Rejoice, Washington Nationals fans, Anthony Rendon is back. After missing the first 53 games of the season due to various injuries, the 24-year-old infielder has been activated prior to Thursday's game against the Chicago Cubs.
Rendon's activation comes as somewhat of a surprise. Though he was playing in minor-league games, news updates surrounding Rendon have been scarce. He was initially ruled as day-to-day after spraining his knee March 9, but the injury continued to linger. Rendon attempted to begin a rehab assignment in April, but was sidelined by an oblique injury.
He appears to be fully healed now, and that's a good thing for Washington. Rendon, a former first-round draft pick, hit .287/.351/.473 over 683 plate appearances with the club last season. He's a clear upgrade over Danny Espinosa and Yunel Escobar at the plate.
With the move, Rendon will have to displace one of those players. Espinosa will find himself on the bench Thursday, as Rendon is slated to start at second. Espinosa has shown both strong power and plate discipline this season, and has always been regarded as a strong defender.
Escobar is currently experiencing a bit of a resurgence, hitting .317/.378/.392 over 209 plate appearances. While his strong start is likely due to luck, he's not a candidate to sit at this time. Once his .360 BABIP starts to regress, Escobar could find himself on the bench more often.
Shortstop Ian Desmond hasn't hit yet this year, and struggled defensively in April, but the team will likely stick it out with the 29-year-old. With Rendon back, Espinosa could slide over to short and spell Desmond occasionally, but that seems unlikely. Desmond is hitting just .246/.293/.379 over 228 plate appearances.
For now, the logjam in the infield is a good thing. Both Escobar and Espinosa are playing better than expected, and Desmond should get going soon. Having Rendon back finally gives the team the depth they wanted at the beginning of the year.
With Doug Fister, Stephen Strasburg and Jayson Werth sidelined, the Nationals still have a number of injuries to deal with before they are back to full strength. Despite those injuries, the club has managed to go 29-24.
The team was able to tread water without Rendon, and his return will help immensely. If they could do this without one of their best hitters, imagine how good they'll be now that he's back in the lineup.
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