Anthony

Rendon

Rendon is now officially out until May 27, but hip surgery will likely keep the 34-year-old unavailable well beyond that point. Yoán Moncada is officially under contract and will get the reps at third base with Rendon unavailable. Again.

The expectation is that Rendon will miss “a long amount of time.” The surgery will occur after Rendon suffered a setback during his rehab from his hip injury, and now there’s at least a chance that he’s played his last game as a member of the Angels. Yoan Moncada will be the regular at third base for the foreseeable future.

Nothing from the Halos yet since Moncada’s one-year, $5 million agreement hasn’t officially crossed the finish line. The 29-year-old will attempt to revive his career in Los Angeles with his arrival seeming to signal that the ill-fated Anthony Rendon era is coming to an end. We’ll see.

Blum mentioned that, based on comments from Angels’ management, “it seems more likely for a backup first baseman to come in the form of a more versatile infielder.” That means Niko Kavadas and Ryan Noda are less likely to win the job. Blum suggests that Rendon, “who isn’t likely to get everyday reps at third base,” could serve as a backup at both positions, potentially starting versus left-handed pitchers. Maybe this part-time role could keep him healthy all season, but it’s hard to see him having much fantasy value outside of the deepest formats.

With only a few weeks left in the season, Rendon is hitting the injured list after he told reporters he expected to play Tuesday. If this is it for Rendon, he hit .218 with no home runs and 14 RBI in 57 games on the year. Which is more depressing, the lack of any home runs or that 57 games is the most he’s played since 2021? Either way, Rendon hasn’t played more than 58 games since 2019, his last season with the Nationals. With two more years remaining on his contract with the Angels, Rendon is putting together a nice resume for one of the biggest free agent bust signings in MLB history.

Rendon’s day off Sunday was just supposed to be a day off, but it was likely related to this. Michael Stefanic got a second straight start with Rendon out tonight.

Rendon came through with a go-ahead two-run single off of Bryce Miller in the fifth inning that gave the Angels a 3-2 lead they would never relinquish. That was also his only hit in four at-bats on the day. The 34-year-old infielder is now slashing an underwhelming .228/.315/.280 with zero homers, 11 RBI and six stolen bases on the season.

He’s batting fifth tonight. Rendon is hitting .280/.419/.320 in eight games since coming off the injured list.

Rendon will take a seat after also missing Saturday’s game with his right elbow bruise. The 34-year-old will stay on the bench with Brandon Drury getting the start at third base.

Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters Rendon is day-to-day following an early exit from Friday’s showdown against the Braves when he was hit by a pitch. He’ll probably sit out a game or two this weekend, but appears to have avoided serious injury.