Washington Nationals News: Anthony Rendon reflects on injury-riddled season
By Pablo Roa
Good afternoon DoD readers, and welcome to today’s District Daily. Get caught up on the latest Nats news and opinions with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web below.
In today’s Daily, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post discusses Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon, his thoughts on his injury-riddled 2015 campaign, and how he hopes to stay healthy in 2016 and beyond.
As Janes notes, Rendon had a year to forget in 2015. After being one of the best players in the game in 2014, Rendon missed half of the season due to various injuries. His struggles started with a knee injury in Spring Training and only got worse throughout the course of the season.
Rendon’s season was unstable even when he was on the field. Not only did he never really get in a groove with the bat, but he was also juggled around throughout the infield as he stepped in for several other injured infielders at different positions.
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The 2015 season was extremely disappointing for Rendon and for the Nationals, and the infielder will play a key role for the team in 2016. The Nationals absolutely must play better next season, and for that to happen, Rendon has to stay healthy and play to his abilities every single day.
Also in today’s Daily, Chris Chase of For the Win gives eight reasons why the Nationals should not hire Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. to be their next manager.
Be sure to check out both articles below, they’re definitely worth a read. And as always, stay tuned to DoD for all your Washington Nationals needs.
Anthony Rendon: ‘I’m not gonna change anything’
(Chelsea Janes, Washington Post)
By the time the Nationals were packing up to leave Citi Field Sunday night, Anthony Rendon had answered this question before: would it help to play one position? Would you rather just play third base, not bounce around the infield like you did in 2015?
“I just wanna play,” he said, the answer he’d given since questions about his position first arose in spring training.
That answer is more loaded now than it was then, when the 2014 Silver Slugger meant he didn’t care where he played, as long as he got the chance to hit. Now, when he lost half a season to multiple injuries, playing at all becomes the most important part of Rendon’s future moving forward. Read full article here.
8 consecutive reasons the Nats shouldn’t hire Cal Ripken Jr.
The Washington Nationals and general manager Mike Rizzo are in one of the most important stretches of their history, seeking a manager to lead the team to a postseason series win and, they hope, a World Series title. The most popular name to replace the recently fired Matt Williams is Cal Ripken Jr., a civic hero in Baltimore as well as Washington, but one who would be a terrible choice to lead these Nats. Here are eight reason why.
1. THE NATIONALS NEED TO WIN, NOW.
The Nats window is what, two or three years — possibly longer depending on who re-signs (cough, Harper, cough), giving Cal a short time to make his mark. And with Nats owner Ted Lerner turning 90 in a few weeks, he probably won’t have the patience that might be needed with a new manager. Almost every manager who’s ever filled out a lineup card requires some time to get their feet wet in the bigs. The Nats don’t need that kind of guy at this point in their existence. They need a manager who can come in and win now. This post isn’t meant to suggest Cal Ripken would be a bad baseball manager. It’s only meant to suggest he’d be the wrong manager for the Washington Nationals right now. Read full article here.