Washington Nationals: Anthony Rendon Can Save The Season

With the Washington Nationals season in turmoil, All-Star third baseman Anthony Rendon is their final hope to return and save their season.

Injuries, a struggling bullpen, poor performance offensively, you name it.  Through the first 33 games of the 2019 Washington Nationals season all that could go wrong, has gone wrong.

Washington took arguably their biggest hit of the season two weeks ago when All-Star third baseman Anthony Rendon was hit by a pitch on his left elbow. Rendon would battle trying to play through the injury and not hit the IL, but eventually was forced to go on the injured list.

Sine Rendon hit the IL the Nationals offense has struggled. Washington has scored 33 runs in the nine games without Rendon, but if you subtract their 10 run eruption in Philly Saturday night, the team has scored just 23 runs in eight games without their third baseman. That averages out to about 2.8 runs per game.

To make matters worse for the Nationals, after Rendon hit the IL Juan Soto developed back spasms he could not shake setting him up for a ten-day IL stint of his own.

Washington is currently without four of their Opening Day starters in their lineup, and also missing Matt Adams who plays a vital role of their bench.

Losing these players have hurt the Nationals offense but also has affected their defense. The injuries have forced rookie Carter Keiboom to be the teams starting shortstop, and he clearly is not ready to be a full-time big league player. The rookie has hit just .143 in 35 plate appearances and has not looked comfortable in the field at all, making three errors to just 15 putouts.

As a team, the Nationals are clearly reeling, but they could get a shot of life Tuesday. According to Nationals manager Dave Martinez, it seems Rendon will return Tuesday, without needing a rehab assignment, when he stint on the IL is up. Tweet via Todd Dybas of NBCSW.

Rendon returning is the final shot to lite a spark in the Nationals and turn their season around before it is too late. Before his injury, the Nationals All-Star was on his way to an M.V.P. caliber season. Rendon was hitting for a slash line of .356/.442/.740 with six home runs and 18 runs batted in.

Rendon possesses the ability to singlehandedly take over the Nationals offense and completely flip the script. With him in the middle of the Washington order, teams will once again have someone to fear, and other players will see better pitches as a result of this.

In his career, Rendon has only hit 14 home runs in 110 games in March and April. For him to already have six in less than a month is showing power we haven’t seen from him before, and an ability to carry the Nationals offense.

It has shown statistically that when Washington wins games, Rendon plays a huge part in it. In his time in D.C. when the Nationals win, Rendon hits .324 with 73 home runs, 335 runs batted in, and 357 runs scored. In losses, he has hit just .239.

The Washington Nationals season is at a crossroads. They either pick up their play now, or fall too far behind it will be too late. Tuesday, they get their All-Star back, and if anyone can save their season, it’s Anthony Rendon.