Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon is dealing with an oblique injury and may not be ready for Opening Day, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger reports. Rendon suffered the injury swinging during the fourth inning of an intrasquad game on Wednesday.
Rendon, 30, signed a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Angels in December, one of the biggest free agent signings during the past offseason. He’s coming off of a third-place finish in NL MVP Award voting. He hit .319/.412/.598 with 44 doubles, 34 home runs, 126 RBI, and 117 runs scored over 646 plate appearances, helping the Nationals get back to the postseason and ultimately win the first World Series in franchise history.
If Rendon isn’t ready for Opening Day, David Fletcher would handle third base in his place. Fletcher has been solid across two seasons in the majors, but he isn’t Anthony Rendon. The 26-year-old owns a .716 OPS over 960 trips to the plate since debuting in 2018.
The Angels open the 60-game regular season on July 24 with a four-game road trip against the Athletics. Andrew Heaney will start on Opening Day for the Halos. The 29-year-old Heaney will pitch opposite Athletics right-hander Frankie Montas to kick off the season.