ANAHEIM -- Angels superstar Mike Trout, who exited Wednesday's 9-3 loss to the Mariners early after jamming his surgically-repaired left knee on a sprint to first base, was held out of the lineup for Thursday’s series opener against the Tigers.
Angels manager Ron Washington said Trout is still undergoing testing on his knee and there was no update on his condition. Trout was hopeful he’d be in the lineup against Detroit but Jorge Soler made the start in right field.
“There’s no more than what I gave you yesterday,” Washington said. “He’s still being evaluated. But we could have something for you tomorrow. But when I spoke with him yesterday, he was in a good mood. So hopefully it's nothing too serious.”
Trout had gone 1-for-2 to start his day. In the third inning, he got jammed on a 94.2 mph sinker from Emerson Hancock and cued it the other way before bolting down the line at 29.7 ft./sec. -- his fastest sprint speed of the season -- but had to stretch a bit while lunging to the base.
Trout went back out to right field for the bottom of the third, but when his spot in the order came up next, with two on and two out in the fourth, Washington sent Jo Adell out to hit in his spot.
After the game, Trout said that he felt all right coming back into the dugout after the play itself, but when he went out to right field, it started to feel “weird.”
“When I started jogging in the outfield a little bit, I started feeling it a little more,” Trout said Wednesday. “Wanted to be smart about it.”
Washington added: “It’s better to be cautious than to ignore it. So we took him out.”
After leaving the game, Trout was able to get checked by a doctor and undergo basic tests, all of which Trout said came back clean. Combined with ice and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, Trout said he already felt improvement by the time the game ended.
“When it happened, it was just a weird feeling,” Trout said. “After getting treatment stuff, it actually feels a little better. Hopefully, it’s just a little scar tissue breaking up.”
The three-time MVP has a .173/.261/.462 slash line. His nine home runs are tied for fourth in the Majors.
It’s an untimely injury scare for Trout, who has reached the 100-game threshold in just one of the previous four seasons. His blazing start to the 2024 season was cut short exactly one year and one day ago with a torn meniscus in his left knee; he recovered from that injury in time to begin a rehab assignment in July, but only played two innings of it before feeling more discomfort, and further testing revealed another, separate tear that ultimately ended his season.
In 2023, a fractured hamate sent him to the IL on July 4; he played just one game after being activated before another injury ended that season completely. In 2021, a calf strain limited him to just 36 games.