Anthony Rendon dealing with hamstring, quad issues; so no All-Star Game...

Major League Baseball made the official announcement that Los Angeles Dodgers’ infielder Max Muncy would replace Anthony Rendon on the National League’s All-Star roster before the start of last night’s game.

Washington’s skipper Davey Martinez and Rendon discussed what went into the decision to keep him out of the Midsummer Classic after what ended up a 7-4 loss to Kansas City in the nation’s capital.

Rendon went 0 for 5 with a strikeout in the game, and left the field in the ninth, replaced at third base by Adrían Sanchez.

“We talked to him before the game,” Martinez said when asked about the final choice to have Rendon rest some nagging injuries instead of going to Cleveland.

“His left hamstring, his left quad, is super-tight, and he’s been playing through it. It was an organizational decision, like I said, we talked to him, we sat with him, and he asked what we think and we told him that, you know, ‘I think rest would be good for you, I really do.’ He’s been playing with it for a couple weeks, and he agreed. It stinks, but he was very adamant about wanting to be ready to play after the All-Star Break for us, and I think that’s a great decision, I really do, I mean he’s thinking about the team and the organization.”

If the issue/issues have been lingering, why keep running him out there every day rather than resting him?

Rendon’s played in all 53 games since coming off a stint on the injured list for a bruised left elbow.

“Well, I talk to him all the time,” Martinez said. “He doesn’t want the day off. He doesn’t want to have to pinch hit. He likes playing. We talk about this all the time. I’ll reiterate a lot of things that I’ve said before, and this is from past history, guys I’ve played with, when you’ve got a player like that, you have to tell him, ‘Hey, you’ve got to be smart about when you run, how you run,’ and that’s the reason why you see him sometimes not really running full speed to first base. I tell him, ‘Hey, don’t blow out trying to run out a ground ball that you’re more than likely going to be out.’ So, and he’s been smart.

“It’s bothering him, it really is, because he just wants to play and he wants to go full out, and at this point in time we need him on the field. He’s had an incredible first half, and like I said, he’s the constant in our lineup, and the guy that keeps us going, so for him to just go out there and just play the way he’s playing, I commend him for that.”

Rendon has a .304/.389/.615 line after last night’s 0-for, and he’s hit 21 doubles and 20 HRs in 73 games and 316 plate appearances.

And he’s been doing it with hamstring and quad issues since the end of May/beginning of June when the team went to Cincinnati apparently.

“Both, left, yeah,” Martinez said of the hamstring and quad issues. “So he comes in and gets treatment every day, he does everything [to get] ready, and he’s adamant about wanting to play.”

Was any thought given to having Rendon attend the All-Star Game even if he didn’t play?

“I think once we told the league, they made the decision to add — to replace him, and it’s Muncy, [who] has had a good first half as well, so he deserves to go. It stinks for Anthony, and I get it, but I’ll be the first to say that I’m really proud of the way he’s handled everything, and the way he’s been playing, and like I said, hopefully these four days he gets the rest he needs.”