The team originally announced that Rendon’s June wrist surgery would end his season, but the third baseman is able to return and can now serve his five-game penalty this season instead of 2023.
ANAHEIM — It’s now official: Anthony Rendon’s “season-ending surgery” wasn’t season-ending after all.
“That was always my expectation,” Rendon said. “This is two years in a row now. Whether it was going to happen or not, I was going to push myself to try to come back this year. If it worked, it worked. If it didn’t, that was fine. I was OK with that. Going into the offseason I didn’t want to leave anything behind.”
Rendon started doing fielding drills in August his baseball activity gradually increased, making it obvious that he was trying to come back. He faced some of the Angels’ minor-league pitchers in workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday, the final hurdle to clear before the Angels could activate him. The Angels needed to clear spots on the 40- and 28-man rosters for Rendon, who had been on the 60-day injured list, so they designated infielder Mike Ford for assignment. The Angels will play with just 27 active players during the five-game suspension.