Anthony Rendon has been out of action since July 4 and his availability continues to be a question mark for the Los Angeles Angels.
The Angels have implemented a rotation at third base with Mike Moustakas and Luis Rengifo in Rendon’s absence, but the prowess with the glove and veteran hitter qualities have been missed. Playing in just 43 of the team’s 97 games, the 33-year-old has left a void in the heart of the batting order where they’ve needed run production.
Rendon was praised for his ability to prolong at-bats while driving runners in, an area the lower part of the order has lacked. The Angels originally set out to let him give the bruise time to heal, but things were worse than first anticipated.
With the results clearly not there and missing a significant amount of time, frustrations with Rendon have begun to spark up among fans, but manager Phil Nevin backed his player, per Jeff Fletcher of the O.C. Register:
“I get the perception that (some think) Anthony doesn’t care,” Nevin said. “I promise you he does. His attitude has not changed since spring training. In all the discussions we’ve had, he’s frustrated by it. A little confused by it. Why it’s still hurting and bothering him to do certain things, which certainly he’s not able to do everything he can on the field. So it’s frustrating for him.
“I’m not gonna say it’s frustrating for us. Of course, I’d love to have him but I understand injury is injury. You’re hurting and you can’t go, you’re just gonna hurt the team if get out there and play but not up to your ability.
“(Mike Moustakas) has done a great job at third. Our offense has been holding up their end of the deal right now. Hopefully, we get him back soon. I keep saying soon. I don’t know the day. Like I said with his wrist, he came in one day and said ‘I feel better I’m gonna play.’ When that day comes he’ll play.”
With as many injuries as Rendon has sustained in his time with the Angels, his impact to the team has been quite small. It also doesn’t help that in four seasons he’s hit 22 home runs, logged 111 RBI, while posting a .758 on-base plus slugging.
The Angels need him in the lineup, whether he’s limited to just hitting. But taking Nevin at his word that they’ll continue to evaluate Rendon on the daily to gauge his readiness. Unfortunately, the consistent injury tag has engulfed the conversation surrounding his position on the team.
Like Anthony Rendon, Angels waiting on Chris Devenski to recover
Among the more seasoned pieces, Chris Devenski had been one of the more relied-upon guys for most of the first part of the regular season.
Heading into the break, Devenski had logged 33.2 innings pitched, his highest usage since the 2019 season when he was with the Houston Astros. The right-hander unfortunately had his most troubled appearance of the year, allowing five runs on five hits.
Devenski was rightfully upset about the hiccup, while also sustaining a minor injury to his hamstring.
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