Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon, who has been dealing with a sore oblique since July 15, will not be in the Opening Day lineup against the A’s on Friday, manager Joe Maddon said Wednesday.

Rendon, signed to a seven-year deal before the season, was again held out of the lineup in Wednesday’s exhibition game against the Padres, and while he’s made some progress, he won’t play on Friday. But the hope is he could avoid the injured list and only miss the first few games of the season.

“He more than likely may miss a couple in Oakland,” Maddon said via Zoom. “We’re not ready to do anything more than that. We think he’s on a pretty good path right now. If we could just keep him active, and get him back sooner rather than later, we may choose to do that."

Maddon, though, said oblique injuries can be tricky, so they’ll be cautious with Rendon. With Rendon out, David Fletcher is expected to get the start at third on Opening Day. Matt Thaiss will serve as Fletcher’s backup at the position.

“You don’t want to bring him back early and lose him for the whole year either,” Maddon said. “It’s pretty much listening to the medical guys. The word is he keeps getting better. Today is Wednesday. Let’s just play it one day at a time and try to get him better sooner than later.”