Former Nat Rendon will undergo season-ending hip surgery originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon is set to miss the rest of the 2020 season due to a right hip impingement that requires surgery, the team announced Wednesday.
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Rendon, who is in the second season of the seven-year, $245 million contract he signed after helping the Nationals win their first World Series in 2019, played in just 58 games before landing on the Injured List for good. The 31-year-old hit just six home runs with a .712 OPS this year while making three different trips to the IL.
The Nationals drafted Rendon sixth overall in 2011 and watched him blossom into a star during his seven years in D.C. His best season was his last, when he placed third in NL MVP voting and led the majors with 126 RBI. To top it off, Rendon hit .328 with three home runs and 15 RBIs in the playoffs to lead Washington to a championship.
Both Rendon and Stephen Strasburg hit free agency that winter and the Nationals decided they were only going to re-sign one of them to a long-term deal. That ended up being Strasburg, who agreed to a contract identical to Rendon’s in both years and guarantees — though Strasburg was willing to take deferred money while Rendon was not.
However, Strasburg’s last two seasons in D.C. have been challenging as well. After making just two starts in 2020 before carpal tunnel neuritis surgery shut him down for the year, Strasburg returned this season only for him to be limited to five appearances. He underwent thoracic outlet surgery last week and will once again finish the year on the IL.
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Rendon did enjoy some success during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. He placed 10th in AL MVP voting after posting a .915 OPS in 52 games. Yet the Angels are still waiting for him to tap into the power he displayed during his last four years in Washington, where he posted four consecutive 20-homer seasons.
For now, they’re just hoping to get him back on the field by next spring.
