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| Photo by USA Today |
With Nationals’ top prospect Anthony Rendon on his way up to the majors Sunday, the obvious question presents itself: How long will he stay?
Rendon is up due to the placement of Ryan Zimmerman on the 15-day disabled list because of a sore left hamstring. He could be sent right back to the minors when Zimmerman is re-activated, but if he does well that decision will not be easy.
The Nats are 10-7 at the moment, good enough for second in the N.L. East, but anyone who has watched the team closely could tell you they have been inconsistent. Hitting hasn’t necessarily been the issue, but Rendon’s call-up comes at a time the team could use a spark.
Last season Washington brought Bryce Harper in late April in a surprising move and he showed enough to stick around. Harper did have more than twice the minor league games under his belt as does Rendon with just 57, but was also three years younger. He quickly gave the Nats a reason to keep him and Rendon, it would seem, has the same opportunity.
The 22-year-old Rendon has been good at Double-A Harrisburg this season with a .462 OBP, two homers, and seven RBI. He also had a tremendous major league spring training with four homers and 11 RBI in 13 games. What if he comes up and rakes for two weeks?
Rendon projects as Zimmerman’s long-term replacement at third base, but when Zimmerman returns this year the job is his. Rendon could, however, showcase something to raise questions about the position of second base. Rendon was rotating positions at Harrisburg, playing two of his 16 games this year at second. The position isn’t a natural fit, but he does have experience there.
Second base is also the only spot on the Nats where questions persist on offense. Danny Espinosa is a terrific fielder, perhaps one of the best second baseman in all of baseball with the glove, but he is still finding his way at the plate. Through 12 games this year he is hitting .175 and now has a bruised right wrist to compensate for.
Espinosa has power, but strikes out way too often (189 in 2012) and can’t keep his average up. Rendon, on the other hand, has a reputation for patience at the plate. Double-A pitchers don’t have command quite like those in the majors, but Rendon has 14 walks with nine strikeouts through 14 games with the Senators.
The guy hasn’t even played a major league game yet, so there is no reason to get carried away and look too far into the future. Still, the way Rendon plays could determine whether that future will happen sooner than later.
32 comments:
Do I remember correctly, that Rendon is yet another product of the non-re-signing of Adam Dunn?
Wonk no, that is Meyer and Goodwin.
This was an easy topic to get us going! Lol
Over under on posts: 87
Mark. How come no mas instant analysis lately?
Sect222, from your last post Super 2 to avoid arbitration is now a secondary issue, it's that 6+ years of team control which Rizzo doesn't want to give up a full year by the early callup. If Rendon rakes, Rizzo will have to get creative in many ways and would need to send Rendon back down for at least a brief amount of time.
Scott, Mark is off this weekend.
Scott, Mark is off this weekend.
Okay, the woman who, two years ago, couldn't have picked Stephen Strasburg out of a police lineup consisting of Stephen Strasburg, Kim Kardashian, and a sack of White Castle Cheeseburgers, just shouted upstairs at me, "They're bringing up Rendon!!!"
Cunegonde - Rice class of 1976* - will be there (with me of course) Tuesday; she'll be wearing her Owls cap.
*Yes, she graduated from Rice well before Rendon - or anyone else on the Nats, for that matter - was even born...
These are the times that try men's souls:
Was driving upper MoCo yesterday with my wife, listening to the game watching spring bloom. And when Gio fell apart I started to get super aggravated like a Legion of Doomer. Have managed to let all sports wash off me these recent years and was surprised. I'd turn the game off and then sneak back and turn it on again. Luckily heard the comeback, but thought high expectations carry a real curse. If this is how I feel, how do the Nats feel? It made me want to lash out at their weaknesses and therefore my own that I project on them. This, for me, is the essential source of the spleen of LoDers. So although I was somewhat stressed, I felt a new-found respect for how difficult it it for a team not to turn on it self during trying times. And then we all hear Rendon is coming up. Hopefully he acts as the agent to right the ship. Because it is a very sound ship. And therein lies the rub.
Forget winter... Rendon is coming.. Will be just as excited for Goodwin next year.. abd Giolito the year after!
"Harper did have more than twice the minor league games under his belt as does Rendon with just 57, but was also three years younger."
Rendon also has more minor league games under his belt (including AFL games) than RZ had when the Nats brought him up from the minors, and RZ was 2 years younger at that time than Rendon is now. And Rendon is also hitting much better than Harper was when the Nats brought up the Cyborg last year.
It is fun to speculate on what will happen, and I am sure Rizzo will do whatever is in the best interests of the team, as he sees fit. He always does, and he is not afraid to think out of the box or to ignore the conventional wisdom. Remember, the conventional wisdom just a few short weeks ago, at the end of ST, was that Rendon would not be brought up until September.
I didn't buy that, then, and I don't buy that they will send him back down when Zim returns, now. They may, but that would be just one option that Rizzo has on his own list of possibilities. What those possibilities are only Mike knows for sure, and how he exercises them is probably dependent on other variables. I am also confident that he will manage the super 2 issue to the Nats best advantage, as well.
The team has not been performing up to expectations, and it is the GM's responsibility to try and fix whatever is wrong, and Mike is trying to do that, and he will do it with the long-term interests of his team in mind, as well as dealing with the short term. Anyone who really thought Rizzo would stand pat in the current situation has not been paying attention to how he operates and how he thinks. He is an activist GM, and I personally like the way he general manages the Nats.
I would have brought up Rendon, too. It's a low risk move with a high payoff potential. The Yanks sent Mantle back down to Mobile in his rookie year, and Mickey was so despondent he quit the game and went back to Oklahoma. His old man ripped him up, questioned his manhood, and kicked him out. Mickey went back to Mobile, and some folks think he did alright after that.
Rendon will be fine, whether he sticks now, or later.
Excellent points, Laddie, including the Mantle comparison. Let's just hope that if Rendon gets sent down it won't drive him to drink.
Exactly Ghost. When I saw the title of this post, I thought maybe Chase would have checked on the deadline after which this year doesn't count on the free agency clock. Sure, Rendon has a chance to play a lot in the bigs this year, but I will bet any amount of money that he will spend some more time in the minors between now and September because the Nats are not going to sacrifice a year of team control.
Kind of ironic that Bryce was promoted when Zim went down with an injury last year, and this year, it's again a Zim injury that provides the roster spot for our No. 1 prospect. Let's hope the result is even half as good as last year.
While I expected Rendon to spend most of the year in AA and AAA, that was obviously based on the lack of a roster spot for him. He was not going to knock ALR or Espi out of their starting roles. Zim's injury obviously changed that. Who else was going to replace him? Micah Owings?
So a certain poster's self-back patting is misplaced. It would be like calling for Ty-Mo to play everyday and then if Harper is injured patting yourself on the back because Ty-Mo is his replacement.
Laddie/Ghost - First and foremost is how Rendon plays. If he as SteveM says "rakes" then Rizzo will have to get creative.
Best case is Rendon really is the star we hope for then at some point Rizzo has creatively get him back to the Minors for another 8 days so the team retains him for this full year and Six more!
First things first, rake and then force Rizzo to find a place for you.
Laddie, thanks for the little bio stuff on The Mick.
Whether ARen sticks or goes back, to-day he is starting on his march to 3K hits in The Bigs!
The only thing that will stop him will be his career health. Let's hope that the injuries are behind him???
Laddie Blah Blah said...The Yanks sent Mantle back down to Mobile in his rookie year, and Mickey was so despondent he quit the game and went back to Oklahoma. His old man ripped him up, questioned his manhood, and kicked him out. Mickey went back to Mobile, and some folks think he did alright after that.
Laddie, it was Kansas City, not Mobile. Back when KC was a minor league team.
And the way I read the story (in an "as-told-to autobiography I once read), Mantle called his father to tell him he'd been sent down, told him he wanted to quit. His father showed up at his hotel room and kicked his butt, and the rest is baseball history.
His father died of cancer the next year. Imagine how great Mantle would have been if he'd had a guy like that to keep him on the straight and narrow throughout his career, warning him to stay clear of long nights drinking with Martin and Ford. I keep thinking what we may be seeing in Harper is the second coming of Mantle in an almost parallel universe, where dad is a strong, good, steadying influence on an immensely talented young man.
Chase Hughes picked for the media the most aggressive # of games for Rendon at 65.
Rendon is here right now for 1 reason, he was the best replacement for Zim's injury.
The Nats got to Aaron Laffey so badly yesterday that the Mets designated him for assignment. Well done, Nats!
I'm curious... Where did the term "rake" come from? I get its meaning, but what's the derivation?
Keith Law to Mark Zuckerman ... Keith Law to Mark Zuckerman ...
SECOND BASE with two previously fractured ankles? Every day? 162 games?
Really?
Its first base and Adam LaRoche and his perennial slow starts that are at the edge of the cliff. At second base they've got Espinosa, Lombardozzi, and Kobernus who is playing well.
At first base well ... they've decided to make Tyler Moore an outfielder. Specifically left field.
Rice Owl grad 1984 (me) is also excited to see Rendon make his first start in the majors. It would be great to see him continue hitting like he was this spring. If he does, it will definitely create some fun roster problems for Rizzo.
A note about Espi. I know its a small sample size, but am intrigued by his performance at the plate so far this year. I know his average is poor (.182), but a couple other numbers are interesting. First his strike out per at bat is way down (6 in 44 at bats, a .136 ratio) compared to last year (189 in 594 at bats, a .318 ratio). Second, his BABIP is way down (.189 so far this year, versus .333 last year, and .302 for his career). There is probably some relationship between the two numbers. That said, his BABIP is bound to move closer to the mean. Unless his injuries are really inhibiting him, I could see Espi going on a much hotter hitting streak soon, particularly if he keeps his strikeout ration down.
There probably is no connection whatsoever, but the way Harper is hitting (raking) this year, I seriously doubt he will move from LF to CF anytime soon. (Not to mention that Span has done everything we could ask of him in CF). So Ty-Mo is not going to be starting in the outfield (or at 1B for that matter) unless someone gets injured.
Rizzo seems to have a pretty good sense of when a player's ability to hit (or pitch) in the minors indicates he should be playing in MLB. Note that Harper and then Ty-Mo came up last year, not Corey Brown. Rendon is called up this year, not Kobernus, Hood, or Chris Marrero. Young and Romero will get the call this year if needed, not Rosenbaum, Karns, or Abad. Rizzo doesn't rush prospects to the majors because they are playing well down on the farm.
Section 222 said... Rizzo doesn't rush prospects to the majors because they are playing well down on the farm.
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Also Rizzo is smart enough to know which prospects MiLB accomplishments will translate well to the MLB.
It's all about making adjustments. Again the example of Anthony Rizzo was called up and raked for 4 days and then went down the tubes. He went back to the Minors and worked on his weakensses and now is a starter.
Rendon hasn't done anything yet in the MLB and while I believe he's an excellent player it has to translate in real numbers.
One day at a time as wise person said.
Thanks for the real stats on Espi, timeless46.
I kinda thought that that was goinging on with his batter's box stuff, but it's good to have real data.
Dang, deleted the wrong one.
natsfan1a said...
Just for you, Unk.
My trusty Dickson Baseball Dictionary (which also has Tony Gwynn's "5.5 hole" among its definitions, btw) offers the following etymology notes on "rake": "Probably related to sweeping or traversing a length of a position or body of troops with gunfire, and influenced by winning at gambling."
It gives first use as 1990, in reference to the hitting of Prince's dad, Cecil Fielder.
UnkyD said...
I'm curious... Where did the term "rake" come from? I get its meaning, but what's the derivation?
April 21, 2013 11:15 AM
April 21, 2013 12:51 PM
The team is tight. All this "world series or bust" talk was ludicrous. We are young and inexperienced. They need to just go out and play.....the cream will rise to the top.
And we need to get Zim back at 3B. Rendon ain't Zim.....period.
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