Los Angeles Angels

An MRI on Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout's left knee came back clean, according to The Associated Press (h/t ESPN).

"It's a huge relief for me," Trout said on Friday, revealing that he's dealing with scar tissue buildup and inflammation.

The three-time American League MVP added that he could resume running and baseball activities "any day now."

Trout hasn't appeared in a game since April 29 after suffering a torn meniscus that required surgery.

As Trout progressed through his recovery, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com initially reported on July 20 that the 32-year-old could return to the majors "as soon as Thursday."

However, the 11-time All-Star suffered a setback in the first game of his rehab assignment as a member of the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees. Trout played just two innings before he was removed from the game after experiencing soreness in his left knee.

The Angels later announced that he would return to Southern California for further evaluation.

Injuries have slowed down Trout in recent years, as he only surpassed 100 games played in one of the past four seasons. He was limited to just 82 appearances in 2023 due to a wrist issue and suited up in a mere 36 contests in 2021 after suffering a torn right calf.

While Trout started off his 2024 campaign with a relatively low .220 batting average, he was still showcasing his power at the plate on a nightly basis. He racked up 10 home runs and 14 RBIs through 29 games, adding six steals.

Although the Angels' postseason chances are slim as they sit 11 games back from the final AL wild card spot, Trout's potential return could add some power to a lineup that ranks No. 25 in OPS among all MLB teams.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, who has been out since April 29 with a torn left meniscus, is leaving his rehab assignment with the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees after suffering a setback on Tuesday, per a team announcement.

Trout started in center field and played two innings for the Bees on Tuesday before leaving the game with left knee soreness. Manager Ron Washington told reporters afterward that Trout was feeling better and expressed hope that the superstar could continue his rehab assignment as a designated hitter for Salt Lake on Wednesday.

However, Trout is now returning to Southern California for further evaluation.

Per MLB.com, the plan was for Trout to play five innings in center on Tuesday, serving as the DH Wednesday and potentially playing center again Thursday before getting activated.

Unfortunately, Trout's timetable to return is unclear after an unfortunate setback for one of the game's greats.

Trout, a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer someday, has won three American League MVP awards and made 11 All-Star teams.

Unfortunately, injuries have now taken a major toll on the 32-year-old's career. A torn right calf muscle held him to 36 games in 2021. A rare back condition (a costovertebral dysfunction at T5) held him out for over a month in 2022.

A fractured left hamate bone in his wrist suffered in July 2023 following a foul ball during an at-bat ended up costing him the rest of last season.

Simply put, the injuries have robbed Trout of massive chunks of an incredible prime. When healthy, he's arguably been the best player in baseball since his entrance to the bigs in 2011. But he's suffered terrible luck forcing him to the bench.

Hopefully Trout will overcome this latest setback and at least get to play before the season ends in a few months. But the biggest wish is for the Angels legend to finally enjoy a well-deserved string of good health after dealing with setback after setback for years.

Mike Trout's return to the Los Angeles Angels this season may have hit a snag.

The superstar slugger only played two innings during the first Triple-A game in his rehabilitation assignment due to soreness in his left knee, according to the team. He is considered day to day.

Trout tore his left meniscus in April and underwent surgery shortly thereafter.

Injuries have become the prevalent storyline of Trout's career in recent seasons.

The 32-year-old only played 36 games in 2021, 119 games in 2022, 82 games last season and just 29 this year. When healthy, Trout was the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year, a three-time MVP and 11-time All-Star.

He was arguably the best overall player in baseball during his prime. But if you subscribe to the old adage that availability is the best ability, Trout has lost his place atop the mantle.

That may have happened anyway given the emergence of superstars like Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Ronald Acuña Jr. and others around the sport. But his inability to stay on the field has no doubt been frustrating for him, and a major bummer for baseball fans.

In the process, the Angels have seen just about everything go wrong for their franchise.

Anthony Rendon was signed to a massive deal ahead of the 2020 season and has been a huge bust. Ohtani departed for the Los Angeles Dodgers this past offseason. Trout has struggled to stay on the field. The team is well on its way to a ninth straight losing season, which will extend its playoff drought to 10 years.

The hope this month was that a Trout return was imminent. That is now in question.

"Hopefully that's another progression he's making and we can have him back," Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters on Tuesday while discussing Trout's Triple-A rehab assignment. "I don't know exactly when, but let's see how it goes in Salt Lake City and then make a call from there."

So far, not so great.

Mike Trout could make his return to the field soon.

Per MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger, the Los Angeles Angels star could rejoin the team as soon as Thursday's matchup with the Oakland Athletics. Trout underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee in May.

Bollinger reported that Trout will face live pitching this week at the Angels' spring training facility in Arizona over the next two days and is expected to begin his rehab assignment with Triple-A Salt Lake on Monday.

Before hitting the shelf, Trout totaled 10 home runs, 14 RBI and posted a .220 average across 29 games.

The three-time MVP has struggled with injuries in recent seasons as he was limited to just 82 games last year after suffering a wrist injury. While he played most of the season in 2022, he only played 36 games in 2021 with a calf injury.

In between his injury-riddled seasons in 2022, Trout had one of the best years of his career with 40 home runs, 80 RBI and a .283 batting average.

In Trout's absence, the Angels have struggled and currently sit at 41-56—good for fourth place in the AL West. Barring any miraculous late-season turnaround, Los Angeles will likely miss its 10th consecutive postseason.

The Los Angeles Angels added the son of a baseball legend during the 2024 MLB draft on Tuesday.

As David Brandt of the Associated Press noted, the American League West team selected Lucas Ramírez in the 17th round of the draft. Ramírez is the son of Manny Ramírez, who was one of the best players of his generation during a career that lasted from 1993 to 2011.

Ramírez, 18, is an outfielder and first baseman who committed to Tennessee in January 2023. However, Ben McKee of 247 Sports reported the expectation is he will sign with the Angels after the team selected him in Tuesday's draft.

Gio Rivera of NESN noted the prospect played three seasons at American Heritage High School in Plantation, Florida, and hit .308 with four home runs, 10 doubles and 22 RBI during 32 games in his senior season in 2023-24.

While he has potential, it will take an unbelievable effort to live up to his father's footsteps.

Manny Ramírez finished his career with a resume that included two World Series titles, a World Series MVP, nine Silver Slugger awards, a batting title and 12 All-Star Game selections. He played for Cleveland, the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.

He made four All-Star Games in Cleveland but is best known for his time on the Red Sox, which included his two World Series titles and the MVP for the 2004 Fall Classic. Boston's title that year snapped a championship drought that dated back to 1918, so his efforts in that series forever made him a legend among the team's fanbase.

Ramírez finished his career with a .312/.411/.585 slash line, 555 home runs and 1,831 RBI.

He wasn't the only member of those Red Sox championship teams that saw their son drafted Tuesday.

D'Angelo Ortiz is the son of Hall of Famer David Ortiz and was selected by the Red Sox in the 19th round. The elder Ortiz won all three of his World Series titles during his time in Boston and will now have the opportunity to see his son play for the same organization.

Los Angeles Angels slugger Mike Trout and his wife, Jess, announced the birth of their son Jordy on Wednesday.

"Little brother is here!" Trout posted on Instagram. "Beckham's sidekick has arrived. You fill our hearts with so much joy, Jordy Michael! God is so good."

Jordy Trout was born on June 30.

His father has appeared in just 29 games this season for the 37-54 Angels, as a torn meniscus has sidelined him since late April. A return could be coming in late July, however.

"I feel great, I feel fine and I'm progressing the way I should be," he told reporters Tuesday. "It's good to get out there and start moving around instead of being in the weight room and the cage. It's all about the progression of running. I feel good hitting. I took 30 swings out there with no pain at all."

Even though the Los Angeles Angels are fighting to stay ahead of the Oakland A's for last place in the AL West, they aren't necessarily looking to have a fire sale ahead of the trade deadline.

Per USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Angels are expected to deal reliever Luis Garcia but are "likely" to keep Tyler Anderson, Griffin Canning and Taylor Ward unless they receive an "overwhelming" offer.

Garcia has been fine out of the bullpen with a 4.25 ERA, but unlikely to bring back much of a return for the Angels because he's 37 years old.

The Angels have Anderson, Canning and Ward under team control next season, so they could try to talk themselves into doing a quick rebuild that might make them a playoff contender in 2025.

Of course, the problem with that theory is the Angels couldn't build a playoff team when they had Ohtani and Trout playing together. Their farm system is in dreadful shape that adding a couple of decent prospects would make it look at least respectable.

Anderson, in particular, might be one of the most sought-after pitchers on the market if the Angels explored trade opportunities. The 34-year-old has a 2.81 ERA that ranks 10th in MLB. He's coming off his best start of the season Saturday with 10 strikeouts over eight shutout innings in a 7-0 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Canning owns a 4.87 ERA in 18 starts. Ward, who is under team control through 2026, is hitting .237/.322/.421 with 14 homers and 44 RBI in 86 games.

The Angels have needed to undergo a reset for years, but they instead continue to go down their own unique path.

They had every reason to deal Shohei Ohtani prior to the trade deadline last year. Instead, Angels owner Arte Moreno essentially said they had to keep Ohtani because he made the team money.

"From a fan perspective, they pay for tickets and watch the games and listen to the games, this is a special guy," Moreno told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register in February. "I'd like to see him play. We're in the entertainment business. We made a decision, a group decision, that the best thing was to keep him and make a run."

With Ohtani now a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Mike Trout having been out of action since April 29 due to a knee injury, the Angels own the third-worst record in the AL entering Sunday (37-51).

The Los Angeles Angels got involved with a budding Major League Baseball tradition Saturday by having their rookies go on a coffee run outside the Chicago Cubs' Wrigley Field while in full uniform.

Erica Weston of Bally Sports West posted a photo of several Angels rookies picking up an order at Starbucks while decked out in their gameday attire:

The Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies are just a few of the other teams that have done something similar with their rookies prior to road games against the Cubs in recent years.

Catcher Logan O'Hoppe and first baseman Nolan Schanuel were among the Angels rookies who took part in the light-hearted stunt on Saturday.

The current Angels roster is far younger and less heralded right now than it has been in recent years, as they lost Shohei Ohtani to the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency and Mike Trout is on the injured list.

As a result, the Angels are just 36-51, and they are trending toward missing the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season.

Despite major success likely not being on the horizon, there is some hope for better days in the future thanks to some of the Angels' young players.

O'Hoppe has arguably been L.A.'s most consistent hitter while Trout has been on the shelf, as he is slashing .275/.326/.469 with 12 home runs and 38 RBI.

Meanwhile, Schanuel has been hitting high in the lineup, and he is slashing .237/.309/.348 with eight homers and 30 RBI.

The Angels are coming off a 5-1 loss to the Cubs in their season-opening game Friday, but perhaps the coffee delivered by the team's rookies will give them a bit more pep in their step for Game 2 of the series Saturday afternoon.

Mike Trout's injury absence appears to be close to the end.

The three-time MVP hasn't played since April 29 after suffering a torn meniscus. Prior to the Los Angeles Angels Saturday game against the Detroit Tigers, Trout gave an update on his status and said he would be disappointed if he wasn't back by the end of July.

"Oh yeah, I'll be back before that," Trout told reporters. "I'm not putting like, an exact timetable on it, but once I do all the tests and I can run, hit and throw, I'll be out there."

He elaborated by saying that he is excited to start working out again.

"I'm itching to hit. I feel like if I went into the cage and took some swings I would be pain-free," Trout said. "I think the biggest thing for me is actually the running part, but we have to build up to that."

If the Angels have any hope at a positive season, Trout needs to return to the lineup. He is a career .299/.410/.581 hitter with 378 home runs and 954 RBIs. Prior to suffering April's injury, he was hitting .220 with 10 home runs and 14 RBIs.

He has been unable to put a mostly healthy season together since 2019 and has not played more than 100 games since 2022. This has severely hindered the Angels in recent seasons, and this season has been no exception.

Los Angeles is currently 35-46 and are 10.5 games behind the first-place Seattle Mariners. It would take a remarkable run to get back into contention, but a healthy finish to the season from Trout would certainly be something to celebrate.

After undergoing surgery last month to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout is learning to be patient with his recovery.

"It's getting there, obviously slower than I thought, but it's my first time with a knee injury," Trout told reporters on Tuesday. "Just gotta trust the process and take it day by day."

While Trout's recovery is taking longer than he expected, he added an update that surely won't make Angels fans happy. The three-time AL MVP said he still doesn't have a timeline for his return and hasn't even started running yet.

Trout, 32, was one of the best players of his generation when healthy, but he hasn't been able to stay on the field in recent seasons. This is the fourth straight year that he's dealt with a serious injury that cost him significant time.

Prior to being sidelined, he was leading the majors with 10 home runs, 14 RBI and six stolen bases. However, his .220 batting average was his lowest since his debut season in 2011 when he appeared in 40 games for the Angels.

Without its star slugger in the lineup, Los Angeles has struggled to keep pace in the AL West, ranking fourth with a 29-43 record. The Angels have missed the playoffs in nine straight seasons and haven't finished with a winning record since 2015. Unless things turn around quickly, the team appears to be on its way to a 10th straight year without a postseason appearance.

The Angels will go after their second win in a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday.