Mike Trout was hitting .179/.264/.462 when a bone bruise in his left knee sent him to the injured list on May 2, but since being activated from the IL, Trout has been closer to his old superstar form in batting .287/.432/.483 over his last 183 plate appearances. It might not be a coincidence that Trout has excelled since exclusively acting as a designated hitter since his return, as the Angels have been cautiously managing his leg health in the wake of both the bone bruise, and a variety of other leg injuries over the years. Trout did take part in some right field drills prior to Friday’s game and came away feeling good, though he told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters that the team doesn’t yet have a timetable set in regards to an in-game return to right field.
Both Trout and interim manager Ray Montgomery are eager to see Trout return to right field, with Montgomery noting that freeing up the DH spot would allow more players to get partial rest days. Time will tell when Trout is entirely physically ready to go, though there must be some slight sense of “if it ain’t broke….” within the Angels’ decision process. Trout has been so hammered by injuries in recent years that if regular DH duty allows him to stay in the lineup and post big numbers, the Halos surely have to be considering whether limiting Trout to just cameo appearances in the outfield could be the best course of action going forward.
More from the AL West….
- The Rangers had interest in Kyle Finnegan when the reliever was a free agent last winter, and the club has had interest in Pirates closer David Bednar dating back to at least last season’s trade deadline, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. These two relievers could therefore be particular names to watch as Texas looks for help at the back of its bullpen, along with a few other closer candidates that Grant cite as possible deadline candidates. Texas is an even 49-49 entering today’s play, so it remains to be seen if the Rangers could buy or sell at the deadline. Speculatively, a trade for Bednar would help for both this season and as a jump start on the 2026 plans, as Bednar is arbitration-controlled for one more year. Finnegan, meanwhile, is just a rental since he signed a one-year contract with the Nationals in the offseason.
- Brendan Rodgers suffered a concussion and a nasal fracture after a scary collision with teammate Edwin Diaz in a game with Triple-A Sugar Land yesterday. As a result, the Astros told the Athletic’s Chandler Rome and other reporters that Rodgers has been returned from the minor league rehab assignment that only just began with yesterday’s abbreviated Triple-A outing. Rodgers was placed on the big league 10-day IL just over a month ago due to an oblique strain, and while the start of his rehab assignment indicated that he was getting close to a return, his timeline is now completely up in the air as he deals from these new injuries. Over 128 plate appearances for Houston, Rodgers has hit only .191/.266/.278.
- Ken Waldichuk has reached the end of his 30-day rehab window, so the Athletics activated the southpaw from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. Waldichuk underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2024, and he clearly isn’t yet ready for the bigs based the results during his rehab assignment. Over 15 1/3 minor league innings, Waldichuk has struggled to a 7.63 ERA and almost as many walks (16) as strikeouts (17). Should he get on track, Waldichuk could emerge as an option for the A’s rotation or bullpen in August.
Waldichuk what happened to him – he seemed like a middle rotation possible in minors now looks like he is hoping to be a journeyman reliever at best. NY must have seen this to include in the montas deal
Waldichuk had TJ surgery a year ago. If completely healed, he will be a major boost to a very young talented A’s team…
Get well soon, Trout!
He is well!
He’s planning ahead.
Man, Brendan Rodgers is not truly injury prone, but he does have a lot of freak injuries in his career. I only consider injury prone if they have the same thing several times or a lot of common type injuries. But Rodgers has always been injured in-game in weird ways. It’s a shame because when he is fully healthy, you can see the talent is there. But I just feel he is never going to be able to show that to the world.
I can see why the Angels would want Trout back in right field as they currently have Jorge Soler playing there. Of course, they may want to consider just letting Soler go. He is not hitting well and his fielding is pretty atrocious.
They owe him 16 million next year.
Another insanely stupid move by the Angels.
Imagine if Trout was healthy the past 5 or so years. No one doubts that he is/was the best player of his generation. But holy, 337 games total from 2021 to 2025. And he was productive when he was available, even if he was a far cry from what we’d expect of such a talent. You hope the guy can finish his career injury free from now on because he’s a definite HoF guy in my book even if recent injury riddled years have put a giant damper on his overall statistics.
Mr. Trout was a lock HOF’er the minute he qualified. And that will hold true no matter what he does going forward.
He did miss a ton of games from 2020-2024. But don’t forget that, in 2022, he played in 119 games, put up 6.1 WAR, and finished 8th in MVP voting.
Despite missing 30% of games this season, and being banged up, he’s still in the Angel’s top 5 in HR, RBI and WAR. And his .287/.432/.483 since coming back from the DL is fantastic to see.
Seeing as Texas has their entire infield locked up for the next 3 years I’d say Walcott is expendable. Bednar and we’ll even throw in Kiner-Falefa for the reunion.