Sure, I have them. Absolutely amazing hitter derailed by injuries. But Rendon hasn't blown out any knees, ripped up shoulders or wrists...
He broke his leg and tore ligaments sliding into a base (it happens, and it's gruesome). He recovered well enough from this injury to win the BA college player of the year, show zero symptoms of lingering issues, and be talked about as being better than Bryce Harper.
He then broke his ankle in a "freakish occurance" in a rundown the summer after his pro season. He doesn't play for Team USA and we aren't having this conversation, and the Pirates are 100% taking him.
He's now pulled a muscle in his throwing arm, which is the only reason he's not playing 3B right now. His ankle is fine - again. No recurring issues, no problems jumping or diving. But the fact that he got some random shoulder tweak is dropping his stock, which is fine with me. As long as he doesn't slide past us.
It's not a torn labrum for a pitcher, or even a blown UCL like Dustin Ackley had that kept him from throwing the ball for a year, which caused him to switch to 1B from CF. We drafted Ackley knowing we'd need him to be able to throw in order to get proper value out of him and watching him slap-hit for .400 in his sophomore year while being unable to properly extend his arm - and I thought it was (and is) a good bet to make. If winning POY is "damaged goods" then give me some of those goods, please.
Rendon has messed up his ankle twice. I get the concern...but I really do consider him an Edgar-esque hitter. Edgar couldn't stay at 3rd and still would have been worth the #1 pick in any draft. Unless the injury causes a problem with his hitting I don't have any problem with drafting Rendon #2, and it isn't. For the 2nd year in a row he's proving that he's a special hitter. And I don't think it'll hurt him in the field either.
A pitcher only needs one injury to never play productively again. It's rarely that way for hitters. Even Snelling needed to basically be hit by a car to become useless.
So it comes down to whether you think the injury pattern is a symptom of random luck or a deeper injury issue that will dog Rendon for his career.
I like to think it's our future World Series taking a hand in the past and helping us out, along with the Curse of the Pirates cussing up a storm on their behalf. :)
~G
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