Anthony Rendon Injury Update: LA Angels 3rd baseman placed on 10-Day IL with back injury
Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon was placed on the 10-Day IL on Tuesday evening due to lower back inflammation. He had only returned to the team on July 8 after spending two and a half months on the sidelines because of a separate injury issue earlier on in the season.
Thus far, Rendon has featured in only 33 games for the Angels this season. When he has been able to take the field, Rendon has fared poorly at the plate, slashing .227/.289/.273 so far this season. He has just six RBIs to his name and no home runs, along with an OPS+ of 59.
It is a remarkable stat line for a player who established himself as one of the elite hitters of the game during his seven-year stint with the Washington Nationals. In 2019, Rendon earned his maiden All-Star selection and his first Silver Slugger award and finished in third spot in the MVP voting.
Following that season, the Angels signed Anthony Rendon as a free agent to a seven-year, $245 million contract, making him one of the highest-paid players in MLB history. Rendon made a solid start with his new team during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but his career has moved steadily downhill since then.
Injuries and subpar performance have become the hallmark of Anthony Rendon
In retrospect, the Angels' decision to offer that massive contract to Rendon can now be termed a massive blunder. Rendon has hardly stayed healthy, while his offensive production has also nosedived consequently. He has missed more than 60% of the games for the Angels and has never played more than 58 times in a season during his time at the club.
In 2021, Rendon missed 104 games as he was transferred to the IL on three separate occasions and eventually required a season-ending hip surgery. In 2022, he underwent surgery on his right wrist, which meant that he missed 115 games of that season.
On July 4 last year, Rendon hurt his leg after hitting a foul ball off of his shin. The team doctors deemed the injury to be a bruised bone. However, the player sought personal advice from outside the team, who ruled that he was suffering from a broken tibia instead. Eventually, Rendon was ruled for the remainder of the season and ended up missing 134 games.
This year, Anthony Rendon was back at third base for the start of the season, but he suffered a partial tear to his left hamstring on April 19 for his first stint at the IL. Having returned to the team less than a month ago, Renon is back on the IL again, this time with a lower back issue.
Anthony Rendon is currently serving the fifth year of his mega contract with the Angels. During this time, he has only hit .245/.349/.380 with a 102 OPS+, which is roughly the same as the league average. Meanwhile, he produced 117 RBIs and 22 home runs while not accumulating even 1,000 plate appearances for the team so far.