Anthony Rendon: Past, Present, and a Big Future
In 2010, Mayor Annise Parker declared June 29 “Anthony Rendon Day” in Houston. Why? Because the Rice University sophomore third baseman was the same phenomenally impressive guy we saw most of last season, and now see in his sophomore year with the Washington Nationals.
Following his 2009-2010 season at Rice, Rendon was awarded the Dick Howser Trophy in addition to being named Baseball America’s College Player of the Year. Stephen Strasburg was given that title in 2009. But more important than the accolades themselves, is the reason they were given. As a sophomore, Rendon hit 26 home runs, 85 RBI, averaged .394 at the plate and .801 slugging.
After being presented with the Howser Trophy, Rendon’s head coach at Rice, Wayne Graham said, “Anthony is, as my dad used to say, ‘poetry in motion’ . . . I’ve seen him hit line drives in batting practice that were moving like golf balls. He was a leader from day one when he came to campus.”
Line drives (base hits in general actually) are exactly what Nationals fans are growing accustomed to when ‘Tony Two-Bases,’ as some twitter fans call him, steps up to the plate. Rendon has been a top contributor to the Nationals’ offense with 14 hits, 8 RBI and 1 home run (.412/.444/.676) since opening day, in addition to playing exceptional defense at second and third base.
In the series against the Marlins earlier this week, Rendon’s offensive and defensive contributions were crucial, helping the Nationals to their second sweep of the season.
True, being just nine games into the season, we have too small a sample size to say what Anthony Rendon really is or really isn’t, but I think what we are seeing is his transition into a role much like the one he played in college. In 2011 after Rendon was drafted, Nationals GM, Mike Rizzo said he was “a Gold Glove-caliber defensive guy at third base.” Rizzo also made it clear that he was confident in Rendon’s ability to be a great hitter.
Whether or not Mike Rizzo and the rest of the Washington Nationals knew at the time that Rendon, in his second season with the team, would be producing up there with the likes of Jayson Werth, Adam LaRoche and Ryan Zimmerman, I couldn’t know. But if all continues to go well, Rendon will be one of the best in Major League Baseball. Either way, the sky is the limit and Anthony Rendon is their man.
