The Angels’ dismal month continued Tuesday when they revealed that Mike Trout will be joining the team’s extensive injury list.
On Monday night, Trout broke the hamate bone in his left wrist while swinging. The usual time lost due to the injury is between four and eight weeks.
The Angels have lost a number of key players in the past month, including shortstop Zach Neto, third baseman Anthony Rendon, second baseman Brandon Drury, and infielder Gio Urshela. Urshela will miss the rest of the year. Rendon was well when the Trout news broke, but he suffered a third injury after fouling a ball off his shin just a few hours later. After the All-Star break, Drury and Neto may be available again. Both Max Stassi and Logan O’Hoppe, the Angels’ catchers, have been out since April.
Manager Phil Nevin stated before Tuesday’s 8-5 defeat to the Padres, “Nobody’s gonna feel sorry for us.” Not us, that’s for sure. Every day, we’ll launch an assault. Some men need to take charge now. Some of the opportunities will be given to other guys. That’s the whole point of the game.”
In the eighth inning of a defeat to the Padres, the Angels’ star was hurt on a swing. On Monday night, Trout talked to reporters while waiting for test results; on Tuesday, he claimed he wasn’t shocked by the diagnosis he received and that he will miss a major portion of the season for the third year in a row.
“I kind of knew it wasn’t good,” Trout said. As the saying goes, “It’s just a freak thing.”
Trout said he had heard from other players who had experienced the same ailment, which often necessitates surgical removal of the bone. Once the player’s discomfort subsides and their strength returns, they can play again.
It’s “of course” that Trout will be back this season, he added.
Yu Chang, an infielder for the Boston Red Sox, broke his hamate on April 24. About a month later, he started his rehab assignment, but he still had some pain and required another month. He’s been sent to rehabilitation once again.
Shortstop Wander Franco of the Tampa Bay Rays missed two months of the 2017 season with a broken hamate
After Andrew Benintendi fractured his hamate on September 2 and underwent surgery on September 6, he was unable to return to the field before the Yankees were eliminated from playoff contention on October 23.
In 2019, a fractured hamate kept José Ramirez of Cleveland out of the lineup for only four weeks. For Trout, this is the ideal case scenario.
In contrast, “some guys came back in four weeks,” Trout noted. Some men require more time than others. So, we’ll see how my body recovers.
While everything was going on, the Angels activated Jo Adell from Triple-A to take Trout’s position. Adell had a.271 average, 23 home runs (the most in the minors), and an OPS of.956.
The majority of starts in center field will go to Mickey Moniak. Nevin has hinted that Adell might get time in center field. Whenever feasible, Nevin said they’d want to maintain Taylor Ward at left and Hunter Renfroe at right.
The Angels have experienced adjusting to life without Trout. In May of 2021, Trout hurt his calf, ending his season. Last July, he damaged his back and had to skip work for five weeks.
The Angels had taken precautions to protect Trout’s soft tissues by giving him frequent days off. In the Angels’ first 87 games, he sat out of the lineup eight times, but with more days off in the second half, the objective was to cut that number down. 2016 was the last year Trout appeared in more than 140 games.
However, it appears that resting would not have prevented this harm, a fractured bone.
Trout expressed his frustration, saying, “My body is feeling great.” Simply starting and maintaining a treatment regimen is the first step. My body is feeling fantastic, and then something completely random happens.
Due to his previous injury history, Trout will not be able to participate in the All-Star Game this year. He has been picked as the starter for the tenth time, but this is the fourth time he has been sidelined. Injuries kept him out of action in 2017 and again in 2021 and again in 2022. Due to the global epidemic, Trout will not be participating in the All-Star Game again until 2021.
11:45 am: Angels announce Mike Trout fractured the hamate bone in his left hand.
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) July 5, 2023
4:40 pm: Anthony Rendon fouls a ball off his leg and leaves the game.
5:30 pm: Shohei Ohtani exits the mound with a trainer.
Oh my.
The longer-term effect on the Angels’ season is of greater concern
The Angels are four games out of a wild card spot with a 45-43 record and seven games out of first place in the American League West. They were on a winning streak at the beginning of June that put them in contention, but they have already dropped 10 of their past 14 games.
Trout admitted that he had been in a rut for a considerable portion of the season, but said he had been feeling better in recent weeks. In his final 14 games, he hit.340 with four home runs and an OPS of 1.121.
Trout has a.263 average, 18 home runs, and an OPS of.863 so far this season.
Before Tuesday’s game, Nevin huddled with his players to discuss the next steps now that Trout is out with an injury. According to Nevin, the team is optimistic. On Tuesday afternoon, they played video games during pauses from their pregame preparations and otherwise seemed unfazed.
When asked about the occasional difficulties, Nevin replied, “I think everybody in there knows you’re going to have bumps in the road here.” We’ve lost a few men. Since the beginning of the year, “next man up” has been our unofficial slogan. The game goes on. No one will have any pity on us. There’s no point in both of us doing it.
O’Hoppe, who underwent shoulder surgery in April, took 25 dry swings with a bat for the first time on Tuesday. “It felt great,” O’Hoppe said. I didn’t think everything needed to be coddled. O’Hoppe may return as early as the end of the month of August. …
Ben Joyce, a right-handed pitcher recovering from ulnar neuritis, will keep up his throwing workouts in Arizona. According to Nevin, it will be about three to four weeks before Joyce is ready to pitch. In his words, “Once that happens, I think it will be pretty quick after that,” Nevin said. …
Matt Moore, a lefty pitcher who has been out with an oblique injury, threw a bullpen on Tuesday. This weekend at Dodger Stadium he will face batters in a simulated game, and he will do it again before and after the All-Star break. If all goes well, Nevin indicated he might be put into action when the second half begins next Friday. …
Nevin indicated that Neto (who is out with an oblique strain) should begin doing “game-like stuff” early next week. “We might run into him after the intermission.” …
The Angels called up right-handed pitcher Gerardo Reyes and sent down right-handed pitcher Victor Mederos to Triple-A.
WHEN: Wednesday @ 5:40 p.m. PT | WHERE: Ballpark of the Palm Springs | RADIO: 830 AM | PITCHING: Angels (LHP Patrick Sandoval, 4-7, 4.57) vs. Padres (TBD)
FAQ’s
Q1. How did Trout break his hamate bone?
The Angels confirmed that outfielder Mike Trout broke the hamate bone in his left hand during Monday’s game against the Padres (SD 10, LA 3). In the seventh inning, Trout was hurt when he fouled off a fastball from Nick Martinez that was 0-1 to him.
