Angels Rookie Achieves Insane Feat Not Accomplished in More Than 50 Years

Angels left fielder Matthew Lugo (15) is handed the ball by Baltimore Orioles third baseman Emmanuel Rivera (26) after hitting an RBI triple for his first major league hit during the fourth inning at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Winston Llenas was a relatively marginal player in Angels history, more famous for sitting than playing. Llenas, who appeared in 300 games for the California Angels from 1968-75, entered a remarkable 198 of those games as a pinch hitter.

Pinch hitting kept Llenas' name along in an obscure corner of the franchise record book for 51 years — until this week.

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When Matthew Lugo hit his second career home run Tuesday against the San Diego Padres, he became the first Angels player since Llenas in 1974 to record his first two homers as a pinch hitter.

Matthew Lugo is the second player in #Angels history to have his first two MLB home runs come as a pinch-hitter.

The only other player to do so was Winston Llenas during the 1973-74 seasons. https://t.co/K1ykaTBmal

— Angels PR (@LAAngelsPR) May 14, 2025

Lugo debuted last Friday on his 24th birthday but did not bat in the Angels' loss to the Baltimore Orioles. He got his first start the following day and went 1 for 4 with a triple.

Sunday, pinch hitting for Jo Adell in the ninth inning of a 7-3 loss, Lugo belted his first career home run. No Angel had hit his first career home run as a pinch hitter since Jared Walsh in September 2019.

Matthew Lugo becomes the first #Angels player to have his first career homer come as a pinch-hitter since Jared Walsh on Sept. 9, 2019 vs. Cleveland.

— Matt Birch (@MattBirch12) May 11, 2025

Lugo's next hit was also a pinch hit home run, in the seventh inning of Tuesday's loss to the San Diego Padres against reliever Jeremiah Estrada.

In a 🤏?

GIVE THE KID A CALL ☎️ pic.twitter.com/7LyRTNGu5v

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) May 14, 2025

Wednesday, Lugo is in the Angels' starting lineup again. Given his recent pattern, the Padres have a good chance of keeping him in the ballpark.

The Boston Red Sox drafted Lugo in the second round of the 2019 draft out of the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico. He was acquired by the Angels in the July 2024 trade that sent Luis Garcia to Boston and Niko Kavadas, Ryan Zeferjahn and Yeferson Vargas to Anaheim.

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In his first exposure to PCL pitching, Lugo went 2 for 5 with a double and a home run in his only game with Triple-A Salt Lake in 2024.

This season, Lugo slashed .212/.292/.364 in 35 games with Triple-A Salt Lake before earning his first major league call-up last week. That came on the heels of an eye-opening spring training in which Lugo slashed .293/.328/.466 with two stolen bases in 25 Cactus League games.

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Now, with the latest injury to Mike Trout's left knee leaving the Angels short an outfielder, Lugo is getting his feet wet in the big leagues for the first time — and acclimating well to a pinch-hitting role.

At 24, Lugo has never appeared on a national prospect list. Yet he's already rewriting the Angels' franchise record book.

For more Angels news, head over to Angels on SI.