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…
Another NY prospect. Really no good at all but hyped because he’s in NYs farm lol
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.
Solar would be DH if Trout was playing the field. He never was known for his glove.
Very true. Sixteen million for a DH, for a lifetime WAR closer to 5 than 10 is Minasian…and Moreno in a nutshell.
I can’t wait until they are both gone.
Interestingly enough, I just read an article ranking 15 of the worst free agent signings in Angels history. Of those 15, 14 were under Arte’s ownership. Only Mo Vaughn was pre-Arte.
Minasian was responsible for one, Jose Quintana, 1 year deal.
I don’t think any GM would have success under Moreno. I give Minasian a little credit for at least allowing minor leaguers to get meals.. Yes, this was a thing Perry had to convince a billionaire to provide meals for minor leaguers. He also convinced Arte to build hitting and pitching labs, which happened last year, well after most teams.
I have so many things to say. The first one is, if Mo Vaughn is on the list, it’s not a good list. The Angels don’t make the playoffs in 2002 without Kevin Appier and the Angels don’t acquire him without Mo Vaughn.
Two, without a list of the best free agent signings, it’s a meaningless list.
Three. I agree, winning with Moreno would be difficult for any GM.
Another thing Google. To determine how bad these contracts really were, you have to start with the percentage of payroll.
Don Baylor was with the team 6 years and had a WAR of 6.2. Joe Rudi 4.5 over 4 years. Reggie Jackson had a WAR of 3.4 over 5 years. The pct of the payroll is more meaningful than contract.
@Helo Rendon makes way more of a percentage of the team’s payroll then those guys and contributes far less. Reggie made like a million a year. Rendon makes 37 million a year, which is around 18% of the team’s payroll.
Believe it or not, the Angels used to develop players. When did it stop? About when Arte bought the team. The Angels have one of, if not the smallest scouting dept. Over the years , they have lacked the tools to develop players. There are tons of articles alluding to the fact that Arte is a slumlord and how it demoralizes players.
There have been plenty of GMs that tried to run like a legit baseball club under Moreno. All have failed. . That will never work with the likes of Moreno. Minasian is the first GM that has tried to change to operate in the confines of a ownership of a Moreno. Why do you think he drafts players that are close to ready rather than players with high ceilings? . It’s because he knows the organization lacks the ability and tools to develop talent. 20 years of data should back that up.
The Angels have new tools to develop players now. I can tell by how they drafted that they believe they have the capacity to develop players again. Rather or not that comes to fruition remains to be seen.
I don’t agree with the first pick. I thought Anderson was more polished and had a better arsenal. However, I don’t believe any of the players are a Paul Skene’s caliber. Bremner didn’t put up very good numbers against lesser competition. You can’t throw same side change ups at the next level.. He needs a better breaking ball, which isn’t rated very high.
Jackson made a million when the team payroll was 12 million. How is that contract ignored.
Anyway, I’m not saying what the results would be, but any list that doesn’t include pct of payroll is meaningless.
I realize people hate Rendon. But if had a choice betweenMancado and Rendon, I’d pick Rendon 7 days of the week and twice on Sunday.
I hate the way Moncado plays baseball.
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.
And remember, everyone missed a ton of games in 2020. Trout’s injuries really became an issue in 2021.
Trout, in his late career, has a lot of similarities to Ken Griffey Jr. Both were still Hall of Fame players, but you always wonder what could have been if they were completely healthy in those later years.
I was thinking the exact same thing. Cal Ripken was a very good player, but talent-wise, he was not among the best of the best. Just imagine if you could take Ripken’s durability and combine it with the pure talent of either Trout or Griffey. You’d have the best player ever.
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.
Bucco – I’m no expert on the Rangers farm system, but I’m pretty sure Walcott is in the top like 15 prospects in the game. No way are they going to trade him for a utilityman and inconsistent, yet sometimes very good, reliever
Kev – I agree, Walcott is a player you package for Miller.
Keep dreaming .. though there’s no guarantee s walcott pans out
1.5 years of bednar ? Not even bednar plus keller
The stats as a DH say it’s time for Mike Trout to donate his glove and be a full-time DH. Playing the field now is too much on his surgically repaired knees,
Angels should have recognized that before they made that trade for Soler.
There is no reason to put Trout back in the field at this point. His bat is too valuable for the Angels.
Always wanted to see a MVP race between Trout and Judge. Hopefully Trout can remain healthy, even if it means being a full time DH.
“Meanwhile” must START the sentence. It cannot come in the middle, between commas.