Angels’ Anthony Rendon Hoping to Make Late-Season Return
Anthony Rendon’s 2022 season might not be finished after all.
The Los Angeles Angels third baseman is holding out hope that he can return from his wrist surgery before this season concludes. The 32-year-old was originally expected to miss four-to-six months after undergoing surgery in June, which was viewed as season-ending.
But now, with Rendon participating in batting practice for the first time in months on Monday, he’s received renewed hope about returning to game action in 2022.
“That’s always been the thing, to come back,” Rendon explained to reporters Monday afternoon. “That’s what I was pushing for the whole time. I’m going to push myself, push myself. I’m going to have them push me, push me.
“And if it works, we’re going to listen to my body. If it doesn’t feel good, we’ll pull it back. We’re just going to push as much as my body will take.”
Unfortunately, Rendon has been plagued by several injuries (groin, knee, hamstring, hip, wrist) over the last two seasons, limiting him to just 103 contests since 2021. That’s taken a toll on his mental health, and understandably so.
You always want to finish the year on a positive note. And after failing to do so last season, as the veteran slugger concluded the campaign on the 60-day injured list, he’s determined to avoid a similar outcome this time around.
“Trying to get that peace of mind,” Rendon said. “Last year sucked, obviously. To be able to play going into the winter, knowing that I was 100 percent healthy going into the winter. Then I can have a complete normal off-season.”
With Los Angeles currently 19 games below .500 and poised for another fall without playoff baseball, there’s no need to rush Rendon’s return. At his age, however, it’d be beneficial to have him play at least a few games before the regular season concludes.
Of course, the 6-foot-1 third baseman still needs to serve his five-game suspension from June’s bench-clearing brawl versus the Seattle Mariners, which saw 12 individuals suspended by MLB. His suspension can’t begin until he’s activated from the IL and will carry over to 2023 if he doesn’t return this season.
With that in mind, Rendon must return no later than Sep. 30 to have an opportunity to play at least one game after serving his suspension. Ideally, though, he’d prefer to appear in more than just a single contest the rest of the way.
Amid his injury woes, the right-hander has struggled offensively during this tough span, hitting .235/.327/.383 with 11 home runs and 58 RBIs in 437 plate appearances since 2021. He also carries a 98 wRC+ score and has been worth just 1.0 fWAR.
Rendon signed a seven-year, $245-million contract with the Angels prior to the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, but his signing has yet to result in a postseason berth. Overall, Los Angeles hasn’t made the playoffs since 2014, with its drought set to extend to eight seasons.
For everyone’s sake, that’s something the franchise will be striving to change in 2023.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: Dinur Blum. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.