Bo Porter dissects Anthony Rendon's frustrating season with Angels laced by controversial comments - "Do not add gasoline to the fire"
After winning the World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019, Anthony Rendon was the most talked-about free agent the following offseason. The Los Angeles Angels signed him to a seven-year, $245 million contract to acquire another phenomenal hitter alongside Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.
However, the signing turned out to be a total disaster for both parties, as injuries and uncertainty about his potential have thrown some good seasons off him.
His frustrations over the years have also resulted in him taking it out in the media. As previously reported by Sam Blum of The Athletic, Anthony Rendon pretended not to understand English when reporters approached him in Anaheim's clubhouse to inquire about injury updates. He even refused to talk to them in the latest interaction.
Recently, analyst Bo Porter appeared on the MLB Network to address Rendon's frustration and his recent media antics on injury updates.
"I have actually know Anthony Rendon since he was 13 years old, so I've known him a long time. He is a great human being," Porter said. "When you look at this situation, I think the frustration has definitely set in and I'm gonna go to the Angels leadership core right now; they need to safe Anthony Rendon from Anthony Rendon."
Porter added:
"Someone needs to pull him into and sit him down and say, 'Listen, it's very unfortunate where we are at, your contract, the number of games you have missed, do not add gasoline to this fire with inflammatory comments that you are making day-in and day-out.' There's a better way to go about answering this questions even if you give media just 2-3 minutes of the day and just be transparent and say, 'Listen, I am really frustrated,' and let them write that."
Anthony Rendon's drama-filled Angels stint
Earlier this year, in July, the third baseman had a nasty contusion after fouling a pitch off his left shin. Manager Phil Nevin updated that it is a deep bone bruise along with "bleeding inside the [shin] bone." Since then, Rendon hasn't played any games, and his injury concerns remain up in the air.
Apart from the pandemic-shortened 60-game season, where he appeared in 52 games, his last three seasons have seen him getting much less game time. He played in 58, 47, and 43 games, respectively, in the last three seasons.
In 200 games for the Angels, Rendon has a .249 batting average, 179 hits, 22 homers, 111 RBIs, and 91 runs scored.