MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Rendon is hurt again.
This time, the back soreness doesn’t seem to be serious. Rendon said he’s expecting to play during this three-game series in Minnesota.
Still, any injury for the Angels’ third baseman adds to a disturbing list.
“No matter what I do, everything I try, it doesn’t work,” Rendon said on Monday. “I’m battling. I don’t know how else to do it.”
Rendon’s next game will be his 58th of the season, which would actually equal his most with the Angels. Rendon played 52 games during the pandemic-shortened 60-game season in 2020, but since then he’s played 33% of the Angels’ games.
He’s in the fifth season of a seven-year, $245 million deal.
Rendon, 34, has missed significant time with injuries to his hip, wrist, shin and hamstring. This back injury is just a blip, relatively speaking.
Asked if he had any thoughts on something he could do differently to avoid the problems continuing into the final two years of his deal, he was at a loss.
“No idea,” he said. “If you have any recommendations, I’ll take them. I feel like I’ve exhausted every blood test, DNA test, food, nutrition, allergies, anti-inflammatory stuff. And I have no idea. Everything that’s not a banned substance.”
The other problem is that Rendon’s performance even when he has been on the field has been well below the standard he set with the Washington Nationals.
He had a career .859 OPS in seven seasons with the Nationals. He hit at least 20 home runs in each of the five seasons when he played more than 100 games, with 34 homers in his platform season in 2019.
With the Angels, Rendon has a .717 OPS. His OPS has declined each season, down to .575 this season. He has not hit a homer in 238 plate appearances this season. Rendon has 22 homers in his Angels career.
Can he ever get back to being the player he was before the injuries?
“It’s hard to say, because it’s been so long, battling injuries and surgeries for this long,” Rendon said. “I’m not getting any younger, but I’m going to continue to fight my ass off till I’m done.”
Rendon has said he’s always debating whether to keep playing. He said during spring training that his family was a higher priority than baseball. Although that sentiment in itself should not have raised eyebrows, it nonetheless drew criticism because of the way he said it and the fact that it came from someone who has been hurt so much.
Now, he understands that the question about his future carries an added element. It’s not simply about his desire to play. It’s about whether his body will allow him to play.
“It’s frustrating not being able to be the man that I once was or to be the player that I once was,” he said. “I gotta try to keep persevering, keeping fighting my ass off.”
SUAREZ RETURNS
The Angels recalled left-hander José Suarez, who had been designated for assignment and unclaimed on waivers back in June. He had an 8.15 ERA at the time.
“It was a test for me and kind of a wake-up call to work twice as hard to be back,” Suarez said through an interpreter on Monday.
Angels manager Ron Washington said he believed Suarez had undergone a “shift of his attitude” while he was down. He hoped that he would use the remainder of the season “show the game of baseball that the belongs in the big leagues and show the Angels that he belongs in the big leagues with us.”
Suarez said he worked on command of his pitches in Triple-A.
He had a 6.54 ERA at Triple-A. Over his previous four games, he had a 4.91 ERA, with 27 strikeouts and nine walks in 22 innings.
The Angels recalled him because they needed multi-inning coverage for the bullpen after relievers had to pitch seven innings in Sunday’s loss in Texas.
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Right-hander Hans Crouse was optioned to create a spot for Suarez on the active roster. Jo Adell was moved to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. That officially ends Adell’s season with an oblique injury.
NOTES
The Angels moved right-hander José Soriano to the 60-day injured list over the weekend, ending his season. Washington said Soriano didn’t suffer any sort of setback, but “the fatigue in his arm wasn’t progressing quick enough.” Soriano threw 113 innings in his first year as a starter. His previous high in innings was 82⅓ in 2019, which was before his two Tommy John surgeries. …
Left-hander Matt Moore (left forearm strain) has not resumed throwing. Moore was taken for further evaluations in the days following his injury last week, but there has been no change in the diagnosis. …
Right-hander Carson Fulmer (right elbow soreness) has continued throwing in Anaheim. Fulmer said he expects to pitch again this season.
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP Griffin Canning, 5-12, 5.02 ERA) at Twins (RHP Pablo López, 14-8, 4.05 ERA), Tuesday, 4:40 p.m. PT, Bally Sports West, 830 AM
