Rendon admits injury may keep him out of All-Star Game

Anthony Rendon admitted today what has been suspected for several weeks: He's playing through an injury that has kept him from running at full speed all the time. And this undisclosed injury may prompt the Nationals third baseman from skipping his first-ever All-Star Game next week.

Rendon wouldn't offer any specifics about his current physical condition except to acknowledge it has been affecting him for some time and has been noticeable to those who have watched him play at less than 100 percent.

"I've been dealing with it for a while, definitely a few weeks now," he said. "And I'm pretty sure you can go back and watch the games: I haven't been running out balls as much as I usually do in the past. So you guys can go back and try to figure that out. I'm not going to release that."

Rendon still does run at full speed at times, though at other times he has clearly jogged down the first base line after routine grounders. Not that there's been a noticeable drop-off in performance: Over his last 23 games, he still owns an .869 OPS with eight homers (including in each of last weekend's games at Detroit).

Rendon's ailment hasn't prevented him from taking the field. Tonight he's scheduled to start his 50th consecutive game since returning from a brief stint on the injured list with a bruised left elbow May 7.

Asked if he had given any consideration to taking a day off along the way, Rendon insisted it wasn't necessary.

"No, no. I'm going to go out there and play, unless my leg's falling off or I can't bend my elbow to swing," he said. "Even with that whole process and my elbow, I told myself, and I told (manager) Davey (Martinez), and I told (general manager Mike Rizzo) and all these guys: If I'm not able to be a threat out here on the baseball field, then I'm not doing our team any good. So if I can go out there and I can do my job and I can actually help the team out, then I'll play."

If the injury hasn't prevented Rendon from missing any regular season game action, can it reasonably prevent him from attending the All-Star Game? The 29-year-old has half-jokingly - or perhaps not - talked about his lack of interest in going to Cleveland next week to avoid the excess attention and media obligations that come with the Midsummer Classic.

And he suggested again today he may elect not to attend.

"It's still not set in stone if I'm going yet," he said. "I've got a lot of injuries, or little ailments that I'm dealing with right now. So it's the kind of decision where I'm thinking about, I may want to get my body back to 100 percent over those four days instead of actually dealing with all this, and actually not getting time to rest. So I'm still thinking about it."

Major League Baseball has attempted to clamp down on players skipping the All-Star Game in recent years, though, asking all those selected to still travel to the site and participate in all festivities outside of the actual game. In order to get out of those obligations, players typically need to establish they are physically unable to attend, or that they require specific treatment that's not available at the game site.

So even if Rendon asks out of next week's game for health reasons, he may have no choice but to attend next week's event.

"I have a funny feeling - this is just me speaking, I don't speak for Anthony - but I think he'll show up in Cleveland," Martinez said. "It's fun. They're not playing three days in a row. He's not doing the Home Run Derby. I think he needs to experience it, and see what it's like, and go in there and play three or four innings, whatever he's going to do, and go from there. But I think he really needs to.

"I mean, he deserves it. If anybody deserves it, it's him. For me, even from the other side, he's been an All-Star for many years. He finally got selected, so I think he needs to go and enjoy it."