The Angels announced that on Tuesday Mike Trout is undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. He was placed on the ten-day injured list. ESPN's Alden González and Jeff Passan first reported that Trout would undergo knee surgery. The club has not given a timetable but expects Trout to return this season, although González and Passan report that four to six weeks would be the best case scenario, with the caveat that doctors will need to monitor it closely.
It is not clear when Trout was injured as he was playing in last night's game and was not ruled out at any time. González uploaded a two-minute video clip to Trout's X discussing the matter. Trout said he felt it a little bit in the third quarter but it didn't seem like a serious issue. But it hurt after the game and this morning, so he got it checked out.
Needless to say, it's a terrible development for the Angels and for Trout himself. The star was in good shape to start the 2024 campaign. He has already delivered ten home runs and a walk in 12.7% of his plate appearances. He currently has a .220/.325/.541 line on the year, which translates to a wRC+ of 142, which shows he was 42% better than the league average. He also stole six bases in seven attempts.
But that streak has now been put on hold, the latest setback for a player who has become infuriatingly injury-prone in recent years. The last time he managed to play 120 games in a season was 2019 and he went beyond the 82 game mark once in that time. He was healthy in 2020 but the pandemic shortened the season to 60 games. A right calf strain was a factor in 2021, followed by back problems the following year and a left hamate fracture last season. He will now miss an undetermined amount of the 2024 season while he recovers from the surgery.
As has been the case so often, the Angels struggled despite Trout's best efforts. They are currently 11-18, which puts them ahead of the Astros and White Sox in the American League standings. Now they will have to move on without their franchise player in center field for the foreseeable future.
How the club will continue without Trout remains to be seen. They just chose Aaron Hicks by assignment yesterday, removing one foreign player from the mix. Now Trout's inevitable placement on the injured list will take a second.
Jo Adell has plenty of center field experience and has been hitting well so far this season, currently sporting a monster .321/.373/.623 batting line. Perhaps most importantly, he has struck out at just a 23.7% clip, compared to 35.4% in his big league time entering this year. Taylor Ward is having a great season at the plate and should stick in left field.
Mickey Moniak he may have to jump into a regular role, even though his fortunes have completely changed since last year. In 2023, he rode a .397 batting average on balls in play to a .280/.307/.495 line. This year, his BABIP has hit .189, leading to a .143/.200/.214 line. He was supposed to be back from last year's 35% strikeout rate but has actually dropped that to 30% this year, despite some very poor results. Most position players like it Brandon Drury, Luis Rengifo, Cole Tucker again Hosted by Adrianza have some outdoor experience. Jordyn Adams he is over 40 man but he is currently still assigned voluntarily. The Angels also signed Kevin Pillar to a major league contract shortly after Trout's injury was announced.
Trout's contract runs through the 2030 season. Many thought he might request a trade away from the Angels now Shohei Ohtani he's gone and the team made little effort to improve the roster this past winter, despite his own efforts to persuade the team's decision-makers to do more. But in February, he said asking for a trade would be “the easy way out” and that he still wants to win with the Angels.
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