The Los Angeles Angels have been without Mike Trout since July 3, when he sustained a left hamate fracture during an at-bat against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
Down in the count 0-2, Trout fouled a ball off and immediately showed discomfort. He called it a “freak injury” after the game and initially hoped to avoid missing time.
However, the Angels placed their star center fielder on the 10-day injured list the following day, and it was later revealed that Trout would need to undergo surgery. He had the operation on July 5 and is working to get back on the field as soon as possible.
Angels manager Phil Nevin provided an update and said Trout is making substantial progress in his recovery, per Doug Padilla of the Southern California News Group:
Nevin said three-time AL MVP Mike Trout is making considerable progress in his recovery from surgery to repair a broken hamate bone in his left wrist less than two weeks after surgery.
Nevin added that Trout will be able to accelerate his rehab program once he gets the stitches removed from his wrist:
“He feels awesome,” Nevin said. “He’s doing a lot of grip strength stuff and once you get the stitches out, they shave some of the scar tissue down. That’s the big part, getting that down so it doesn’t put pressure on the hand. As soon as you can grab a bat and take swings, it’s really a pain-tolerance thing for now. You’re not going to injure anything else in there.”
While there is no timeline on when Trout will return to the Angels, the 31-year-old said that he plans on playing again this season. The typical recovery from left hamate surgery is six-to-eight weeks.
Trout, who was selected to his 11th All-Star Game appearance this year, is batting .263/.369/.493 with 14 doubles, 18 home runs and 44 RBI in 358 plate appearances across 81 games.
Mike Trout plans to do whatever he can to keep Shohei Ohtani with Angels
Amid speculation that the Angels could trade Shohei Ohtani before the deadline on August 1, Trout recently said he will do everything he can to keep the two-way star in Anaheim for the foreseeable future.
Ohtani is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2023 season and could command a contract that exceeds $500 million in total value.
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