Anthony Rendon Activated, Will Begin Serving Five-Game Suspension

The Los Angeles Angels activated third baseman Anthony Rendon ahead of Wednesday’s matchup with the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium. He hasn’t appeared in a game since June 14 and will use the final handful of games to clear his suspension and test out his body with game action.

Rendon will have a shot to play in the Angels’ final three games of the season after beginning his five-game suspension in the series opener with the Athletics. Now in the third season of his seven-year $245 million contract, Rendon hasn’t played in more than 60-games in either of his first few years.

After initial reports called his wrist surgery ‘season-ending’, Rendon’s body responded faster than expected and he is on track to log some innings before the year is over, via Jeff Fletcher of the O.C. Register:

“That was always my expectation,” Rendon said. “This is two years in a row now. Whether it was going to happen or not, I was going to push myself to try to come back this year. If it worked, it worked. If it didn’t, that was fine. I was OK with that. Going into the offseason I didn’t want to leave anything behind.”

His suspension was handed down from Major League Baseball after a brawl with the Seattle Mariners in late June, but since Rendon was already on the shelf with the wrist injury, those five games were put on hold.

Rendon was in the middle of a subpar season when he went down with the wrist, posting a .228/.324/.383 slash across 45 games this year. The correction of his injury and time off should do wonders for the 32-year-old looking to get back to playing like an MVP candidate.

Angels top prospect Logan O’Hoppe makes debut

With the Angels’ season winding to a close, the organization felt it was the perfect opportunity to give their No. 1 overall prospect — Logan O’Hoppe — a taste of the Major Leagues. O’Hoppe currently is the leading candidate to back-up Max Stassi in 2023, so the final eight games of the season could serve as a primer.

O’Hoppe made his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night, setting up behind the plate with Michael Lorenzen as the starting pitcher. As a catcher, O’Hoppe had a mixed bag debut, making a couple of nice plays to force outs, while also allowing two stolen bases.

At the plate, O’Hoppe logged his first MLB hit in his first at-bat. After swinging and missing on two sliders to begin the appearance, he settled down and worked the count to even before ripping a 2-2 sinker up the middle for a single.

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