The Los Angeles Angels have been all over the news as of late. On Monday, Shohei Ohtani hit his first career grand slam as well as smashing back-to-back home runs with Mike Trout. On Tuesday, Reid Detmers became the youngest Angel to ever throw a no-hitter. But Anthony Rendon accomplished something extremely impressive as well in Tuesday's win.
The Angels star third baseman, who bats right-handed, clubbed a home run from the left side of the plate. It should be noted that the Rays had position player Brett Phillips on the mound since the Angels held a big lead. But Rendon was also taking his first ever left-handed MLB at-bat.
Anthony Rendon bats left-handed for the first time in his career and he hits a home run! pic.twitter.com/pXcE8GhrVW
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 11, 2022
Anthony Rendon had 4,528 prior at-bats from the right side of the plate. And now he is 1-1 with a home run as a left-handed batter.
Angels manager Joe Maddon shared a hilarious message from Rendon in regards to his left-handed bomb following the Angels 12-0 victory.
“[Rendon] does that a lot with the guys downstairs in the batting cage. And that ball wasn't just a homer. It was well-struck. All the hitting coaches said he can do this. And after the game, Anthony said he's been hitting from the wrong side all along.”
Maybe Anthony Rendon has been hitting from the wrong side all along. He is hitting just .206 on the season.
In all seriousness, it will be interesting to see if the home run helps Rendon find his groove in the 2022 campaign.
Maddon later shared his thoughts on Rendon's decision to bat left-handed.
“I thought it was great theater. It was the perfect time to pull it off. Baseball is looking for moments like that. The crowd responded properly. No disrespect to the other side. It was just a fun baseball moment.”
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