Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon snapped his 0-for-21 start to the season on Friday night, recording an infield single during the sixth inning of Los Angeles' 8-6 home opener loss to the Boston Red Sox (box score). Rendon, who did not play after July 4 last season because of a fractured tibia, had not recorded a hit in his previous 24 at-bats. For those keeping count, that's either 277 or 278 days, depending on your time zone, between his last hit of the 2023 campaign and first hit of the 2024 season.
Here's Rendon's slump-ending hit in all its moving picture glory:
Anthony Rendon has his first hit of the season. He's now 1-for-22. Here's the hit. pic.twitter.com/rVZp9wv2Ac
— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) April 6, 2024
While it's not Rendon's fault that he missed the second half of last season because of injury -- and he's undoubtedly a better player than his early struggles indicate -- it's fair to note that a lot has changed in Major League Baseball over that span. With that in mind, we've highlighted five notable developments that have taken place in MLB between Rendon's hits. Do note that this is meant to be lighthearted rather than meanspirited. Injuries and slumps happen in baseball, and the world keeps spinning; that's just life for you.
1. Nolan Schanuel's entire professional career
As noted above, Rendon's last hit fell on July 3. Almost a week later, on July 9, the Angels drafted Schanuel from Florida Atlantic University with the No. 11 pick. He subsequently made his MLB debut on Aug. 18 as the Angels attempted to make a playoff push. That try did not succeed. He's since reached base in all 36 of his career MLB games, including Friday night. Although there are questions about Schanuel's slugging potential based on his results to date, it's hard to classify what he's done so far as disappointing.
2. Shohei Ohtani won his second MVP Award …
Ohtani, of course, had a brilliant 2023 campaign. He posted a 184 OPS+ as a hitter and a 142 ERA+ as a pitcher, tallying an estimated 9.9 Wins Above Replacement overall, according to Baseball Reference -- and that was despite missing most of the season's final month as both a hitter and a pitcher. Ohtani was rewarded for his excellent performance with his second career Most Valuable Player Award, the seventh in Angels franchise history.
3. … and left as part of Dodgers' $1 billion dollar offseason
And yet, Ohtani was not in attendance for Rendon's first hit since last July on Friday night. Instead, he was in Chicago with his new Los Angeles Dodgers teammates, having signed an historic free-agent deal over the winter. The Dodgers spent more than $1 billion over the offseason, signing Ohtani, right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto and others in pursuit of their second World Series title of the past five years. Will that aggressiveness pay off? We'll find out this fall.
4. The Rangers won franchise's first World Series
Perhaps this is low-hanging fruit, but we'll justify it by noting that the Rangers are an American League West foe of the Angels'. Anyway, the Rangers became world champions for the first time in franchise history last fall. They took the difficult route to their first parade, too, earning a wild-card berth and then winning four series along the way. That included sweeps against the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles, as well as a competitive series against the Houston Astros before they secured the World Series in five games against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
5. Athletics' multi-step relocation
Believe it or not, the Athletics technically passed two relocation plans between Rendon's most recent two hits. The newest development will see them move to Sacramento, for at least the ensuing three seasons beginning next spring. That deal includes an option for the fourth year, just in case their new stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, isn't complete by that point. Their move to Las Vegas, by the way, was approved by MLB owners last fall. It's not yet a completely done deal, but the A's sure are banking on it getting across the finish line.
