The Angels infield depth has taken a bit of a hit in recent days, as Sam Blum of The Athletic noted that second baseman Luis Rengifo is dealing with a hamstring issue and pulled himself from yesterday’s team workouts. While Blum notes that Rengifo won’t be participating in baseball activities for the next few days, manager Ron Washington remained “adamant” that Rengifo would be ready for Opening Day. That same certainty doesn’t appear to be present regarding infielder Michael Stefanic, who (as noted by Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) exited today’s game with a left quad strain and will be re-evaluated tomorrow.
That Rengifo’s hamstring issue doesn’t appear to be serious is surely a relief for Halos fans, as Rengifo is looking to build on last year’s career season in 2024. While shuffling between shortstop, second base, third base, and all three outfield spots last year, the switch hitter managed to hit .264/.339/.444 in 445 trips to the plate. Solid as that production was, Rengifo’s second half last year was even more impressive as he slashed a whopping .318/.374/.587 after the All Star break before his season came to an end in early September due to a biceps issue that ultimately required surgery. That strong second half leaves Rengifo likely to earn the lion’s share of playing time at second base with the Angels this season, so long as he can stay healthy.
As for Stefanic, the 28-year-old has just 50 games of big league experience under his belt across the 2022 and ’23 seasons, though last year he managed to hit a respectable .290/.380/.355 in 71 trips to the plate while splitting time between second and third base. Stefanic entered the spring likely competing with the likes of Kyren Paris and Livan Soto for a spot on the Angels’ bench to open the year alongside the likes of Aaron Hicks, Matt Thaiss, and Jo Adell. With that being said, the club has been frequently connected to utility man Enrique Hernandez and earlier today was reported as one of four finalists for the 32-year-old’s services. Should the Angels succeed in landing Hernandez, that could crowd the club’s bench mix significantly and potential push Stefanic into a depth role at Triple-A to open the season.
More from around the American League…
- Orioles fans received an encouraging update from GM Mike Elias today regarding right-hander Kyle Bradish, who is rehabbing from a UCL sprain. As noted by Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun, Elias said that while Bradish’s recovery process is “going to take some time,” the club feels that the right-hander’s recovery is “moving in a really positive direction” following the platelet-rich plasma injection he received earlier this month and him resuming his throwing program. Bradish was the club’s ace during his sophomore season in the majors last year, pitching to a sterling 2.83 ERA with a 3.27 FIP across 30 starts. With the righty expected to open the season on the injured list, any time missed by the right-hander is sure to be a blow to the Orioles, though the club’s recent addition of Corbin Burnes should help to mitigate the loss of Bradish.
- Veteran right-hander Carlos Carrasco made his spring debut for the Guardians today, suiting up for the organization for the first time since he was traded to the Mets alongside Francisco Lindor prior to the 2021 season. Carrasco, who turns 37 next month, struggled to a 6.80 ERA in 20 starts with the Mets last year but told Zack Meisel of The Athletic recently that he hopes to continue pitching through his 40th birthday, following in the footsteps of his former Mets teammates Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. While it remains to be seen if Carrasco will be able to recapture the form that allowed him to post a 3.41 ERA and 3.16 FIP in 194 games with Cleveland across his final seven seasons with the club, the Guardians were eager to give him the opportunity to earn a spot with the club this spring; Meisel notes that talks regarding a reunion began back in December, well before the deal was reported near the end of January.
Good luck Cookie!
He’s better than anyone the Twins signed or the Tigers too for that matter, also the White Sox
Bam Slum stirring the pot again.
Chalk- yeah he’s upset because Arte banned him from appearing on AM830
Yeah, Sam banned me from seeing his twitter (x) posts.
Bradish and more for Dylan Bundy. Another genius Angels trade.
What ever happened to him (Bundy). I forgot all about him, but he wasn’t old enough to retire, I didn’t think.
He got whacked for PEDs in the minors I believe
That’s FALSE. Don’t make shtt up just for attention. Research things you don’t now before posting slanderous lies.
He was on the Twins in ‘22, regrettably
After TJ, Bundy dealt with calcification in his shoulder. His velocity never fully returned. He had a few good stretches but never achieved the heights predicted of him.
He was with Mets AAA last year.
As a NYY’s fan I do not want the O’s making any more moves. As a baseball fan, it would be great to see them spend and acquire one more top SP. This is a great year to go all-in on an expensive contract, and it would still keep them more than $100MM below any CBT penalty.
Irwins increase velocity is encouraging. I’m thinking Lorenzen would be a great fit. If Bradish or Means have a setback. A 3 year deal with opt outs should be the winning ticket. Probably wants 6 years 150M though.
Spelled “Irvin,” btw
Lorenzen might be a step backwards.
“…is surely a relief for Halos fans” regarding Rengifos injury is a huge assumption that we want him out there in the first place.
Lol!
Well he’s good so why would you not want him out there….?
He batted ahead of that O guy all season padding his stats. He is a terrible defender anywhere but DH. No. He hasn’t played at CF, 1B or catcher but we can assume he won’t be any better.
fwiw, Rengifo batted 4th thru 9th in 93 of his 126 games while Ohtani only batted 1st, 2nd or 3rd.
@Aragon Washington is going to address Rengifo’s defense. He’s the master at fixing those problems
Wash could help but it’s ultimately how much the player can learn and how much potential they have. I’m sure he helped Grissom, for instance, but not enough to cut it at short. Yet he made a world of difference for Riley. So much comes down to paying attention moment to moment, staying relaxed, and also just being aware of the situation/anticipating. Some pitchers have nothing holding them back, for instance, except concentration.
He helped Eric Chavez . He won 3 GG’s afterwards and gave 1 to Washington.
I will admit I’m intrigued to see what Wash can do with him, but if you’re going to run young Neto at SS, very young Schanuel at 1B, and who knows what you’ll get out if Rendon at 3B, you’re going to need a solid anchor (proven) at 2B. Rengifo is not that guy.
Look at that roster – does it really matter? Ohtani left and they did nothing to replace his offense. If they want the kids to get a look then trade veterans and retool in what will be a tough year anyway.
O’s still need Montgomery.
No they don’t
With Bradish’s uncertainty and not knowing what you’re going to get from Means seeing how he’s pretty far behind (and had trouble after his return last season), yes they do.
Montgomery would be great, but for how many years and what $ amount? Thats probably the dilemma most teams find themselves in. He and Snell are most likely asking for ace money, when they only had ace-type years last year…and in Snell’s case, back in I believe 2018 as well.
Montgomery wouldn’t get the 7 years Snell is looking for. Baltimore is in the position to get an arm. One, it avoids giving up pieces for arms. Two, they have have the budget as long as they don’t go crazy. Three, the SP depth coming up is the one area of concern within the organization. Either now or next year they will need to get a SP. Get it done now.
Doesn’t make Montgomery the answer. Elias is probably not interested in committing the rumored six or seven years at $30+MM per year. Can’t say I blame him.
Montgomery is not commanding $30-mil per season or 7 years. That is absurd.
MLBTR predicted a Jordan Montgomery contract of “Six years, $150MM.” You will see I included 6 years and did not limit the projection to 7 years, like you suggested I had.
I believe it was The Athletic that was predicting a more lucrative contract. Trying to find that.
I think the Orioles signing Montgomery to MLBTR’s and The Athletic’s speculation would be a terrible idea, unless he’s going to sign a contract with team opt-outs.
If he wants to sign with Baltimore for 3/$70MM, then it would be a good gamble. Is that what you thin he will settle for?
As a slightly biased O’s fan, you never want to see injuries impact an individual in any profession. Any injury to a forearm or elbow or shoulder can be the death knell for any athlete’s career even more so for a pitcher in baseball. You really just hope that they can come back from it whether you’re a fan of the team or otherwise.
The switch hitting Rengifo played six positions (2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF and RF), posted an OPS+ of 111 on the season and slashed a whopping .318/.374/.587 after the All Star break? Thats a respectable combination of versatility and performance.
Who hit behind him all season?
Well, it wasn’t Ohtani. Rengifo batted 4th thru 9th in 93 of his 126 games while Ohtani only batted 1st, 2nd or 3rd the entire season.
We will see how he hits without a MVP backing him up. His defense don’t go away.
As noted above, and for the third time, Ohtani was not hitting behind Rengifo for the overwhelming majority of Rengifo’s ABs. Rengifo batted 4th thru 9th in 93 of his 126 games while Ohtani only batted 1st, 2nd or 3rd the entire season.
He batted well batting 1st. He also batted well batting 2nd, 3rd or 4th. But he batted combined 22 games in those order. Insignificant
number.
It’s not who hits behind you that matters, but before.
Both are important
He’s definitely indispensable. Hopefully he won’t follow Juan Gonzalez’ trajectory due to muscularity related injuries. I was at the game when he ruptured a bicep in the on deck circle.
He can be useful as an infield utility but he starts in a few positions. He is a terrible defender at any positions.
breaking NL notes as of 5:00 AM EST Sunday 25 Feb – Cody Bellinger resigns with Cubs for $80 million over 3 years with 2 opt-outs.
Always in Cookie’s corner. A+ human being. Glad he’s back with Cleveland! I hope he has a great season!
Has that platelet injection ever worked on anybody long term? It might help in the short run but somewhere you would have to think reality sets in and they fix it. He’s too good to mess around with and they could actually make it a lot worse. Just my opinion of course.
Good question.
LOL that Blum is back for another season.