Anthony Rendon was somehow more valuable to Angels on the IL than since his return

Despite the preponderance of historical evidence to the contrary, Los Angeles Angels fans held out a sliver of hope that Anthony Rendon could provide something of value in 2024. Right on cue, the oft-injured Rendon missed a ton of time on the IL with a hamstring injury, played for a little bit, and then went on the injured list again with a back injury.

Rendon getting hurt is hardly newsworthy. The guy has played a total of 187 games since 2021 and his ability to stay on the field is basically a meme. However, one does wonder how much value Rendon has provided on the field for the Angels since he returned from his hamstring injury.

The short answer is that Anaheim would have been better off if he had just stayed on the injured list.

Anthony Rendon's production since IL return has actually hurt the Angels

Just for clarity's sake, this is a look at Rendon's numbers since July 8, which is when he made his first return. For reference, his line before he got hurt was a respectable, but still unexciting .267/.325/.307. He still has not hit a home run since July 1, 2023 for those wondering.

Since July 8, he has played in 20 games (again, he hurt himself again during this stretch) and he has slashed .213/.294/.267 with just four extra base hits to his name. His strikeout and walk rates have been reasonable, but everything else has been terrible, and his fWAR over this period of time is -0.2. Assuming the Angels had an at least league-average player to sub in for him, they would have been in a more favorable place.

That is the punchline here. We have certainly made a lot of hay about Rendon's complete inability to stay on the field and that remains true. What is even worse, though, is that even when he is playing for the Angels nowadays, he still isn't even coming remotely close to living up to the hefty amount of money the Angels are paying him. If a guy makes Giancarlo Stanton's contract look like a steal, that is truly, truly embarrassing.

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