The Los Angeles Angels have been without star outfielder Mike Trout since early July, and it that span they’ve lacked the consistency in what he brings to their top-heavy lineup.
Since July 3, the Angels are 12-16, and sit 11.5 games out of the American League West lead, and remain seven games out of the third Wild Card spot. Trout’s absence has played a role in that, surely, because in 100 plate appearances leading up to his injury, he posted a 142 wRC+ with five homers and 17 runs scored.
Trout had found a different level of comfort in the box in that span, seeing his walk-rate spike to 16%. The 32-year-old spoke on his rehab progress, revealing his continued work to get back on the field, per Annika Johnson of the L.A. Times:
“Once I feel comfortable, you know, not altered my swings and the pain tolerance is pretty low, I’ll be out there,” Trout said Tuesday, adding that the pain is getting better and better each day.
The Angels could use his bat, glove and competitive nature in the lineup. Mainly because of the pressure put on the rest of the outfielders, who’ve been put in a position where they’ve had to take on a larger role.
Thankfully, each day it appears that Trout is working to get himself closer to returning to the diamond:
“He took a lot more swings yesterday and feels good,” Nevin said Tuesday.
“There’s some pain when he swings, but he feels like it’s something that he’s gonna have to live with for now to get back on the field. And it’ll eventually get better. … Today’s kind of an off day from that, do some recovery stuff, but we’re getting close.”
The unique experience for Trout is how much the Angels added during his time away from being on the active roster. General manager Perry Minasian added C.J. Cron, Randal Grichuk, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López and Dominic Leone.
Having Trout back on a hasty, but safe timeline for the Angels is where they ideally want to be.
Lucas Giolito tosses six solid innings to snap Angels losing run
Giolito had expressed his optimism over making his home debut at Angel Stadium, and he didn’t disappoint, turning in six solid innings.
Giolito was on a decent leash, reaching the 101-pitch mark through six frames, surrendering three earned runs on three hits while punching out seven.
Nevin has done his best to keep the bullpen usage at bay until recently, but Giolito’s quality start was a huge boost.
