VIERA, Fla. — Anthony Rendon spent his offseason in Texas, enjoying the beautiful weather and hours of downtime. He didn’t do anything differently to prepare for this season, nor does he plan on changing his approach now that spring training has begun.
“My game is simple,” Rendon said Wednesday. “I just try to put the barrel on the ball. When I put the barrel on the ball, good things come out most of the time.”
Rendon’s first full season in the majors couldn’t have gone much better. He started 153 games for the Washington Nationals and finished with a .287 batting average, 39 doubles, 21 home runs and 87 RBI en route to a National League Silver Slugger Award.
In the National League Division Series, he was one of the few Nationals who generated any sort of offense, going 7 for 19. After a season like that, why change?
If anything, the only difference for Rendon entering 2015 is that he has now experienced the grind of a 162-game season. He played 98 games after being called up in 2013, but he had never played more than 65 games in a season before then.
“In 2013, that’s when I grew the most I feel like, just being through a professional season,” Rendon said. “But going through over 100 games, over 120 games, whatever, knowing what that feels like on your body, I feel like I maintained myself in 2014. Just tried to maintain my body weight, stay strong throughout the whole year.”
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Rendon said he is entering this season in the exact same shape in which he entered last season, down to the same body fat percentage. He credited his offseason regimen and trainer Ben Fairchild for helping him maintain his physique.
“He’s not really like, ’Oh we’ve got to put on 400 pounds of muscle and throw big weight,’ you know?” Rendon said. “We’re not worth anything as a player if we’re not on the field, if we’re on the [disabled list] the whole time. So he’s just really stressed body movement, try to stay lean, try to stay healthy the whole year.”
After toggling between second and third base for much of his first two seasons in Washington, Rendon will enter 2015 as the team’s everyday starter at third. He said “it’s pretty crazy” to be moving into the position that has, to this point, mostly been occupied by Ryan Zimmerman. Rendon said he grew up watching Zimmerman play and has continued to learn from him, both on and off the field.
“I don’t think I’m replacing anybody,” he said. “I’m just helping the team, going over there, he’ll be doing the same thing. He’ll be a great first baseman. I’m excited to watch him play.”
Some players begin each season with a few specific goals or areas in which they’d like to improve. That’s not Rendon. He’s always sought to improve all areas of his play simultaneously. Why change now?
“That’s what’s awesome about this game,” Rendon said. “A guy with two years [of experience] and a guy with 20 years, he’s still trying to improve himself in every part of the game. This game, you learn something new each and every day, so take it one day at a time and try to better yourself.”
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• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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