Mike

Trout

Trout has resumed hitting after his second knee surgery of the year, and he expects to have a rather normal offseason. The position change possibility is noteworthy from a player who has resisted such ideas in the past. Still, it’d be a shame to see him become a full-time DH. It might also be worrisome from a fantasy perspective; many players have struggled to adapt to DHing, and Trout has hit just .214/.388/.458 in 81 career games in that spot. Of course, it probably factors in there that a lot of that DHing has been a product of him being banged up at the time.

It’s just a procedural move, as Trout is going to miss all of 2024 after undergoing surgery to repair a torn left meniscus. This opens up a spot on the 40-man roster, and the Angels used that space to select the contract of reliever Ryan Miller.

Trout spent his 33rd birthday going under the knife for the second time this season to repair a torn left meniscus. The expectation is that he’ll be fully recovered and ready to go for the start of spring training in 2024.

It’s an absolutely devastating development as Trout was on the precipice of making it back to Los Angeles a couple weeks ago before suffering a pair of unfortunate setbacks. The 32-year-old generational talent, who has been limited to just 266 out of a possible 648 games over the last four seasons due to injury, underwent an MRI earlier this week that revealed another meniscus tear in his surgically-repaired left knee earlier this week that will require an additional procedure. The hope is that he’ll be fully healthy and ready to go for spring training.

It’s an absolutely brutal development as Trout is dealing with another setback after an MRI last week didn’t reveal any structural damage to his surgically-repaired left knee. There should be some clarity on his status at some point in the coming days.

Trout had some scar tissue break up in his knee which caused him the discomfort, but it’s not going to be a major setback. He won’t resume running for a few days, but then should be able to start back up again and will be able to resume his minor league rehab assignment in relatively short order. It’s a big sigh of relief for the Angels and for fantasy managers.

Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters Trout is undergoing further evaluation on Thursday and didn’t offer much else in terms of an official update on his status or outlook. There should be something more definitive in the coming days. The 32-year-old future Hall of Fame slugger was pulled off a minor league rehab assignment earlier this week due to soreness in his surgically-repaired left knee.

The original plan had been for Trout to remain with Triple-A Salt Lake, so perhaps the setback with his knee is a bigger deal than they originally anticipated. The Angels had been hopeful that Trout would be able to return to the Angels’ lineup at some point next week, but that looks to be an extreme longshot at the moment.

It’s not an encouraging development that Trout, who had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee on May 3, lasted just two innings in his return to game action on Tuesday night when he was expected to complete at least five innings in center field. This latest setback likely extinguishes any hope that he’ll return at some point later this week, but that remains to be seen. There should be some additional clarity on his status in the coming days.

The original plan here was for Trout, who went 0-for-1 with a strikeout in his rehab assignment debut, to get at least five innings under his belt in center field, so we’re hoping that everything is fine here from a physical standpoint and his relatively early exit wasn’t injury-related. There should be some sort of update on his status in the near future.