He later hurt a thumb, and is listed as day-to-day.

Quote:SAN DIEGO -- Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon was not in Saturday's starting lineup against the Padres because of a sore right thumb. Kevin Frandsen started in his place, hitting second.

Manager Matt Williams said Rendon's thumb is better than it was Friday, when he left the game in the top of the sixth inning. He hurt it while committing an error two innings earlier on a ball hit off the bat of Carlos Quentin. X-rays on Rendon's thumb were negative.

"He is doing contrast treatment -- ice and heat--flushing some blood out of there," manager Matt Williams said. "It a little swollen. Pretty sore. We have a quick turnaround tomorrow. We have to see how it is. The good news is, there was no fracture. It's better than last night, not as much swelling as there was yesterday, but it's still sore."

(06-08-2014 11:39 AM)grol Wrote:  

Quote:SAN DIEGO -- Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon was not in Saturday's starting lineup against the Padres because of a sore right thumb. Kevin Frandsen started in his place, hitting second.

Manager Matt Williams said Rendon's thumb is better than it was Friday, when he left the game in the top of the sixth inning. He hurt it while committing an error two innings earlier on a ball hit off the bat of Carlos Quentin. X-rays on Rendon's thumb were negative.

"He is doing contrast treatment -- ice and heat--flushing some blood out of there," manager Matt Williams said. "It a little swollen. Pretty sore. We have a quick turnaround tomorrow. We have to see how it is. The good news is, there was no fracture. It's better than last night, not as much swelling as there was yesterday, but it's still sore."

At least it wasn't an ankle....

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/06/padres-fan-bear-costume

This bear looks very angry that AR didn't play. I don't blame him for leaving early either.

Interesting take on which NL 3B will be selected for the All-Star game...

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/vote...y=news_mlb

(06-13-2014 06:00 PM)TJS_NYC Wrote:  Interesting take on which NL 3B will be selected for the All-Star game...

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/vote...y=news_mlb

Quote:JUSTICE: Remember when the Nationals drafted Rendon? There was a feeling he'd be blocked getting to the big leagues by Zimmerman? So they moved him to second base, and he did just fine. In the end, though, it's pretty clear he's a third baseman, a natural one. He's probably going to end up being an All-Star third baseman for a long, long time to come. That's probably why Zimmerman is playing left field. They seem to be saying that Rendon is contributing so consistently at third that it would be silly to shift him again. I hope Matheny can find a spot for him on the NL roster.

AR is putting on a fielding clinic against my Cards today. What a fielder!

A diving catch and throw to first from yesterday was 10th in Sportscenter's top 10 plays if the day.

He also got a hit and scored Washington's only run with some great baserunning.

Hit his 10th homer last night to help lead a Nats comeback win over the Astros. Also had two steals.

Its a pleasure to follow the exploits of Anthony and Brock this summer. Good for them.

If Rendon's stealing bases, the pitcher must be doing a pretty bad job of holding on runners. One of Rendon's biggest weaknesses is the lead he takes, as well as the fact that even if he's taking a lead, he almost looks like he's leaning back toward first base in case there's a pickoff attempt.

Maybe that lean is part of the deception, but it looks to me when I watch the games that he just doesn't appear comfortable taking a lead.

(06-19-2014 12:57 PM)gsloth Wrote:  If Rendon's stealing bases, the pitcher must be doing a pretty bad job of holding on runners. One of Rendon's biggest weaknesses is the lead he takes, as well as the fact that even if he's taking a lead, he almost looks like he's leaning back toward first base in case there's a pickoff attempt.

Maybe that lean is part of the deception, but it looks to me when I watch the games that he just doesn't appear comfortable taking a lead.

I saw him get picked off once that way. But other than not appearing too comfortable taking leads off first base, I think Tony is a great baserunner. He's not the fastest guy, but I've seen him score from second with ease on hits that a lot of players wouldn't score on. Also seen him leg out a lot of triples this year; I wouldn't expect that with his lack of elite speed, but somehow he turns some doubles into triples too. He's opportunistic in getting steals. Not sure how he got 2 steals yesterday but it was probably noticing something about how the other team was defending a SB. So basically, he's a 5-tool player as far as I'm concerned.

(06-19-2014 01:32 PM)Buho00 Wrote:  

(06-19-2014 12:57 PM)gsloth Wrote:  If Rendon's stealing bases, the pitcher must be doing a pretty bad job of holding on runners. One of Rendon's biggest weaknesses is the lead he takes, as well as the fact that even if he's taking a lead, he almost looks like he's leaning back toward first base in case there's a pickoff attempt.

Maybe that lean is part of the deception, but it looks to me when I watch the games that he just doesn't appear comfortable taking a lead.

I saw him get picked off once that way. But other than not appearing too comfortable taking leads off first base, I think Tony is a great baserunner. He's not the fastest guy, but I've seen him score from second with ease on hits that a lot of players wouldn't score on. Also seen him leg out a lot of triples this year; I wouldn't expect that with his lack of elite speed, but somehow he turns some doubles into triples too. He's opportunistic in getting steals. Not sure how he got 2 steals yesterday but it was probably noticing something about how the other team was defending a SB. So basically, he's a 5-tool player as far as I'm concerned.

I've often thought that speed is an over-rated part of baserunning. For that matter, so is base-stealing. Much of great baserunning seems to be about alertness and having a good eye for opportunity.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Mr. Rendon clubbed the game-tying home run for the Nats last big. Unfortunately the Braves went on to win it in extras, but man is it fun to watch Rendon do his thing.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/revi...y=news_mlb

Not really sure how the umps originally thought that was a double but they got it right eventually.

It would be nice if the presence of instant replay on certain plays like that would encourage opposing teams to actually be forthright. If the outfielders had just signaled the HR to the umps they could have saved a wasted 90 seconds.

(06-21-2014 12:07 PM)texd Wrote:  It would be nice if the presence of instant replay on certain plays like that would encourage opposing teams to actually be forthright. If the outfielders had just signaled the HR to the umps they could have saved a wasted 90 seconds.

But then baseball players would have to learn a new ethos.

(06-21-2014 12:07 PM)texd Wrote:  It would be nice if the presence of instant replay on certain plays like that would encourage opposing teams to actually be forthright. If the outfielders had just signaled the HR to the umps they could have saved a wasted 90 seconds.

We may have a case study in progress right now -- although in reverse, and in another sport. Historically, tennis has a reasonably strong culture of players conceding calls. It would be interesting to see if, over time, the spread of the challenge system in top-level pro tennis changes that culture (at the top level or in other levels) -- and in which direction the change goes. My hunch is that a really data-driven study is unlikely to happen, but perhaps anecdotal conclusions will emerge.

AR's 12th homer last night tied up the game in the 8th inning and the Nats ended up winning the game in 16 innings (longest game in franchise history). They used 8 pitchers in the game and if they hadn't won it in the 16th, Adam LaRoche would have pitched the next inning.