Anthony Rendon is not a popular figure in baseball circles these days. His seven-year $245 million dollar contract ranks as one of the worst in MLB history. Rendon’s flippant comments, such as saying baseball isn’t a top priority hasn’t done his reputation any favors. However, I still love Anthony Rendon, and all Nationals fans should too. He is a franchise legend. With Rendon likely to never play again, I wanted to look back at his career.
After a brutal stat went around which said that Ted Williams played more from 1942-1946 than Rendon has from 2020-2024 despite Williams missing all of 1943-1945 serving in World War II, I knew I had to write about Rendon. One of the most talented players I had ever seen in a Nats uniform was now a punchline.
The only reason Rendon dropped to number 6 in the all time great 2011 MLB Draft was because of injuries. While those problems haunted him later, it was not with the Washington Nationals who drafted him.
Rendon was a natural ball player, with the game coming easy to him. He had one of the prettier right handed swings you will ever see. His hands just flew to the baseball. Everything about his game was so smooth and languid.
Rendon made his MLB debut in 2013, and played a lot of second base to accommodate Ryan Zimmerman. However, as Zimmerman’s throwing ability continued to deteriorate due to a bum shoulder, it was clear that Rendon was the third baseman of the future.
In 2014, Rendon had a monster year, posting 6.5 bWAR and finishing fifth in NL MVP voting in his first full season. After an injury plagued 2015 and a good but not elite 2016, Rendon took his game to the next level from 2017-2019.
In those three years, he averaged 6.1 WAR per year with a .953 OPS. He was legitimately one of the 10 best players in baseball in that span. It will never be talked about that way because there were bigger names and how his Angels tenure went, but Rendon was a superstar.
2019 was Rendon’s masterpiece. He was the best position player on a World Series winning team that year. Rendon hit .319 with a 1.010 OPS, 34 homers and a league leading 126 RBI’s. Tony two bags also led the league in doubles with 44 for a second straight season. This lead to a third place finish in MVP voting, only behind Christian Yelich and Cody Bellinger, both of whom had monster years.
Despite the fact he never loved baseball, Anthony Rendon was a top 5 player in the sport that year. Baseball fans should never forget that, even if Rendon’s behavior rubs some the wrong way. I will remember him as the ultimate chill dude who had a crazy low heartbeat at the plate. While his lack of passion came back to haunt him later, it was an asset with the Nats.
Anthony Rendon’s 2019 playoff run was one for the ages. It was one of the greatest displays of clutch hitting in MLB history. In the Nationals five elimination games, Rendon had seven plate appearances in the seventh inning or later. During those plate appearances Rendon walked, hit three doubles and hit three homers. He did not get out. Anthony Rendon put his team on his back and took them to the promised land.
For that alone, he is a Washington Nationals legend. It made me very happy when Rendon received a very warm welcome in his return to Washington last August. Even though he never loved baseball, he spent a ton of time at the Nationals youth foundation working with kids. It was the one thing the stoic Rendon seemed to feel super passionate about. That always stuck with me.
He may have said a lot of things he shouldn’t have in LA, and was very tone deaf, but Rendon is not a bad person. Rendon was always a different cat and that looked bad when his body was failing him and he couldn’t live up to his contract.
However, his time with the Angels shouldn’t stop him from being a Nats legend. He still deserves free drinks for life in DC. It seems like Rendon’s tenure in LA will overshadow the pure greatness he produced in DC, and that’s a shame. Anthony Rendon may be public enemy number 1 in baseball circles, but nobody will ever make me dislike Tony two bags.