Anthony Rendon has been activated from the 10-day injured list and is expected to hit leadoff for the Los Angeles Angels against the Texas Rangers on Monday night.
“It’s been a while. We’re ready to keep going and finish the second half strong,” Rendon said.
Rendon suffered a strained left hamstring on an infield hit in the first inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds on April 20, which limited him to 69 games.
He was in Southern California while the Angels were on a six-game road trip last week, pitching live at Angel Stadium on Friday and Saturday.
Rendon said his main thing on the weekends was running the bases, something he hadn’t been able to do much of until last week.
After speaking with manager Ron Washington, Rendon is expected to alternate between third base and designated hitter until he can play several consecutive days without any issues.
Rendon is hitting . 267 with three RBIs in 19 games. He started the season hitless in 19 at-bats and has now gone 20-for-56.
Rendon, 33, is in the fifth season of a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Angels, but has been plagued by injuries over the past four seasons. He has appeared in just 167 games since the start of the 2021 season and has missed 408 of them.
Rendon and three-time AL MVP Mike Trout have been in the same lineup in just 118 of 575 games (20.5%) since 2021. Trout had surgery on his left knee on May 3 and is hoping to be back in the lineup by the end of July.
The Angels (37-52) have lost seven of their last eight games and are 10 1/2 games behind the Seattle Mariners in the AL West.
With Rendon out of the lineup, the Angels’ leadoff hitters batted .239, the eighth-lowest average in the majors.
“We had a pretty good run in June, but our last road game didn’t go as well as we wanted it to. Hopefully we can turn things around and try to get the ball rolling for the second half,” Rendon said.
Infielder Miguel Sano was designated for assignment to make room for Rendon.
Associated Press reports.
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Anthony Rendon
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