Los Angels Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon, who hasn’t played since July 4, told the media on Friday that he has a fractured left tibia, not a bone bruise, as the team had announced.
In a rare interview since landing on the injured list, Rendon said when asked why the team didn’t reveal the actual injury, “You can ask them that.”
Multiple media outlets subsequently reported that Angels general manager Perry Minasian didn’t respond to a request for a comment.
Per multiple reports, Rendon was seen by four doctors, two of his choosing and two of the team’s choosing, and was told he had a deep bone bruise. However, a fifth doctor called the injury a fracture.
Rendon said, “I was still in pain. Kept reaching out to more doctors. Kept on asking questions. No one had an answer to why I was still in pain. Finally got more images on what it was.”
Angels manager Phil Nevin said on Friday, “The treatment for the bone bruise, under my understanding, a bone bruise (or) fracture to the degree that it is, is all treated the same. The rehab was all the same.
“It’s not like it’s a bone that’s coming out of the skin.”
Dr. Alan Beyer, an orthopedic surgeon and executive medical director of the Hoag Orthopedic Institute who has not seen Rendon, told the Los Angeles Times, “Either a stress fracture of the tibia or deep shin contusion … are going to look the same on a bone scan or an MRI scan. It’s not like he had a traumatic tibia fracture, like getting hit by a truck. So, it’s really semantics.”
The injury occurred when Rendon fouled a ball of his left shin during the Angels’ Independence Day game against the San Diego Padres.
In 43 games this year, Rendon hit .236 with a .361 on-base percentage, a .318 slugging percentage, two homers and 22 RBIs.
An All-Star in 2019 with the Nationals, the same year he helped Washington win the World Series, Rendon signed a seven-year, $245 million free agent deal with the Angels the following winter.
After producing a .290/.369/.490 batting line with 136 homers and 456 RBIs in seven years (916 games) for the Nationals, Rendon has hit .249/.359/.399 with 22 homers and 111 RBIs in four injury-filled years (200 games) for the Angels.
Asked if he plans to play again next season, Rendon said, “I don’t know. Try to get through today. … I’ve been contemplating (retirement) for the last 10 years.”
–Field Level Media
