ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Mike Trout says he is convinced the bone bruise in his left knee won’t sideline him for an extended period.
“Well, there’s no structural damage,” the Los Angeles Angels star said Friday. “Yesterday, I was in some pain. Today, I can walk normally. The doctor said just stay off it for a couple of days, then get back into it slowly and go.”
A three-time AL MVP, Trout was removed from Wednesday’s game in Seattle when he he got hurt lunging for the first-base bag on a third-inning groundout. The Angels placed the 33-year-old on the 10-day injured list Friday, a move retroactive to Thursday.
Last year, Trout tore the meniscus in his left knee on April 29, and Trout thought he’d return in six-to-eight weeks. He aggravated the injury in his first minor league rehabilitation game in July and sat out the rest of the season.
Trout had two surgeries on the knee last season. He didn’t think this injury was severe.
“I didn’t feel a pop or anything, I just felt something weird,” he said. “I thought it was just scar tissue breaking up. … I kind of lunged to the side (of the bag) and it smashed the two bones. I haven’t felt anything in my knee for the last three, four months. I’ve been feeling good.”
Trout is hitting .179 with a .727 OPS, nine homers, 18 RBIs and 36 strikeouts in 106 at-bats.
Trout started the Angels’ first 29 games this year after he was limited to 266 games over four seasons because of a 2021 calf strain, a 2022 back injury, a 2023 broken hamate bone and last year’s knee problem.
He is signed to a $426.5 million, 12-year contract through 2030. The Angels moved him from center field to right this season and started him seven times in the designated hitter spot in an effort to reduce the physical strain on his body, keep his legs fresher and prevent injuries.
Los Angeles entered Friday’s game against Detroit with 14 losses in its previous 18 games, a stretch in which the Angels hit .197 with a .582 OPS, 186 strikeouts and 29 walks in 615 plate appearances and 45 runs, an average of 2.5 a game. They ranked last in the major leagues in on-base percentage (.271) and walks (67).
“It’s hard,” manager Ron Washington said of Trout’s loss. “We’ve already felt what it’s like to be without him. I really want to feel what it’s like to have him. …We were struggling when Mike was in (the lineup). But I still like his presence. I want to have him on the field, in the dugout and in the clubhouse making a difference.”
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