Whether you agree or not with his priorities, the lackluster performance of late by the third baseman isn’t debatable. Since Rendon joined the Angels in 2020, he has managed only 63 extra-base hits in 857 plate appearances. In 2019, he tallied 81 extra-base knocks in 646 plate appearances with the Washington Nationals.
Regardless of injuries, Rendon is nowhere near the player he once was but must produce at a higher level than he has been. If not, then it’s hard to side with his aforementioned comments.
Fernando Tatis Jr. — San Diego Padres
Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. signed a 14-year, $340M contract before the start of the 2021 season. Tatis missed the entire ’22 campaign and part of 2023 due to injury and a PED suspension.
Tatis put up decent numbers last year with a .257/.322/.449 slash line and 29 stolen bases, but they were nowhere near the production in ’21 that saw him hit .282 with 42 homers and 97 RBI.
With former Padres slugger Juan Soto now on the Yankees, the pressure will be on the 25-year-old Tatis to match his production from 2021 and help get San Diego back to the playoffs after missing out last season.
Cody Bellinger — Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs re-signed outfielder Cody Bellinger in February to a three-year, $80M deal with opt-outs. This is a player whose career went from good to awful after 2020.
Bellinger won the 2019 NL MVP while hitting .305 with 47 home runs and 115 RBI. From 2021-22, he batted .192 before rebounding last season with a .307 average and 26 homers in 130 games.
Which Bellinger shows up this year is anyone’s guess, but Chicago is expecting big things from the two-time All-Star.
Christian Yelich — Milwaukee Brewers
In much the same way that Bellinger and Rendon went from being two of the best players in 2019 to completely falling off the map within two years, left fielder Christian Yelich walked a similar path.
Bellinger stopped Yelich from winning consecutive NL MVP awards in ’19. That season, Yelich led the National League in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Since that time, he’s put together his four worst campaigns by batting average of his career.
Yelich had a .278/.370/.447 slash line in 2023. The question is whether or not he can reach his pre-2020 numbers again. If he’s unable to do so, then Brewers fans might have to accept that their former dynamic hitter is good, but no longer great.