TEMPE, Ariz. — Luis Rengifo was having a career year in 2024 before wrist surgery ended his season at just 78 games. Heading into 2025, Rengifo isn’t sure where he will play on the field, but his focus remains on being in the lineup every day.
Rengifo said that his recovery time from the surgery lasted about two and a half months and he was able to begin normal offseason activities in late December. Despite feeling good heading into spring training, the Angels coaching staff doesn’t want Rengifo to overwork himself.
“We just got to make sure that he stays in the process and build and not try to do everything in one day,” manager Ron Washington said. “You got to sort of slow Rengifo down. His motor is on full and we just got to try to get him to understand how to stay in the process and work.”
In those 78 games last season, Rengifo hit .300 with a .763 OPS and 117 wRC+. The batting average and wRC+ are both career bests. Rengifo hasn’t had a strikeout rate above league average since the Covid-shortened 2020 season, but he cut down on it even more in 2024 and struck out just 14.5% of the time.
“He was having a tremendous year,” Washington said. “His defense picked up. He turned up his aggressiveness on the base paths. He was more consistent.”
Despite missing over half of the season, Rengifo had the second most stolen bases on the Angels with 24, his next-highest total is six in 2022 and 2023. The added aggression on the bases led to a career-high in stolen bases, but also more mistakes on the base paths.
“He's one of our base stealers, but we certainly talked to him about making certain that we study base running, not just go out there and run the bases,” Washington said. “We're going to start studying it, making certain that we have an idea of every pitcher that hits that mound, what we should be looking for, how we can take advantage of it, instead of just running.”
The majority of Rengifo’s games last season were at second and third base, with 48 appearances at third and 31 at second. Given that Zach Neto is still rehabbing from shoulder surgery, Anthony Rendon is already done for the year with hip surgery and the second base position is wide open for the taking, Rengifo could be moving around the whole infield.
“We're going to work him at second, at third and once we get his legs under him on the infield, we're going to push him out there and see what he can do in the outfield,” Washington said.
The outfield is a more peculiar spot for Rengifo because he only has 41 appearances in the outfield, with just four of them being in center field. Center field is where the Angels are still figuring out who will play there this season because Mike Trout is now moving to right field and Taylor Ward is staying in left. Rengifo said that he feels good working in the outfield and that when you’re in the lineup every day, you just play wherever.
In terms of what position fits Rengifo best, the answer is likely third base. Last season, there was a slim gap in the statistics between his play at second and his play at third. In Baseball Savant’s Outs Above Average, Rengifo had a -3 OAA a third and a -4 OAA at second.
“He showed that when he has to just react, he's better,” Washington said. “We're certainly not against him being at second base, and he will play some second base. Me speaking as an experienced infield guy, I think his best spot is at third base.”
As much as third base may be the best fit, the Angels brought in Yoán Moncada to play third in Rendon's absence. Moncada is another player who has dealt with injuries in the past, so Rengifo could find himself at third if Moncada gets hurt.
If you ask Rengifo which position he prefers, he will not have an answer for you.
“I don't know,” Rengifo said. “For me, it's more about being in the field every single day and help the team win. That's the decision they're going to make so I'll move forward with that.”