Brewers Won't Recognize the Luis Rengifo They See With the Padres

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There will be a handful of hugs and some catching up to do when the Milwaukee Brewers visit Petco Park on Monday to face the San Diego Padres in the opener of a three-game series.

There will also probably be some good-natured ribbing about why Luis Rengifo couldn't do what he is doing with the Padres while a member of the Brewers.

In case you didn't know, Rengifo is now with the Padres. That came as a result of his poor performance with the Brewers, who signed Rengifo to a one-year, $3.5 million contract to play third base this season. But Rengifo never hit his stride and was released following a .205/.280/.254 slash line with no homers, 19 RBIs, and three stolen bases in 57 games for the Brewers, who promoted rookie Cooper Pratt to play shortstop, squeezing Rengifo off the roster. Coincidentally, Rengifo had two of his better games at the plate against the Padres when San Diego visited American Family Field in mid-May.

About a week later at the beginning of July, Rengifo latched on with the Padres on a minor-league contract. Rengifo homered in his first game at Triple-A El Paso and then again two days later after not going deep once for the Brewers. In that first week at El Paso, Rengifo went 8-for-25 with eight RBIs and two steals in six games. His stay in the minors wouldn't last long. Due to an injury to Samad Taylor, a spark plug of a player who took over as the starter in left field in June after coming up from Triple-A, Rengifo wouldn't have a second week in El Paso. He was called up to replace Taylor.

Primarily a second baseman and third baseman, Rengifo spent some time in the outfield while with the Los Angeles Angels. That versatility would serve him well with the Padres, who have started Rengifo 11 times in left field, five times at designated hitter and once at third base.

While a solid defender, Rengifo has made his mark with the Padres on offense. In 21 games entering play Sunday, Rengifo has put together a .314/.415/.429 slash line, homering twice (both in big spots) with eight RBIs and three steals. His two bunt hits are tied for the team lead with Taylor. With the Brewers, he had eight multihit games, while having six in his brief time with the Padres. Rengifo has been with the Padres since they pulled themselves up after hitting their low point of the season and climbed back into postseason contention, just on the outside of the NL wild-card race at the moment.

It is the type of production that the Brewers envisioned when they signed him at the start of spring training to fill the shoes of third baseman Caleb Durbin, who had just been shipped to the Boston Red Sox in a six-player deal. For one reason or another, it never materialized. Some players are fits with some teams, while others aren't. That is always a key ingredient when MLB front offices construct rosters for a season and always something that is the most unpredictable characteristic.

The numbers behind the numbers show that one key to Rengifo's resurgence has to do with how fast the bat gets through the zone. While his average bat speed with the Padres is up from when he was with the Brewers (72.2 mph from 71 mph), his fast swing percentage—a fast swing is defined as one at 75 mph—is markedly up. He was at 16.4% with the Brewers and is at 23.9% with the Padres. Rengifo is also pulling the ball more (46.6-37.6%) and creating more hard contact (32.8-24.2%).

With the Padres, he has been used in a variety of spots in the lineup, even hitting cleanup in Friday's series opener against the Houston Astros. Maybe where Rengifo hit in the lineup had something to do with his performance in Milwaukee. With the Padres, Rengifo has started seven games in the second slot and one as the leadoff hitter. Those were the same spots he occupied with the Angels during his breakout season of 2024, when he slashed .300/.347/.417 with six homers, 30 RBIs and a career-high 24 steals in 78 games, a season that was cut short by a wrist injury that required season-ending surgery in August.

He didn't bounce back well in 2025 with a .238/.287/.335 slash line, hitting nine homers and driving in 43 and stealing nine bases in 147 games. But the Brewers were hoping to rekindle some of Rengifo's magic from 2024, while also knowing they had prospects such as Pratt and Jett Williams possibly ready to make their MLB debuts if Rengifo faltered.

While everyone was disappointed with how things went for Rengifo with the Brewers, he has certainly rebuilt some of his profile when he again hits the free-agent market this offseason.

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Steve Drumwright grew up in Wisconsin and was forced out of youth baseball when he failed to make enough contact to play the sport he loves. He did make one memorable pitching appearance, summoned from right field in a blowout. Steve went on to a successful journalism career, beginning as a part-time high school sportswriter in small-town Wisconsin to becoming the No. 2 person in the newsroom in San Francisco. Steve enjoys telling the stories of other people and how sports is a terrific vehicle for telling those stories. He now lives in Southern California. Follow him on Bluesky.