ANAHEIM — This is a new one for Anthony Rendon.

Rendon said on Saturday that he had never had a wrist problem like the one that cropped up a few days ago, finally resulting in him going on the injured list.

“The only time you’re 100 percent is in spring training,” Rendon said. “It just flared up on a couple swings.”

An MRI showed inflammation. Rendon, whose hand was in a brace as he spoke to reporters on Saturday, said he’s not sure how much time he will miss.

“Just a waiting game now to see when it calms down,” Rendon said. “Just let it relax and see in a few days.”

Rendon missed most of last season with various lower body injuries, which he believes were related to the hip surgery he ended up having in August.

This year he started slowly, and Manager Joe Maddon was giving him a little extra time off to account for his injury from last year.

Rendon was hitting .349 with a .928 OPS in his last 12 games, but he went hitless in four at-bats on Thursday night, when he felt the discomfort in his wrist.

WHAT ABOUT WARD?

Taylor Ward returned to the lineup for one game on Friday, because Shohei Ohtani vacated the DH spot for a night to rest his back, but a day later Ohtani was back in the lineup and Ward was back on the bench.

Ward, who has a stinger in his shoulder, still is waiting for sufficient strength to return to his arm so he can throw. He said on Saturday that, even though he felt a little stronger, the objective strength tests weren’t not showing much improvement.

“Hopefully it’s better one day, like a light switch,” Ward said

Maddon said the Angels don’t want to risk putting Ward back out there too early because he could aggravate it and be out for even longer, but he acknowledged the Angels’ lineup is suffering without him.

“We want him back,” Maddon said. “We need him back. It’s very simple to see it’s entirely different when he’s out there. We were kind of grooving along and then it became more difficult. He starts the game often with being on base or doing some damage. It’s a long year. You’ve got to be patient sometimes. We never want to be patient but we got to be right now because I want him back right.”

ADELL UPDATE

While the Angels are struggling with injuries to their everyday players, Jo Adell remains in Triple-A. Adell missed a few games this week with a stomach flu, according to the Angels, but he was back in the lineup on Saturday.

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Adell came into the game hitting .255 with a 1.046 OPS and five homers in 55 at-bats, although he was just 3 for 24 with 10 strikeouts in the five games before he got sick.

The Angels sent him down earlier this month because he was struggling in the majors, at the plate and in the outfield.

“Nobody’s speaking to me specifically that he’s gotten better or worse on defense,” Maddon said. “I just keep hearing how well he’s been hitting. Jo’s time is going to come. I’ve said it a million times. I really like this guy a lot. I like his ways a lot. I like him. I like his personality. I like his makeup a lot. You just can’t microwave everything. It’s a patient process. When he gets here the next time, you want him to be able to stay here.”

NOTES

The Angels recalled right-hander Janson Junk to take Rendon’s roster spot. Maddon said they prefer to “guard the arms” rather than bringing up another position player…

With the Angels lack of depth on the bench, Maddon was asked if Michael Lorenzen might see some action in the outfield or at the plate. Lorenzen was a two-way player at Cal State Fullerton and at times during his career with the Cincinnati Reds. “It’s not going to happen anytime soon,” Maddon said. “I’ve tried.” Maddon suggested that Lorenzen was in favor of making himself available for that, but the organization decided not to try it…

Left-hander José Quijada (oblique) is expected to make at least one more rehab outing before he’s activated. Quijada has pitched three scoreless innings in three outings at Class-A Inland Empire so far.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Patrick Sandoval, 3-1, 1.79) vs. Blue Jays (RHP José Berrios, 3-2, 4.75), Sunday, 1:07 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM