Injuries have played an unfortunate role in Anthony Rendon's five years with the Los Angeles Angels. He emerged as one of the best players in MLB during his time with the Washington Nationals before signing in Anaheim. He has endured trouble trying to stay healthy with the Angels, however, as he's currently on the injured list with a strained left hamstring.
Rendon provided an injury update on Wednesday, via MLB.com.
“I think I'm ahead of schedule,” Rendon said. “I'm trying to push it each and every day. Let my body tell me that it's painful, it hurts or it's not ready. So we'll get back as soon as possible.”
The update is promising, but Angels fans likely don't have much hope for the 2024 season overall. The ball club has not reached the playoffs since 2014 and Mike Trout is currently out with an injury of his own. Los Angeles is in last place in the American League West with a 24-38 record as of this story's writing as well.
The Angels were hopeful that new manager Ron Washington could help lead the team back to the postseason. And it is possible he will do that at some point. Washington is well-respected around the game and has previous success as a manager. But even Washington has struggled to help the Angels get back on track.
Between injuries and underperformance, it appears that the Halos are on track to miss the postseason once again barring a major resurgence.
Will Angels make playoff run if Anthony Rendon returns soon and stays healthy?
When healthy, Rendon features a high-ceiling. The last time he was healthy for a full season was in 2020, when he appeared in 52 of the Angels' 60 games (2020 was a shortened 60-game MLB season). However, Rendon has not played in more than 100 games since 2019, when he appeared in 146 games for the Nationals.
He performed well in 2019 and 2020. It is clear that he can make a major impact when on the field.
Rendon has struggled to find any consistency on the diamond in previous years. One has to imagine that is a result of simply not being healthy. So in a scenario where Rendon returns soon and remains healthy, could the Angels make a playoff run?
Well, the ball club features a number of question marks. Sure, a healthy Rendon would help matters. Outside of Tyler Anderson and Jose Soriano, the starting rotation has been inconsistent at best. Los Angeles' bullpen features a number of hurlers with potential but the results have been less than ideal.
The Angels lineup will not intimidate many opposing pitching rotations either with Mike Trout out and Shohei Ohtani now playing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Anthony Rendon would add a right-handed bat with power to the lineup, but LA would still need more players to step up around him.
Nevertheless, the Angels and Anthony Rendon are hopeful that he will be able to return soon. Although a playoff run seems unlikely, anything is possible since it is still early June.
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