Washington Nationals: Anthony Rendon our player of the week

Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon has had a phenomenal month of May, batting .295. He continued to rake in the month’s final week, leading to him being named District on Deck’s player of the week.

Anthony Rendon is quietly putting together a solid season for the Washington Nationals. Despite being overshadowed by teammates Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, and Daniel Murphy, he has been a consistent performer in the heart of the lineup. Rendon got off to a bit of a slow start to the season, not batting above .200 until April 16, but got hot near the end of April and has not looked back since.

In addition to performing well at the plate, Rendon plays gold glove-caliber defense at the hot corner. If it weren’t for Nolan Arenado, Rendon would probably have a few gold gloves by now. Rendon’s outstanding defense has continued this season, as he’s third in the National League in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) behind only Arenado and Eugenio Suarez (according to Fangraphs).

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Rendon continued his excellent season this week, reaching base in all six games and recording a hit in five of the six. He also homered in three straight games to begin the week.

Rendon also led the Nats in almost every offensive statistical category. He played in every game this week and led the team in runs (six), hits (nine), doubles (three), homers (four), RBI’s (nine), batting average (.429), on-base percentage (.520), slugging percentage (1.143), on-base plus slugging (1.663), total bases (24), extra base hits (seven), and total pitches seen (103).

Of all the statistical categories he led the team in, a few stand out. First of all, his nine RBI’s were more than double the next most (Harper and Michael Taylor tied with four). That can be attributed to Rendon coming to the plate with lots of runners on base, but he still has to take advantage of the situation with a clutch hit.

His on-base plus slugging (OPS) was also pretty unbelievable. His MLB-leading 1.663 OPS was by far the highest on the team. The closest on the Nats was Harper, who had a .997 OPS, and the closest in the MLB was Lucas Duda, who had a 1.519 OPS.

His total bases were astonishing as well. His 24 total bases led the major leagues and nobody on the Nats even came close, despite the team having a good week. Trea Turner had the next most on the Nats with 14. Rendon somehow managed to have a double digit lead over his teammates for total bases in an extremely potent lineup.

Rendon’s best game of the week came on Tuesday in the Nats’ 10-1 shellacking of the Mariners. He went 3-for-4 with two homers, a double, five RBI’s, and three runs scored. This was Rendon’s second multi-homer game in less than a month, which isn’t bad for a player better known for hitting doubles. This was also the start of a five-game hitting streak and three consecutive games with a homer.

Rendon was a fantastic host, and welcomed the Mariners to the East Coast by going 6-for-12 with four homers in their three-game set. Seattle hadn’t played in the nation’s capital since 2011, and probably aren’t in a hurry to do so again anytime soon.

Rendon was named the National League’s comeback player of the year last season, and has picked up right where he left off. At the end of May, he’s hitting .286, despite getting off to a sluggish start. If he can sustain this level of production over the course of the entire season, he will be one of the best six-hole hitters in the league.

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He may not receive much attention from the national media due to the Nats’ star-studded lineup, but Nats fans love what they get from their beloved “Tony Two Bags”.

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