Anthony Rendon sat out Friday’s game with oblique tightness, per the Angels’ PR department (via Twitter). Rendon is day-to-day. The Angels’ third baseman was remarkably stable during his time with the Nationals, appearing in at least 136 games in five of the last six seasons. His only significant injury time came in 2015 when a sprained knee and quad strain limited him to 80 games. This season, of course, games will come at a premium. Barring a setback, the Angels hope and plan to have Rendon back in the lineup well in time for their July 24th opener against the Oakland Athletics. Let’s take a spin around the league to check in on other minor injuries…
- MLBTR’s Connor Byrne wrote yesterday about the A’s long-term dream for Jesus Luzardo as a rotation stalwart. But as Byrne noted, after missing time due to the positive coronavirus test, it’s unlikely he will be ready to join the rotation by Opening Day. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter) confirmed as much this morning, as manager Bob Melvin suggested the rotation would be “difficult for him initially.” What that means exactly for Luzardo’s near-term future isn’t totally clear. The A’s could choose to keep him in camp to stretch him out until he is ready to join the rotation. Or they could throw him back into the role he held last season as a multi-inning shutdown artist. Slusser suggests his chances of breaking camp on the roster are good, giving the A’s one heck of a bullpen weapon as the season gets underway.
- The New York Mets plan to pitch Rick Porcello on Saturday and Corey Oswalt on Sunday, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. That puts ace Jacob deGrom in line for a simulated session to run concurrently with Sunday’s preseason game. DeGrom should then be ready to start the season opener next Friday, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. A back issue flared up for deGrom last week, prompting an MRI, but all appears to be well and deGrom is back on track for Opening Day. With Noah Syndergaard out for the season, deGrom is probably the most important player on the Mets’ roster (which would probably be true even with Syndergaard). DeGrom has won each of the last two NL Cy Young awards, and in a short season, his brand of dominance could go a long way to keeping the Mets’ firmly in contention. One long losing streak could tank the year, but if deGrom is up to his usual antics (read: dominance), he should be as effective a streak stopper as there is in baseball.
no reason not to strectch Luzardo out in game. just throw him out there as a piggback starter of sorts every 5 days until he’s up to 5/6 innings and then you can make him a full starter.
No time to stretch him out. If he’s healthy enough to pitch it needs to be at the mlb if he’s a reliever or starter.
I’d rather see the A’s go with a 4 man rotation with a combo of 6 pitchers.
Nice to see Rendon is on the Pujols path. Win the WS and then cash in. Dude had 9 months off and couldn’t keep himself in shape long enough for a 60 game season. What a joke. Thanks Arte
Oblique tightness bro. Try not to overreact.
You’re right though, it must be him not being in shape that caused it. No other explanation
What else would it be? He made a diving play in a scrimmage game? Rendon will be a waste of money just like Pujols was.