SAN DIEGO — The Los Angeles Angels announced on Tuesday morning that they are placing superstar outfielder Mike Trout on the IL with a fracture of the hamate bone in his left hand.
The bad news continued during the Angels’ 8-5 loss to the San Diego Padres as third baseman Anthony Rendon was removed in the furth inning after suffering a left shin contusion. Moments later, All-Star two-way player Shohei Ohtani was removed with a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand after giving up back-to-back home runs.
Ohtani said he does not expect to pitch during next week’s MLB All-Star Game in Seattle while Rendon was on crutches postgame.
Trout was facing Padres pitcher Nick Martinez during Monday night’s 10-3 loss in the eighth inning when he felt discomfort after hitting a foul ball.
“Looking back, I had no soreness, or anything before that just felt something really weird,” Trout said.
He spoke to the media on Tuesday and couldn’t hide his disappointment. Numerous times he called it a “freak accident.”
There was positivity from the superstar outfielder because this isn’t a season-ending injury.
“Some guys came back in four weeks; some have taken longer just have to see how it heals,” Trout said.
In the last ten games, Trout hit .361 while adding three home runs.
“It’s really frustrating because my body was feeling great,” Trout said.
The season continues as the Angels are three games out of the wild card spot in the AL. They still have superstar Shohei Ohtani to lead them, but it will take a team effort.
They also need to get some players back from injury as they have a lengthy injury list with players like Brandon Drury, Logan O’Hoppe and Zach Neto, to name a few.
“I think everybody in there knows you’re going to have bumps in the road here once in a while,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said.
Neither Trout nor Kevin wanted to put a timetable on the injury, but it could be anywhere from 5-8 weeks he misses but like Trout said, it depends on how his body responds.
The Angels will need to hold on without him for the time being.
“Mike will be back with us at some point this year,” Nevin said. “I know he’s hungry.”
