Injury Updates: Trout, Rodriguez, Buxton, Thielbar, Meyer
Mike Trout hasn’t played since July 12 due to back spasms, and that absence morphed into a stint on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his left ribcage. The Angels placed the superstar on the IL on July 18, but head trainer Mike Frostad told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group) that Trout will miss more than the minimum 10 days. Trout received a cortisone shot in his back “a few days ago.”
It isn’t yet known when Trout could return, and any sort of lingering problem is obviously bad news for the Angels and their fans — especially after last season, when Trout played in only 36 games due to a seemingly minor calf injury that simply never healed. Trout returned in 2022 to deliver another outstanding set of numbers, though it isn’t helped an Angels team that has fallen apart after an impressive first five weeks of play.
More injury updates from around baseball…
- Julio Rodriguez has missed both of the Mariners‘ games in the second half, as the rookie star is day-to-day with left wrist soreness. Rodriguez first suffered the injury while sliding during a stolen-base attempt last Sunday, and he told reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer and other reporters) that he felt more soreness after participating in the Home Run Derby on during Monday’s All-Star week festivities. However, the injury is “feeling better already,” and Rodriguez doesn’t think he’ll miss much time. Rodriguez has exploded onto the scene in his first season, hitting .275/.337/.477 with 15 homers and 21 steals over his first 380 plate appearances in the majors.
- Byron Buxton will miss the Twins‘ weekend series in Detroit, as the outfielder received a PRP injection in his right knee on Wednesday. (Megan Ryan of The Minneapolis Star Tribune was among those to report the news.) Buxton has been plagued by tendinitis in his right knee for much of the season, though he opted to play in the All-Star Game for the first time rather than sit out the entire break. Since Minnesota has off-days sandwiched around this two-game series against the Tigers, Buxton will receive five days off anyway, and the hope is that he’ll be ready to play when the Twins face the Brewers on Tuesday.
- In other Twins injury news, Minnesota placed left-hander Caleb Thielbar on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to July 19) due to a left hamstring strain. Right-hander Yennier Cano was called up to take Thielbar’s spot on the active roster. Thielbar has a rather misleading 4.84 ERA over 35 1/3 relief innings this season, as he has outstanding hard-contact and strikeout numbers, plus only a 3.00 SIERA.
- Max Meyer made only 10 pitches before exiting tonight’s game due to what the Marlins described as right elbow discomfort. The ominous diagnosis comes on the heels of some ulnar nerve irritation that sidelined Meyer while he was pitching in the minors earlier this season. One of baseball’s top pitching prospects, Meyer was making his second career start after allowing five runs over 5 1/3 frames in his July 16 debut.
Angels Place Mike Trout On IL With Ribcage Inflammation
The Angels have announced that Mike Trout has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to left ribcage inflammation. They also announced the previously reported claim of infielder Phil Gosselin, and that outfielder Monte Harrison has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake.
At this point, there’s been no indication from the team as to how long they expect Trout to be out of action. He has missed some time recently due to back spasms, though the club avoided putting him on the IL until now. Perhaps they were waiting for the All-Star break, when the 10-day minimum absence would sting the least, though further word will surely come from the Angels in time.
Trout had been fairly healthy for the early portions of his career, playing in at least 114 games for the eight seasons from 2012 to 2019 and only coming in below 134 in one of those. He followed that up by getting into 53 of the club’s 60 games in the shortened 2020 season. Last year, however, he made it into only 36 contests, as a calf issue that didn’t initially seem serious eventually lingered and finished his season.
This year, he’s gotten into 79 of the club’s 92 games so far, already more than doubling his total from last year. He hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down in terms of overall production, hitting an excellent .270/.368/.599 for a 168 wRC+. He’s produced 3.8 wins above replacement already, according to FanGraphs.
Regardless of how much time he misses, it’s yet another disappointing setback in a season full of them for the Angels. Despite a hot start to the year wherein the club was 24-14 in mid-May, they’ve played at a miserable 15-39 pace since and are now 39-53 overall. The club is 10 1/2 games out of a playoff spot and seems more likely to sell than add at the deadline. Taking that into consideration, it makes sense to give Trout some time off to get healthy, rather than pushing him and potentially worsening the issue.
As for Harrison, he was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason after being released by the Marlins. Despite once being a highly-rated prospect, strikeout issues have kept him from living up to his athletic potential. Despite a 35% strikeout rate in the minors this year, he was selected to the big league for some bench/pinch running/defensive replacement duties. He played nine game but got just 14 plate appearances, striking out in eight of them, before being DFA’d. Having been previously outrighted in his career, he has the ability to reject the outright assignment and elect free agency, though it’s not yet clear which path he’s taken.
Angels Designate Monte Harrison For Assignment, Recall Jo Adell
The Angels announced that they have recalled outfielder Jo Adell. To make room for him on the active roster, outfielder Monte Harrison has been designated for assignment.
Harrison, 26, was signed by the Angels to a minor league deal in April. He hit .213/.305/.368 for a wRC+ of just 67, but did steal 2o bases in 50 games. He was selected to the big league club about three weeks ago but has been used sparingly, getting into just nine games and stepping up to the plate just 14 times.
Once considered one of the top prospects in the sport, Harrison was part of the return the Marlins received in the Christian Yelich trade. Unfortunately, a propensity for strikeouts has prevented him from truly becoming a useful player thus far. He struck out in 35% of his plate appearances in Triple-A this year and then 57.1% in that limited MLB showing.
Since he’s out of options, the only way for the Angels to get him off the roster was to designate him for assignment. The Angels will have a week to trade him, pass him through waivers or release him. Should he clear waivers, he would have the ability to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.
As for Adell, this is the latest step in what has become a pattern for him wherein he mashes in the minors but struggles in the majors, before getting sent down and starting the process over again. He got his first call-up in 2020 but hit just .161/.212/.266 for a wRC+ of 27. Optioned to Triple-A to start the 2021 campaign, he hit .289/.342/.592 for a 122 wRC+. He got recalled in August but produced a tepid line of .246/.295/.408 in the majors, wRC+ of 90. Here in 2022, he made the Opening Day roster but hit .215/.227/.400 through the beginning of May and got optioned. Outside of a six-day stretch in June, he’s been in Triple-A since then, hitting .239/.333/.587 for a wRC+ of 116.
The recall of Adell seems to at least be partially motivated by the fact that Mike Trout is dealing with back spasms. Before tonight’s game, he told reporters, including Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, that he has been experiencing discomfort for over a week and that it got worse last night. He is out of tonight’s lineup, though he says he doesn’t expect to go on the IL and should be fine to participate in next week’s All-Star game.
MLB Announces 2022 All-Star Starters
Major League Baseball announced the starting lineups for the 2022 All-Star Game this evening. The starting lineups are determined by fan vote. This year’s All-Star Game will take place at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, July 19. The starting pitchers and reserves will be announced at a later date.
American League
- Catcher: Alejandro Kirk, Blue Jays (1st selection)
- First base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays (2nd selection)
- Second base: Jose Altuve, Astros (8th selection)
- Third base: Rafael Devers, Red Sox (2nd selection)
- Shortstop: Tim Anderson, White Sox (2nd selection)
- Outfield: Aaron Judge, Yankees (4th selection)
- Outfield: Mike Trout, Angels (10th selection)
- Outfield: Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees (5th selection)
- Designated hitter: Shohei Ohtani, Angels (2nd selection)
National League
- Catcher: Willson Contreras, Cubs (3rd selection)
- First base: Paul Goldschmidt, Cardinals (8th selection)
- Second base: Jazz Chisholm Jr., Marlins (1st selection)
- Third base: Manny Machado, Padres (6th selection)
- Shortstop: Trea Turner, Dodgers (2nd selection)
- Outfield: Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves (3rd selection)
- Outfield: Mookie Betts, Dodgers (6th selection)
- Outfield: Joc Pederson, Giants (2nd selection)
- Designated hitter: Bryce Harper, Phillies (7th selection)
Angels Select Dillon Thomas, Designate Ty Buttrey
The Angels have selected outfielder Dillon Thomas onto the major league roster, according to a club announcement. They’ve also recalled Jack Mayfield from Triple-A Salt Lake, optioned José Suarez and placed Luis Rengifo on the paternity list. Reliever Ty Buttrey has been designated for assignment to open space for Thomas on the 40-man roster.
Thomas inked a minor league contract with the Halos over the offseason. The 29-year-old has spent the year in Salt Lake and performed quite well, hitting .295/.398/.489 with eight home runs in 211 plate appearances. Thomas has drawn walks in a strong 10.9% of his trips while striking out at a roughly league average level (23.7%). It’s his second consecutive solid year of Triple-A work, as he posted a .269/.377/.448 line with the Mariners top affiliate in 2021.
Seattle gave Thomas a brief look at the MLB level last summer, getting him into four games. The Houston native will hope for a longer stay on the roster this time around, although he does have a pair of minor league option years remaining and can be moved between Anaheim and Salt Lake.
Thomas, who has some experience in center field but has spent most of his minor league career in the corners, adds some depth while the team plays things cautiously with Mike Trout. The three-time MVP left last night’s game early with left groin tightness. It doesn’t seem to be a concern, as team trainer Mike Frostad told reporters (including Sam Blum of the Athletic) that Trout is day-to-day. Juan Lagares will get the start in center field tonight, however.
Buttrey, meanwhile, loses his 40-man roster spot after struggling in Triple-A. He’s tossed 12 1/3 innings of nine-run ball, striking out only five batters while issuing a trio of walks. Buttrey has induced grounders on almost 60% of batted balls, but he wasn’t missing enough bats to be on the radar for an MLB call. The 29-year-old frankly acknowledged after his DFA (Twitter link) that he “(has) work to do to get myself back to peak form. … The best players will play and I’m not one of them yet. We will see what happens over the next few days, if not I’ll be back in Angel Stadium when the time is right.”
It’s not especially surprising that Buttrey hasn’t been at top form to this point, as he’s making his way back after sitting out the 2021 campaign. The right-hander stepped away from the game last April, saying at the time he’d begun to lose his passion and love for the sport. After a year away, Buttrey embarked on a comeback in January, and he’s occupied a spot on the 40-man roster since April.
The Angels will now have a week to trade Buttrey or try to run him through outright waivers. He struggled to a 5.81 ERA over 26 1/3 big league frames during the shortened 2020 season, but he’d posted a 3.98 mark with a quality 27.2% strikeout rate in 2019.
Mike Trout Exits Game With Groin Tightness
June 8: Trout told reporters after the game that he cramped up while legging out his double and felt it better to be cautious (link via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times). Trout called the injury “nothing crazy,” and the Angels, notably, do not have an MRI scheduled for today. They’ll see how Trout is feeling this morning before taking any further steps.
June 7: Mike Trout exited tonight’s game between the Angels and Red Sox in the third inning due to what the team later announced as left groin tightness. Trout stung a double into center field but was replaced a few pitches later by Jo Adell, who came into the game as a pinch-runner.
Trout has started 50 of the Halos’ first 56 games, with 48 of those nods coming in his typical center field position. The three-time MVP is having another incredible campaign, exiting play tonight with a .284/.388/.601 slash line with 14 home runs. Among qualified hitters, only Aaron Judge, José Ramírez, Paul Goldschmidt and Yordan Álvarez entered the night with a better wRC+ than Trout’s 183 — indicating he’s been 83 percentage points better than the league average batter.
The Angels are mired in a 12-game losing streak that has dropped them a couple games below .500. That skid already contributed to the team’s decision to dismiss manager Joe Maddon this afternoon. Nevertheless, the Halos entered play tonight only a game and a half back of the American League’s final playoff spot — a reflection of the club’s excellent play through the season’s first month-plus.
There’s no indication at this point that Trout’s removal was anything more than a precautionary measure. The Halos will surely provide more information on his status following tonight’s contest. Los Angeles is currently without Taylor Ward, Anthony Rendon and David Fletcher, thinning the position player mix and no doubt contributing to the team’s recent downturn.
Mike Trout Leaves Game After Hit-By-Pitch
4:48 PM: The Angels are breathing a sigh of relief as X-rays on Trout’s hand have come back negative, per the team. He is being considered day-to-day for now.
3:15 PM: Mike Trout was removed from the Angels game today after being hit on the left hand by an 81 mph slider, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com (via Twitter). Jeff Fletcher of the SoCal News Group provides video of the hit-by-pitch here.
It’s too early to speculate about the severity of the injury, but it does not bode well that Trout had to come out of the game. Needless to say, it would be a devastating blow for the Angels to lose Trout for any significant amount of time this early in the season.
Trout, long considered the best player in baseball, missed most of last season with a calf strain that seemed to worsen the longer he was out. He ultimately played just 36 games, slashing .333/.466/.624 over 146 plate appearances, good for a robust 190 wRC+.
There’s fear enough that Trout might be slowing down now that he’s entered his thirties, and another extended absence would only exacerbate the concern. When healthy, the bottom-line numbers certainly haven’t suffered. The Angels, for their part, would have a difficult time making up for the loss of Trout, even with Brandon Marsh on the roster and capable of stepping in defensively. Offensively, there’s simply no replacing a talent like Trout. Hopefully, the injury turns out to be minor.
Angels Notes: Trout, Velazquez, Maddon, Coaches
Mike Trout took over as the Angels’ primary center fielder in 2012 and was a stalwart there until last year, when a calf injury limited him to just 36 games. It seems the time has come where the team is thinking about when to move the 30-year-old into a corner outfield role. Manager Joe Maddon told reporters, including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, that the team has talked about the possibility of slotting Brandon Marsh in center field instead.
Center field is generally considered a more physically demanding position to play, relative to the corners, making the move a worthwhile consideration. If the toll of playing defense were reduced for Trout, it would increase his odds of staying healthy and in the lineup. Trout has already been considered one of the best hitters in baseball for a decade now, if not the very best. There’s no sign of that slowing down on a rate basis. Before his season was cut short last year, he was hitting .333/.466/.624, producing an incredible wRC+ of 190, a couple ticks above his career high of 188.
In terms of his work in center, there are possible signs of decline. DRS and UZR both gave him negative marks in each of the past three seasons. Statcast’s OAA is a bit more favorable, giving him -2 in 2019 but +1 in 2020 and 2021. Marsh just made his MLB debut last year and has only played 70 games, so small sample caveats apply here, but his numbers were -3 DRS, +0.9 UZR and +2 OAA. Perhaps the switch would give the club the double advantage of keeping Trout healthy and finding out if Marsh can provide quality center field defense over a larger sample.
Elsewhere on the diamond, Maddon says that the shortstop position is going to be an open battle between Andrew Velazquez, Tyler Wade, Luis Rengifo and David Fletcher, but that Velazquez is the favorite right now. (Twitter link from Sam Blum of The Athletic.) The 27-year-old Velazquez only has 96 games of MLB experience thus far in his career, producing a tepid batting line of .184/.249/.276. He fared much better in Triple-A last year, but a team with designs on competing would surely want a more proven option. However, even though Spring Training is gearing up, there’s much offseason business still ongoing due to the lockout, meaning there’s still time for the club to make an addition to their middle infield group.
As for Maddon himself, he’s entering the final guaranteed year of his contract. Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times relays that Maddon says he has not been approached about an extension, though he would love to sign one. Although this is the last guaranteed year on the deal, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the club actually has a $4MM option for Maddon’s services in 2023, which comes with a $1MM buyout. That means the urgency to get an extension done might not actually be so high for the club.
Moving on to Maddon’s staff, it was reported in January that former bench coach Mike Gallego would be sticking around in some capacity, though his role was undefined. Now Blum relays that Gallego’s title will be Major League field coordinator. The club still hasn’t announced a first base coach, though it’s unclear if that’s related to the Adam Eaton situation. It was reported in January that Eaton was considering retiring and taking a coaching position with the Angels, though he was still a member of the MLBPA and unable to discuss the opportunity during the lockout.
Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon Healthy For Start Of Spring Training
After injury-shortened 2021 seasons, two of the Angels’ biggest stars are healthy. Mike Trout‘s agent Craig Landis tells Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times that Trout is “100 percent” ready to fully participate in Spring Training activities whenever the lockout ends, while a source familiar with Anthony Rendon‘s recovery says the third baseman is also a “full-go” in the wake of surgery to correct a hip impingement.
Trout and Rendon combined for 84 games in 2021, and were in the same starting lineup together only 19 times. Trout was at least still his superstar-level self before suffering a season-ending right calf strain on May 17, hitting .333/.466/.624 with eight home runs over what ended up being his only 146 plate appearances. For Rendon, a series of nagging problems sent him to the injured list on multiple occasions and limited his production to only a .240/.329/.382 slash line over 249 PA.
The majority of Rendon’s injuries related to his left leg, though it was actually a right hip problem stemming from his rehab for a left hamstring injury that finally ended his season in August. Rendon said during a radio interview in November that the timing of the surgery was intended so he could head into Spring Training with a clean bill of health, and that now appears to be the case, even if the lockout has delayed the entirety of the normal baseball calendar.
Trout’s calf strain was a source of constant frustration for the former MVP, the Angels, and baseball fans as a whole, as the outfielder was seemingly close to a return on multiple occasions except his calf never stopped feeling sore after Trout took part in baseball-related activities. Trout and the team held out hope until September before officially shutting things down, again with an eye towards an early start on getting Trout fully healthy for the 2022 season.
Needless to say, the returns of Trout and Rendon in full health and with their usual levels of production could give the Angels one of the league’s most dangerous lineups. Of course, pitching has long been the Angels’ biggest obstacle, but the team has re-signed closer Raisel Iglesias and also added Noah Syndergaard and Michael Lorenzen to the rotation mix, not to mention what other moves could be in store once the transactions freeze is lifted.
Mike Trout Confirms End Of His 2021 Season
Mike Trout officially confirmed what has been looking more and more obvious for some weeks now — he won’t play again in the 2021 season. The decision was actually made a few weeks ago, Trout told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters, as Trout was never able to fully recover from the right calf strain that first sent him to the injured list back in May.
“My body wasn’t allowing it. It’s been a grind and it’s been tough for me….My mind and what I wanted was telling me one thing and my body was telling me something else,” Trout said. “I was feeling really good in workouts and then [the calf] would get sore on me. It’s been a tough September for me. If we were in the race, it might be different and maybe I could play through it. But it got to the point where I needed a rehab assignment and had two weeks left and just looking at the bigger picture, it was smarter to get it right and get ready for Spring Training.”
After suffering the injury on May 17, Trout was initially projected to miss six-to-eight weeks — a lengthy absence to be sure, but nothing that appeared to be season-threatening. On multiple occasions, Trout appeared to be on the verge of beginning a minor league rehab assignment, though as he noted, continued soreness in his calf prevented him from taking the field in a proper game environment.
In something of a bitter irony, Trout said his calf is “almost 100 percent, if not 100 percent” in the two weeks since he was shut down. He fully expects to be ready for Spring Training, and is “looking forward to having a healthy offseason. Keep that same routine.”
Since the Angels were also hampered by an injury-plagued year for Anthony Rendon, mediocre defense, and another year of subpar pitching, it’s hard to say whether or not a healthy Trout would have been enough to get Los Angeles into the postseason race. However, it’s safe to assume that the Angels would have more than just 73 wins with Trout providing his usual level of superstar production. Trout was hitting an absurd .333/.466/.624 with eight home runs over 146 plate appearances, and one can only imagine the offensive fireworks that could have been generated with a healthy Trout and Rendon joining MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani in the lineup.
Trout does expect big things from the Angels in both 2022 and in the coming offseason, noting that “We have a lot of money to spend. Hopefully we go out there, get some good guys. I trust Perry [GM Perry Minasian], I trust the top guys in this organization….I’m very confident with the group up there. They’re working hard every day. They’re trying to put a winning team on the field.”