When a player suffers a serious injury, it’s rare for them to hang out around the team. Generally, players like Mike Trout would recover at home or in private at the facility and only join the team when they’re close to being ready.
It has not been this way for Trout, who has been around the Los Angeles Angels for a few weeks now as he nears a full recovery from the Grade 2 calf strain he suffered on May 17. The injury was initially supposed to keep him out 6-8 weeks, but it has now been 14, and the end is not yet in sight.
The process has not been easy for Trout or the Angels. The team desperately wants its superstar back, and Trout is just trying to get over the final hurdles of recovery, including the mental aspect.
Trout was very candid when discussing the toll that this injury has taken on him mentally, making it clear he just wants to be back out on the field every day, according to Luca Evans of The L.A. Times:
“It’s a grind,” Trout said before Saturday’s game against the Indians. “I come in every day, work hard, and it seems like it’s just dragging. It’s definitely wearing on me a little bit. But I’m staying positive.”
“Mental health is serious stuff, man,” he said. “Nothing to just look over.”
Joe Maddon echoed Trout’s sentiments. As someone who has been around the game as long as Maddon, he knows better than most how to keep the mental toll of baseball at bay.
“The beauty of all of this is that at some point you have to realize there’s more to this whole thing than just the game itself,” Maddon said. “You need diversions. You need somewhere to park it. You just can’t do this 24/7. It’ll eat you alive.”
The good news on his injury is that the calf is fully healed without restriction. However, due to so many weeks of inactivity, it’s going to be some time before his strength has returned. He’ll undergo a rehab assignment sometime in the near future.
Fans and Angels teammates alike are just hoping that Trout returns as soon as he can, even with the team out of the playoff race this season.
Shohei Ohtani steals the show in Williamsport
The Angels were unable to get a run across in the Little League Classic, losing 3-0 to the Cleveland Indians. However, Shohei Ohtani was the main attraction throughout the day.
He got on base three times as kids chanted his name from the bleachers, adding more fuel to the superstardom he has acquired this season.
