Alden GonzalezESPN Staff Writer September 15, 2023, 10:14 PM ET3 minute read
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Anthony Rendon, speaking publicly for the first time in two months, announced Friday that he has been diagnosed with a fractured tibia by doctors outside the Los Angeles Angels’ jurisdiction. The Angels have consistently described Rendon’s injury as a deep bone bruise.
Asked why the Angels didn’t initially call his injury a broken tibia, Rendon said, “You’ll have to ask them that.”
Angels general manager Perry Minasian did not respond to a request for comment. A source close to the team told ESPN that Rendon initially saw four doctors – two from the Angels, two from Rendon’s side – who diagnosed him with a deep bone bruise. A fifth doctor diagnosed him with a broken tibia. Rendon, who did not provide details about the process, said the fracture diagnosis occurred when the team visited his hometown to play the Houston Astros in the second week of August.
Rendon’s agent, Scott Boras, said Rendon’s doctors and the Angels’ medical staff were still “consistent with his treatment plan” and denied there was a discrepancy between the two sides.
“We talked about how bad the bone bruise was when he did it and that it even resembled a fracture,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said. “Bone bruise, broken bone, one way or another, he can’t play right now and we’re trying to get him back to where he is.”
Rendon, 33, initially suffered the injury when he hit a ball off his lower left leg on July 4 in San Diego, and has only begun participating in light baseball activities in recent weeks, hitting a tee shot and some light running drills might. If Rendon doesn’t return before the end of the regular season — which is a big possibility given that the Angels’ final game is still two and a half weeks away — he will have played 148 of a possible 486 games in 2021-23, the previous one was on the injured list with problems in his hip, groin, hamstrings, knee and both wrists.
Rendon owes another $114 million over the next three years. When asked if he planned to play next season, Rendon was noncommittal, saying only that he would take it day by day. When asked why he didn’t speak out sooner to counter public perception from fans questioning his desire to play, Rendon replied: “I don’t care. You don’t know the facts.”
A medical source told ESPN that the treatment plan and return to play for a deep bone bruise and tibia fracture are similar, although timelines vary within Major League Baseball. Andre Ethier suffered a broken tibia while playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers in March 2016 and missed nearly six months; Tommy La Stella suffered a broken tibia while with the Angels in July 2019 and missed nearly two months.
Nevin said he isn’t worried about what impact the diagnosis might have on Rendon’s offseason or his availability next year.
“I don’t see it that way,” Nevin said. “He stepped up everything he did there. As far as I know, the treatment of bone bruises – bone bruises, fractures, if present – are all treated the same and the rehab is all the same. It’s not a bone.” It comes from the skin. It is something that is manageable within his pain tolerance. Obviously it’s a painful thing; I’ve been saying that all along. This is an extremely painful matter for him. But at least he’s past that point, and he can do some things on the treadmill and on the bike, he does some baseball activities. The encouraging thing is that he feels much better. Both, whatever it is, it would be treated the same in both cases. “