Padres' Luis Rengifo backup plan could include desperate Fernando Tatis Jr. experiment

The Padres lost a lot of coverage when Luis Rengifo tore the ACL in his right knee. Replacing him gets complicated quickly here. His production only really tells half the story. The other half is where he could play. Rengifo could start in left field, slide into the infield, handle DH and give Craig Stammen a versatility switch-hitter to move around the lineup.

Roster flexibility can sometimes sound like a cliché. And then a player like Rengifo goes down and the whole bench suddenly looks short of a position.

Samad Taylor is the easiest and the most tempting answer. Through Aug. 31, he was hitting .337 with an .820 OPS for the Padres.

But then we think about how well he fit left field, that calling him a dependable major-league infielder would be giving in a little too much. Taylor has appeared at second base in 12 MLB games and third base in two, all with Kansas City in 2023. That’s enough experience to understand the job. But probably not enough confidence in a tight playoff race.

Taylor is also coming off the most painful near-catch of the Padres’ season. It illustrates the danger of asking a utility player to become comfortable everywhere at once.

Padres have four imperfect options to replace Luis Rengifo

The Friars essentially have four options here:

• Sung-Mun Song: He is already on the roster and remains the cleanest defensive fit at second, third or shortstop. His .563 OPS through Aug. 31 makes the offensive tradeoff difficult to ignore.
• Samad Taylor: This keeps his bat and speed in the lineup, but it asks an inexperienced infielder to find his footing on the fly.
• Call El Paso: Mason McCoy offers a glove-first middle-infield option, while left-handed Gage Workman provides more physical upside. Both are on the 40-man roster. Neither has proven he can hit major-league pitching.
• Reopen the Fernando Tatis Jr. experiment: Put Tatis at second base to spell Jake Cronenworth and cover right field with Taylor, Austin Hays or Jase Bowen.

That last option sounds desperate because it is. But it’s not that crazy. They’ve already deployed Tatis extensively at the keystone earlier this season, and he handled the position well enough. His infield background and athleticism makes this believable. The problem comes in right field, where moving a two-time Platinum Glove winner creates another hole.

Still, this could be a solid move that allows Xander Bogaerts, Jake Cronenworth or Manny Machado to get off their feet and DH when needed. Tatis wouldn’t become an everyday second baseman. He can just fill in at second the way that Rengifo did.

To be fair, Tatis should remain in right field unless push comes to shove here. Moving their best defensive outfielder to cover a backup-infield shortage would be a wild solution. With Rengifo gone and the season closing, no stones should go unturned.

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