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2011 1st Round pick Anthony Rendon, taken sixth overall by the Washington Nationals, who dropped from the top of the draft to where the Nats were selecting after an injury-filled junior season at Rice in which he'd dealt with ankle and shoulder issues, reportedly sustained an injury to his left ankle (now called a bad sprain) in his second minor league game for the Class-A Potomac Nationals last night. According to a report from the game by Lynchburg, VA-based News And Advance writer Nathan Warters (@nwarterLNA), who was in attendance at Calvin Falwell Field for the matchup between the hometown Hillcats and the visiting P-Nats, Rendon suffered the injury to his left ankle while, "... rounding third base in fourth inning. Team declined comment after game." The previous ankle issues had been with Rendon's right ankle. MLB.com's Bill Ladson filled in some of the details this morning in an article entitled, "Nats’ Rendon suffers ankle injury":
"Class A Potomac third baseman Anthony Rendon suffered an ankle injury while running the bases in a 7-2 loss to Lynchburg on Saturday. It’s not known how serious the injury is.
Rendon hurt the ankle in the fourth inning. After a hitting a double, Rendon was trying to score on a bloop single to center by Justin Bloxom. Rendon went down with the ankle injury after rounding third base."
Before he was drafted last June, Rendon finished his third year at Rice with a .327/.520/.523 line, 20 doubles, six home runs and 80 walks in 63 games and 214 at bats over which he struck out just 33 times. Widely considered the best hitter in this past season's draft class, Rendon was described by D.C. GM Mike Rizzo as a, "very polished, accomplished college hitter," and a, "consumate, professional hitter," on the night of the 2011 Draft. Two at bats into his second minor league game, Rendon was 2 for 4 at the plate, with a double, triple and two walks.
The P-Nats' official game report describes the play on which the injury occurred as simply a "scary moment" promising more details when they're available.
• Updated: Reports this morning, including one from NatsInsider.com's Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) say that it's being called an ankle sprain after x-rays:
X-rays on Rendon's L ankle were negative. Diagnosis is a sprain.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) April 8, 2012
#Nats are calling Rendon's injury a "badly sprained" L ankle. Won't know timetable for return til he's further examined in next few days.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) April 8, 2012
• Lannan in Syracuse: Reports out of Chicago before the season opener last week had the Cubs inquiring as to the availability of 27-year-old Nats' lefty John Lannan, who'll make his first Triple-A start since 2007 tonight for the Syracuse Chiefs, the Nationals' top minor league affiliate. Lannan, was of course optioned to the minors last week with 26-year-old '07 1st Round pick Ross Detwiler winning the 5th spot in the Nats' rotation to start the season. Lannan, an '05 11th Round pick with five years in the majors on his resume, requested a trade according to an email he sent to Nats beat reporters, but the Nats' GM Mike Rizzo reportedly said there is only mild interest in the left-hander around the league.
Chicago Sun-Times' reporter Gordon Wittenmyer wrote last week in an article entitled, "Cubs interested in Nationals lefty John Lannan", that his sources informed him of the Cubs' inquiries, but another report out of Wrigley Field this weekend by Chicago Tribune reporter Paul Sullivan, quoted a, "... highly placed source with the Nationals who denied a report the club has spoken with the Cubs about acquiring Marlon Byrd," citing the fact that the Nats, "... have top prospect Bryce Harper waiting in the wings to take over in center field and aren't interested in Byrd," and mentioning the fact that the source told him the Nats, as they've maintained all along, "... are not actively shopping Lannan."
As for the "mild" interested around the league for the two-time Nats' Opening Day starter, Boston Globe writer Nick Cafardo wrote this morning in his weekly "Baseball Notes" column that though the Red Sox were one of several teams initially interested in Lannan, they, "... came to the conclusion, as did others, that what they had was every bit as good as Lannan, and they were reluctant to give up a top prospect." Lannan will start for the Triple-A Chiefs against the New York Yankees' top affiliate this afternoon in a 5:00 pm EDT start.