OC Register: Whicker: Anthony Rendon an overdue partner for Mike Trout with Angels

[AngelsWin.com]

Anthony Rendon and Mike Trout will be on the same lineup card, maybe even back-to-back.

If I’m the Houston Astros, I might have to think about cheating.

This is not exactly LeBron and A.D., but it might mean the Angels’ GPS is finally picking up signals from the outside world.

Rendon easily could have won the Most Valuable Player award in the National League. Trout did win it in the American League. Rendon comes to town with a giant championship ring, as does new manager Joe Maddon. Add Shohei Ohtani to all this, on the mound and in the box, and who knows?

The Angels have watched their winter sandcastles wash away before. Mo Vaughn fell into the dugout on Opening Day. Josh Hamilton came from the money but couldn’t find a home. Albert Pujols has been better, longer, than anyone could have expected, but the Angels needed someone with a tomorrow.

Rendon is in a sweet spot at 29, low-maintenance, high-efficiency. He was hidden under Bryce Harper’s light show until Harper left Washington. Last year it was up to Rendon and 22-year-old Juan Soto, and they went from a 19-31 record to playoff series victories over the Dodgers, St. Louis and Houston. The Nationals won Games 6 and 7 of the World Series in Minute Maid Park and, as they did all October, crushed the opposing bullpen when it mattered.

Game 7, Inning 7, World Series: Rendon homers off Zack Greinke, the first loud noise the Nationals had produced. A walk, and then Houston removed Greinke, and the Nationals won 6-2.

Game 5, Inning 8, NL Division Series: The Dodgers bring back Clayton Kershaw and Rendon lashes a home run. Soto does the same, and the Nationals tie the score 3-3.

Game 5, Inning 10, NL Division Series: Rendon smashes a ground-rule double off Joe Kelly and sets up the events that lead to Howie Kendrick’s series-winning grand slam.

Inning 8, NL wild-card game: With two outs, Rendon gets to 3-and-2 against ballistic Milwaukee reliever Josh Hader. He takes the walk, which gives Soto the chance for the single that outfielder Trent Grisham misplays, and Rendon follows two teammates home from first base. Nationals win 4-3.

In 75 postseason plate appearances, Rendon struck out 10 times and had 11 walks. Of the top 15 RBI leaders in baseball, Rendon was one of three who did not strike out 100 times (86, with 80 walks).

Trout and Rendon finished 2-6 in OPS, 2-5 in slugging percentage and 1-4 in on-base percentage, and Rendon’s batting .319 average was the fifth-best in the game. In each of the past two years, his 44 doubles have led the National League, and he had 41 in 2017, which earned him the tag “Tony Two-Bags” at Nationals Park.

In each of the past three years, he has exceeded 40 doubles, a .300 batting average, a .520 slugging percentage and a .930 OPS.

But far beyond that, Rendon fixes third base.

A flurry of repairmen have come and gone since Troy Glaus left the Angels after the 2004 season. Counting backward, the Angels have used Zack Cozart, Luis Valbuena, Yunel Escobar, David Freese, Alberto Callaspo, Macier Izturis, Mark Trumbo (to accommodate Pujols), Brandon Wood, Chone Figgins, and Robb Quinlan on Opening Day.

Some famous folks have patrolled that area, like ESPN’s Eduardo Perez, Gary Gaetti and Butch Hobson. Some wishful prospects like George Arias and Dallas McPherson have, too. Where have you gone, Doug DeCinces?

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Third base is the cowboy position, with rodeo-style bruises. Its defense is dangerous and immediate. Its offense has to be powerful and consistent. A real third baseman is the fiber of any winning ballclub, which is why Alex Bregman, a natural shortstop, is so impressive there for Houston. The Angels have yearned for that anchor.

This follows, by one day, Gerrit Cole’s decision to pitch for the Yankees. The Angels slid quickly into Plan B with Rendon, who will cost $245 million for seven years. If they wind up with a credentialed starting pitcher and do not have to surrender top prospect Jo Adell, they will be better off without Cole.

The pitching staff still contains more “ifs” than Rudyard Kipling’s most famous poem. You can daydream about Ohtani and Patrick Sandoval and Griffin Canning, and that is what the winter is for.

Rendon did not bring a pennant on Wednesday night, but he and Maddon bring vegetation to the wasteland, bring help for the center fielder who basically has bet his career on the unsupported belief that the Angels can win.

Now Anthony Rendon has seen the same faint light. Who said no Angels ever come from Washington?

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