of playing time with Venezuela during the World Baseball Classic, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.
Nevin's comments came before Venezuela was ousted from the tournament by Team USA on Saturday, but it remains to be seen if Rengifo's minimal playing time will have any impact on his readiness for the regular season. The infielder got just six at-bats during the tournament, collecting one hit (a single) and scoring two runs. Rengifo will presumably return to the Angels in short order and should have more opportunities to play as the team wraps up its Cactus League schedule.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Could get work in RF
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Angels manager Phil Nevin indicated that Rengifo could play right field occasionally this season as well as during his time with Team Venezuela during the World Baseball Classic, Doug Padilla of The Orange County Register reports.
Rengifo started in right field in Thursday's Cactus League contest against Kansas City and was charged with a throwing error in the fourth inning. He's not a complete stranger to the position -- he logged 103 innings there between 2021 and 2022 -- but hasn't shown great acumen for the outfield thus far. The Angels' infield is much more crowded this year with the additions of Brandon Drury and Gio Urshela as well as the return to health of both Anthony Rendon and David Fletcher, so Rengifo could help himself see more at-bats if he's able to gain the team's confidence as a capable outfielder.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Wins arb case against Halos
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Rengifo won his arbitration case against the Angels on Thursday and will earn $2.3 million this season, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.
The club filed at $2 million when arbitration figures were exchanged over the winter. Rengifo gets a nice raise from his $730,000 salary in 2022 as he prepares to serve as the Angels' primary shortstop in 2023. He's coming off a .724 OPS with 17 home runs and six stolen bases in 127 games.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: On bench Monday
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Rengifo isn't starting Monday against Oakland, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.
Rengifo is getting a rare day off after he went 0-for-8 with a walk and two strikeouts over the last two games. David Fletcher will take over at the keystone and bat ninth Monday.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Socks 17th homer
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Rengifo went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in a 4-1 victory versus the Rangers on Friday.
Rengifo's 395-foot shot in the third inning gave Los Angeles a 2-0 lead and extended his modest hitting streak to six games. He's gone deep in each of his past two contests and finished September with six long balls along with 13 RBI, 13 runs, a stolen base and a .286/.304/.491 slash line. Of Rengifo's 17 homers this season, 12 have come since the All-Star break.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Crushes 16th home run
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Rengifo went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Thursday's win over the Athletics.
Rengifo led off the game with a bang, crushing a 1-0 fastball 418 feet to left field against Cole Irvin to put the Angels on the board. Rengifo also reached on an infield single in the second inning, giving him his seventh multi-hit game of September. In 107 at-bats this month, the 25-year-old is batting .290 (31-for-107) with five home runs.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Possible waiver wire pickups
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The underlying data doesn't really back up Rengifo's performance this season, but there's no denying he's hot right now, batting .306 (15 for 49) with four homers over his past 11 games. It's good timing, too, with the Angels looking at six games against Athletics pitchers and three against Rangers pitchers the rest of the way. Better yet, four of the opposing pitchers throw left-handed, and Rengifo is batting .331 (49 for 148) with a .948 OPS against lefties this year. Between those splits and his quadruple eligibility in CBS Sports leagues (second base, third base, shortstop and outfield), Rengifo is primed to do a lot of people a lot of good.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Sleeper hitters for Week 26 (Sept. 26-Oct. 5)
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Rengifo has had a couple of two-homer games recently and is batting .299 for the month of September, so just as a hot-hand play, he's advisable. But the Angels also have the second-best matchups this week, including four vs. left-handers, against whom he's batting .333 with a .954 OPS.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Possible waiver wire pickups
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The most unlikely contributor of the second half keeps making his unlikely contributions. Rengifo had not just one but two two-homer games over the weekend, giving him 15 home runs for the season and a .290 batting average and .825 OPS in the second half. He puts the bat on the ball a fair amount, striking out just 15.7 percent of the time, so I can sort of understand the batting average, but his low quality of contact gives him just a .390 xSLG compared to his actual .455 mark. Still, there's something to be said for simply playing the hot hand this time of year. Rengifo is eligible at four positions, making him a handy player to have around if you're in the sort of league where Gunnar Henderson is already long gone.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Another multi-homer game
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Rengifo went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI in Sunday's 5-1 win over the Mariners.
Rengifo hadn't posted a multi-homer game all year before Friday, and now he's produced two in his last three contests. He's gone 5-for-12 with four long balls and seven RBI in the first three games of this weekend series versus the Mariners, which concludes Monday. For the year, the versatile 25-year-old has racked up 15 homers, 47 RBI, 41 runs scored, six stolen bases and a .275/.307/.455 slash line through 111 contests. With David Fletcher (hand) and Andrew Velazquez (knee) out, Rengifo should have no trouble maintaining an everyday role the rest of the way.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Huge effort in win
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Rengifo went 3-for-5 with two home runs, four RBI and three runs scored in Friday's 8-7 win over the Mariners.
Rengifo set the tone from the leadoff spot Friday, hitting a solo shot in the third inning and a three-run blast that accounted for the margin of victory in the sixth. While he hadn't homered since Aug. 29, he hit .291 in the 14 games in between long balls. The 25-year-old has emerged as a productive and versatile infield option for the Angels this year, slashing .275/.305/.443 with 13 homers, 44 RBI, 39 runs scored and six stolen bases through a career-high 109 games.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Heads to bench Saturday
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Rengifo isn't starting Saturday against the Astros, Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Rengifo has recorded hits in six consecutive games, hitting .385 with a triple, a double, three runs, an RBI and a stolen base over that stretch. He'll take a seat Saturday while Matt Duffy starts at the hot corner and bats fifth.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Extends on-base streak, swipes bag
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Rengifo went 1-for-4 with a stolen base in a loss to the Astros on Friday.
Rengifo notched one of five Angels hits in the contest, collecting a single in the seventh inning and following with a swipe of second base. The hit extended the infielder's on-base streak to 16 games, during which he's slashing .299/.309/.448 with two homers, six RBI and a stolen base. After struggling early in the season, Rengifo has worked his way into fantasy relevance with a .306 batting average, nine homers, 33 RBI and five thefts over 66 contests since June 22.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Late addition to lineup
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Rengifo will start at second base and bat cleanup Tuesday against the Tigers.
The 24-year-old was originally absent from Tuesday's starting nine due to some knee soreness, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com, but the infielder checked out fine and is now in the lineup. Rengifo is 6-for-16 with a triple, a walk, an RBI and three runs through four games in September.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Gets Tuesday off
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Rengifo is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Tigers, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register
Rengifo earned a breather after going 4-for-5 with a triple, one RBI and two runs during Monday's victory. While he sits, Matt Duffy will start at third base and bat fifth in the order.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Racks up four hits
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Rengifo went 4-for-5 with a triple, one RBI and two runs scored in Monday's 10-0 win over the Tigers.
Rengifo delivered an RBI single in the first inning to open the scoring. Over his last 25 games, the infielder has hit .276 (29-for-105) with six home runs, a triple, four doubles, 17 RBI and 12 runs scored. He's cemented himself in the heart of the Angels' order, often hitting fourth behind Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, which typically is a fruitful position. Rengifo is slashing .273/.304/.433 with 11 homers, 40 RBI, 35 runs scored, five stolen bases, four triples and 19 doubles through 100 contests.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Hits another homer
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Rengifo went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a win over the Yankees on Monday.
Rengifo opened the scoring with a solo shot off Frankie Montas in the second inning. The infielder also went deep Sunday, and he's now homered in consecutive contests twice over the past two weeks. Rengifo is slashing .252/.252/.477 with six homers and 17 RBI through 26 games in August.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Reaches double-digit home runs
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Rengifo went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer in Sunday's win over the Blue Jays.
Rengifo took Ross Stripling deep to right with Shohei Ohtani on base in the third inning to put the Angels up 2-0. Los Angeles would not look back as it won the game 8-3. Rengifo has a modest six-game hitting streak and could be a productive middle infield option in deep leagues down the stretch, as he is slashing .268/.300/.427 on the season.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Day off Thursday
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Rengifo will sit Thursday versus the Rays, Erica Weston of Bally Sports West reports.
Rengifo will get a breather after he went 5-for-25 with a double, an RBI and a run scored while starting the last six games. Jose Rojas will take over at the hot corner and bat eighth against Tampa Bay.
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Angels' Luis Rengifo: Starting Friday
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Rengifo (back) is starting Friday against the Tigers, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.
Rengifo exited Wednesday's series finale against the Mariners due to lower-back tightness, but he'll start at the keystone and bat third Friday. The 25-year-old has been productive at the plate recently, hitting .282 with four home runs, three doubles, 10 RBI and six runs over the last nine games.
