Just some love for Nationals’ 3B Anthony Rendon...

Anthony Rendon has been swinging a hot bat for a while now, starting with his 6 for 6, 3 HR, 10 RBI game against the New York Mets back on April 30th.

Over the last 22 games, including that silly good offensive night, Rendon is 26 for 75 (.347/.449/.813) with six doubles, a triple, nine home runs, 14 walks and 11 Ks in 89 plate appearances, leaving him at .283/.380/.516, eight doubles, a triple, nine homers, 25 walks and 30 Ks in 184 PAs on the season.

He went 6 for 12 with four of his home runs on the season in the last three games against the Seattle Mariners this week in the nation’s capital.

Dusty Baker was asked after yesterday’s loss to the Mariners if he’s seeing Rendon doing anything different right now that’s led to his recent run, which includes the homers in three straight games, which is a career-high home run streak for the 26-year-old, 2011 1st Round pick, who out-homered 18 MLB teams over that stretch.

“I don’t see anything different,” Baker said.

“He’s just putting a good swing on his pitch and not missing it. He’s not fouling it back, he’s not popping it up, and not hitting it hard on the ground, he’s hitting it out of the park, and so just keep on doing what you’re doing.”

Daniel Murphy, who went 0 for 4 on Thursday, ending a six-game hitting streak, shared his thoughts on what he’s seeing from Rendon, telling reporters it’s simple, really.

“Getting really good pitches to hit and not missing them. It’s really no more difficult than that,” Murphy said.

“Tony’s getting there on time right now, swinging the bat really and he’s getting rewarded for it.”

“He’s swinging the bat well right now,” Murphy continued. “I’d like to get on in front of him and try to protect him.”

Something else we’ve learned about Rendon recently? We always knew he was “press shy”, but we can add “Does not like close-ups” to our FAQ sheet on the Nationals’ third baseman.