Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon played five innings in an extended spring training game Wednesday and is on track to begin a minor-league rehabilitation assignment Friday in Harrisburg, manager Matt Williams said.
Rendon went 0-for-1 with a couple of walks Wednesday, according to Williams, and the reigning Silver Slugger Award winner was scheduled to fly to Washington on Thursday morning and take the day off. Depending on how he feels at that point, Williams said Rendon would then travel north to play for the Double-A Senators on Friday night.
Fellow starters Denard Span and Jayson Werth, each of whom recently returned from the disabled list, played only a handful of minor-league games before rejoining the Nationals. Rendon’s schedule will be different, Williams said. The third baseman will plan to play five innings Friday, then seven, then take a day off. Seven innings and nine innings would follow in succession before Rendon would be reevaluated.
“His calendar stretches beyond that, but we’ll see,” Williams said. “As long as he feels good, that’s all we care about. If he gets all those games under his belt, then he’s gonna have upwards of 25 at bats, 30 at bats total. You would expect that to be halfway-ish through spring training type scenario, where he’d be feeling pretty good about his swing anyway. So we’ll see.”
Rendon sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee and began the season on the 15-day disabled list. Williams said Rendon has played third base during his rehabilitation process to mitigate the risk of an opposing player sliding into his left knee on a stolen base. The manager said Rendon will continue to primarily play third during his rehabilitation process, while not ruling out the possibility that he could play second.
“I don’t think that’s definite at this point,” Williams said. “Giving guys days off during the course of the season, I can’t say that he won’t play second base depending on where we’re at. But right now, we’re going to play him at third base.”
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Grace joins Nationals; Rivero to the DL
The Nationals made a late roster move before Wednesday night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals, recalling left-handed reliever Matt Grace from Triple-A Syracuse and placing Felipe Rivero on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 18.
The team said Rivero is suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding.
Cedeno traded to Dodgers
Washington also made a trade Wednesday, sending left-hander Xavier Cedeno to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for cash. The Nationals had designated him for assignment last week.
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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