2025 Fantasy Baseball: Luis Rengifo Profile, Preview, Predictions
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The at-bat total for Luis Rengifo declined in back-to-back seasons, and he has never played more than 127 games in the majors. His combination of speed, home runs, and batting average paint a winning picture if he can stay on the field for 500+ at-bats.
Luis Rengifo turns a deficit into a lead with one big swing! 😤 pic.twitter.com/zKa9mBvY4N
— MLB (@MLB) May 1, 2024
2B – Luis Rengifo, LAA (ADP – 158.0)
A quiet bat (.202 with 27 runs, four home runs, 21 RBIs, and five steals over 198 at-bats) and more competition for playing time led to only a rotational role for Rengifo over the first three months in 2023. He hit his stride in July and August, leading to a .327 batting average over his next 196 at-bats with 28 runs, 12 home runs, 30 RBIs, and one stolen base. A torn biceps ended his year in early September.
Rengifo missed time three times last year due to an illness and twice due to a right wrist injury that needed surgery in early August. His play was in form before the All-Star break (.315/36/6/25/22 over 251 at-bats).
His exit velocity (87.0 – 89.1 in 2023) and hard-hit rate (32.5 – 36.1 in 2023) regressed from career highs, most likely due to his wrist injury. Rengifo has the lowest strikeout rate (14.5) of his career while losing his 2023 gain (9.2%) in his walk rate (5.3). He lost his swing path based on his much higher groundball rate (54.8) and career-low fly-ball rate (24.7).
Fantasy Outlook: The Angels gave Rengifo 65.7% of his at-bats, hitting second in the batting order. His streaks over the last three seasons and an uptick in steals (22) in 2024 paint a much better fantasy option, especially batting next to Mike Trout. His stats over the past three seasons rated over 550 at-bats, came to 67 runs, 18 home runs, 63 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases with a .273 batting average.
He is an interesting player if Rengifo can stay on the field for 150 games, something he has never done in his six years with Los Angeles. Put him on your watch list just in case he slides well beyond his early ADP.
RANKINGS
Top 5 Catchers | Catchers 6-10 | Catchers 11-15
Top 5 First Basemen | First Basemen 6-10 | First Basemen 11-15
Top 5 Second Basemen | Second Basemen 6-10 | Second Basemen 11-15
Top 5 Shortstops | Shortstops 6-10 | Shortstops 11-15
Top 5 Third Basemen | Third Basemen 6-10 | Third Basemen 11-15
With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.
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