The Angels introduced on Tuesday that Mike Trout is present process surgical procedure to restore a meniscus tear in his left knee. He was positioned on the 10-day injured record. Alden González and Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that Trout would bear knee surgical procedure. The membership hasn’t offered a timetable however anticipate Trout again this season, although González and Passan report that 4 to 6 weeks can be a best-case state of affairs, with the caveat that medical doctors might want to get a more in-depth look.
It’s unclear when Trout suffered the harm, as he was enjoying in final evening’s sport and wasn’t eliminated at any level. González relayed a two-minute video clip on X of Trout discussing the difficulty. Trout stated he felt it somewhat bit within the third inning nevertheless it didn’t appear to be a severe difficulty. Nevertheless it was sore after the sport and this morning, so he acquired it examined.
For sure, it’s an terrible improvement for the Angels and for Trout himself. The celebrity was in good kind to begin the 2024 marketing campaign. He has already launched ten dwelling runs and drawn walks in 12.7% of his plate appearances. He at the moment has a line of .220/.325/.541 for the yr, which interprets to a wRC+ of 142, indicating he’s been 42% higher than the league common hitter. He additionally stole six bases in seven tries.
However that efficiency is now placed on pause, the most recent setback for a participant who has turn into frustratingly harm susceptible in recent times. The final time he was in a position to play 120 video games in a season was 2019 and he’s solely gone past the 82-game plateau as soon as in that span. He was wholesome in 2020 however the pandemic shortened the season to 60 video games. A proper calf pressure was the offender in 2021, adopted by again issues the yr after that and a left hamate fracture final season. Now he’s set to overlook some undetermined quantity of the 2024 season whereas recovering from this surgical procedure.
As has so usually been the case, the Angels are struggling regardless of Trout’s finest efforts. They’re at the moment 11-18, which places them forward of simply the Astros and White Sox within the American League standings. Now they must proceed with out their franchise participant in middle area for the foreseeable future.
How the membership will proceed with out Trout stays to be seen. They simply designated Aaron Hicks for project yesterday, subtracting one outfielder from the combination. Now Trout’s inevitable placement on the injured record will subtract a second.
Jo Adell has loads of middle area expertise and has been hitting properly up to now this season, at the moment sporting a monster batting line of .321/.373/.623. Maybe most significantly, he’s solely hanging out at a 23.7% clip, in comparison with a 35.4% charge in his massive league time coming into this yr. Taylor Ward is having a great season on the plate and will stick in left area.
Mickey Moniak may have to leap into an everyday position, although his fortunes have fully flipped since final yr. In 2023, he rode a .397 batting common on balls in play to a line of .280/.307/.495. This yr, his BABIP has cratered to .189, resulting in a line of .143/.200/.214. He was due for regression primarily based on final yr’s 35% strikeout charge however he has really lowered that to 30% this yr, regardless of the far worse outcomes. Multi-positional gamers like Brandon Drury, Luis Rengifo, Cole Tucker and Ehire Adrianza have some outfield expertise. Jordyn Adams is on the 40-man however at the moment on elective project. The Angels additionally signed Kevin Pillar to a massive league contract shortly after saying Trout’s harm.
Trout’s contract runs via the 2030 season. Many speculated that he would possibly ask for a commerce away from the Angels now that Shohei Ohtani is gone and the workforce made little effort to enhance the roster this previous winter, regardless of his private makes an attempt to foyer the membership’s resolution makers to do extra. However in February, he stated that asking for a commerce can be “the simple approach out” and that he nonetheless desires to win with the Angels.
