ANAHEIM, Calif. — Sometimes less is more, and for Luis Rengifo, it’s something that has completely turned his season around.
At the beginning of June, Rengifo was still trying to snap out of the slowest start in his career. By June 9, Rengifo was hitting just .206 with a .498 OPS and only one home run.
On June 10, Rengifo picked up a hit in a 1-for-4 effort. Little did he know in the moment, but that would be the starting point to a complete turnaround for him. That 1-for-4 was the start of a span when he collected hits in five of six games, including three multi-hit games.
Since June 10, Rengifo is hitting .297 with a .802 OPS and six home runs.
“It's more like being consistent every single time when I go up there,” Rengifo said. “Learn more about the game and feed that confidence every single time when I play.”
Rengifo attributes his turnaround to the adjustments he’s made working with the Angels coaching staff and his personal hitting coach in Miami, Frank Valdez. It was no mechanical overhaul, but the coaching staff simplified Rengifo’s approach to get more consistent results.
“Before, I wanted to swing so hard every single time,” Rengifo said. “Right now it's more like being patient and knowing what the situation is.”
Per FanGraphs, Rengifo’s swing percentage and in-zone swing percentage have lowered by two percent since June 10. Being more selective at the plate, Rengifo has also doubled his barrel rate from 3.6% to 7.3% and raised his hard hit rate from 31.1% to 39.1%.
The changes have raised his lowly .206 batting average to a respectable .251 and his OPS has jumped 150 points to .648.
“It's kind of his M.O.,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “It's been a little bit of a slower start, maybe earlier in the seasons, coming back off the winters. I wish I knew what that was attributed to. But over the last month, it's been really solid.”
Montgomery has a point. Rengifo does get off to slow starts historically.
His difference in OPS before the All-Star Game versus after in his career is .669 to .760. If you go month-to-month splits for his career, it’s a .637 OPS in March/April, .648 in May, .682 in June, .733 in July, .772 in August and .677 in September/October.
It’s a career-wide trend, but Rengifo might have a reason for it this season. He missed a significant portion of spring training due to a hamstring injury. The lack of consistent at-bats could have put him behind the eight ball to start the season.
“A little bit,” Rengifo said of the impact it had on his slow start. “I didn't have the right rhythm to start the season.”
Another possible factor could be the fact that this is a contract year for Rengifo. He’s set to hit free agency at the conclusion of the season, which can add pressure to succeed.
“I do know guys feel that sometimes,” Montgomery said. “I don't get the impression that (Rengifo) was thinking that or feeling that. I think it's just literally just having the reps.”
According to Rengifo, he hasn’t thought about it much.
“It's a year,” Rengifo said. “For me personally, I want to start hot every single time, but this year I started slow. But, I have to finish so hard, and see what happens.”