Padres place utilityman Luis Rengifo on IL after suffering non-contact knee injury
· Yahoo Sports
Amid a battle for the National League’s third wild-card playoff spot, the San Diego Padres lost one of their best hitters.
Luis Rengifo was placed on the injured list with a right knee sprain, the Padres announced on Sunday. He suffered the injury on a non-contact play during the seventh inning of San Diego’s 7-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
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Rengifo took a relay throw from center field at second base, then ran toward third trying to catch Taylor Walls in a rundown. When Cedric Mullins attempted to score, Rengifo stopped abruptly to turn and make a throw home. But his knee buckled as he planted his right leg and he fell to the dirt.
Luis Rengifo injures himself on a throw to home that allows the Rays to tie the game pic.twitter.com/4bx5qr3gAL
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 29, 2026
The eight-year veteran was down for five minutes or so before he eventually needed to be helped off the field with a cart, something not often seen on a baseball field. The Padres announced Rengifo’s injury as a right knee sprain and said he was scheduled to fly back to San Diego for evaluation.
“Obviously, doesn’t look good,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said afterwards, via the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Non-contact injury.”
Rengifo, 29, signed with the Padres in late June after being released by the Milwaukee Brewers. He’s registered a slash average of .291/.375/.409 with 4 home runs, 3 doubles, 17 RBI and 3 stolen bases in 145 plate appearances while playing left field, second base and third base.
“He’s been huge,” said shortstop Xander Bogaerts. “To be where we are right now, he has a lot to do with that for sure.”
San Diego also placed fellow utilityman Gavin Sheets on the IL with a left foot sprain suffered while running the bases during Saturday’s game. Sheets had 16 homers, 15 doubles and 46 RBI to go with a .211/.313/.388 slash line in 412 plate appearances while playing left field, first base and DH.
To fill those roster spots, the Padres activated outfielder Samad Taylor (.330, .808 OPS) from the IL and recalled infielder Sung-Mun Song from Triple-A El Paso, where he was batting .266 with a .655 OPS.
At 72-64 going into Sunday’s play, the Padres are in a virtual tie with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the National League’s third wild-card playoff spot. The Miami Marlins (4 games back) and St. Louis Cardinals (4.5) aren’t far behind with 26 games remaining in the regular season.