How Anthony Rendon can help give the LA Angels the best offense in baseball

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Los Angeles Angels v Tampa Bay Rays / Douglas P. DeFelice/GettyImages

When Anthony Rendon signed a seven-year, $245 million contract after the 2019 season, LA Angels fans had a lot to be excited about.

Rendon was a proven veteran who was one of the best hitting third basemen in baseball, brought solid defense and managed to avoid major injuries for most of his career. He was a perfect fit for an Angels team that spent years without a true answer at the hot corner.

Despite recent injuries, Anthony Rendon still brings heaps of offensive potential to the LA Angels.

While he somewhat lived up to the hype in the shortened 2020 season, culminating in a top-10 AL MVP finish, things couldn’t have gone worse for Anthony Rendon and the LA Angels in 2021. After a series of smaller injuries culminated in a season-ending hip impingement that ultimately held him to only 58 games and an abysmal 0.7 fWAR, Rendon’s absence was brutal for the Halos.

And yet, as we approach the start of the 2022 season, there doesn’t seem to be much worry for Rendon. Having fully recovered and long since proclaimed his readiness for Opening Day, LA Angels fans should be optimistic for Rendon to not only return to form in 2022, but to help lead what has the potential to be one of the premier offenses in baseball.

Los Angeles Angels v New York Yankees / Sarah Stier/GettyImages

Without Anthony Rendon, the 2021 LA Angels were a pretty mediocre team on offense. With Mike Trout also missing the majority of the season, the Angels ranked 17th in runs per game at 4.46. For context, the Houston Astros led MLB with 5.34 runs per game. The Angels also ranked just 15th in RBIs, 17th in runs scored, 19th in home runs, and 19th in OPS.

In Rendon’s absence, the Angels were forced to use the likes of Jack Mayfield (88 wRC+, 0.7 fWAR), Phil Gosselin (87 wRC+, 0.1 fWAR) and Kean Wong (12 wRC+, -0.5 fWAR) at third base.

Luckily, in 2022, Angels fans won’t have to suffer through such despair now that Rendon’s back. Early projections for him are incredibly bullish, especially when you consider just how conservative such systems typically are.

A healthy Anthony Rendon gives the LA Angels one of MLB's top third basemen.

ZiPS: 460 PA, .273/.363/.470, 126 wRC+, 17 HR, 25 2B, 70 RBI, 53 BB, 69 K, 3.1 fWAR

Steamer: 575 PA, .272/.367/.467, 127 wRC+, 21 HR, 31 2B, 79 RBI, 69 BB, 90 K, 4.3 fWAR

Those are huge numbers for Rendon and, were it not for Trout sporting even more impressive marks, would make him a shoo-in for American League Comeback Player of the Year.

Sure, they're not quite at the level of Rendon's MVP-caliber production from 2017-19, but at the end of the day, these are still just baseline projections. If he's truly healthy he can blow right past these numbers.

Though he lacks volume in ZiPS, his overall output is still leagues above what we saw from him in 2021. Likewise, Steamer is even more optimistic, giving Rendon the sixth best marks in fWAR and wRC+ among all MLB third basemen.

If you remain at all doubtful about Rendon’s ability to bounce back and hit anywhere near these numbers, consider that in 2016 he was named the National League Comeback Player of the Year after rebounding from injuries to his left knee injury and oblique that held him to only 80 games in 2015.

Seattle Mariners v Los Angeles Angels / Sean M. Haffey/GettyImages

While the prospect of a healthy Anthony Rendon being able to pick up where he left off is enticing on its own, what’s even more alluring is what he can do as part of the LA Angels trio that also includes Trout and Shohei Ohtani.

Anthony Rendon, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani make up the best trio of hitters in baseball.

If you’ve been following along with my previous projection analyses for Trout and Ohtani, you’ll know that both of them are projected to have monster years at the plate in 2022 and are the early favorites for AL MVP. Once you add in Rendon to that equation, however, you get what is unequivocally the best trio of hitters in all of baseball.

Based on the FG Steamer Projections, no trio of players has a higher projected WAR than Shohei Ohtani (6.6), Mike Trout (6.1), & Anthony Rendon (4.3). Next closest is the NYY trio of Cole/Judge/Torres (14.7).

Here’s hoping to a productive & healthy ‘22 from Ohtani/Trout/Rendon. pic.twitter.com/ZKqrnEWqhf
— Brent Maguire (@bmags94) January 28, 2022

Considering that these three appeared in less than 20 games together in 2021, there’s no telling how many more games the Angels could have won if they all stayed healthy. While shoddy pitching would have likely still kept them out of the playoffs, the Halos could have easily improved upon their 77-85 record and been above .500 for the first time since 2015.

With the 2022 Angels looking much better on paper compared to last year, a healthy Rendon, Trout and Ohtani have a real shot at leading this squad to a surprise Wild Card berth. Even if the pitching only winds up marginally better than 2021, having this one-two-three punch in the lineup should more than make up for any other shortcomings.

All of this is without even mentioning the existence of All-Star first baseman and 30 home run threat Jared Walsh.

With the "Big 4" leading the way, the 2022 LA Angels should be averaging at least 5 runs per game and could very well be chasing down the Astros 5.34 R/G mark from last year.

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Since Rendon only played 110 games across two years with the Angels, many fans probably don’t realize just how good he is or how sorely missed his bat was last year. With 2022 shaping up to be his first full season in Anaheim, there’s no better time for Rendon to finally prove to fans that he’s worth that huge contract he signed two years ago.

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