Mike Trout, the Los Angeles Angels superstar who has struggled to stay healthy in recent years, is headed to the injured list again.
The three-time American League MVP left the Angels’ Wednesday game due to a sore left knee, and manager Ron Washington announced after the team’s Thursday game that Trout will be out at least 10 days.
“He has a bone bruise so we’re going to put him on the IL,” Washington said following Los Angeles’ 10-4 defeat against the Detroit Tigers. “It’s not significant, but he needs rest.”
The latest injury occurred as Trout lunged to touch first base as he tried to beat out an infield grounder during the third inning of a 9-3 road loss to the Seattle Mariners. He was replaced by a pinch hitter an inning later. It’s the same knee on which Trout had surgery to repair a torn meniscus almost exactly a year ago, on May 3, 2024.
A variety of injuries kept Trout from playing more than 82 games in three of the previous four seasons, and his high during that span was 119 games in 2022. Earlier in his career, he was extremely durable, averaging 144.9 games per year from 2012-19, and he played 53 of the team’s 60 games in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.
This year, Trout moved from his longtime spot in center field to right field in an attempt to limit the potential injury risk.
His power numbers have been solid this year: .462 slugging percentage, nine homers and 18 RBIs in 29 games. However, Trout has a .179 batting average and a .264 on-base percentage.
Trout, 33, is an 11-time All-Star and nine-time Silver Slugger winner. He was the AL Rookie of the Year in 2012 before winning MVP awards in 2014, 2016 and 2019, and he was the MVP runner-up in 2013, 2015 and 2018.
In 1,547 games over 15 seasons, he has a career batting line of .297/.408/.579 with 387 homers, 972 RBIs and 214 stolen bases.
