Angels News: Mike Trout Finally Approaching Final Step in Recovery as Return Nears
Angels fans received some good, albeit non-concrete, news Tuesday, as it was announced that Mike Trout could face live pitching in a simulated game as soon as Thursday.
Trout has been out of the lineup since early July with a broken wrist bone, a deadly blow to an Angels team on the edge of making the playoffs.
Trout, one of the perennial players of this generation, was batting a sub-par (by his standards) .263 with a .862 OPS and 18 home runs across 81 games. Since his injury, the Angels have gone 14-20 and are now seven games behind in the American League Wild Card race. The Toronto Blue Jays own the last spot in the Wild Card while the Mariners, Red Sox and Yankees are all in a better postseason position than the Halos.
It is important to note that Trout is likely to play in a game-like setting Thursday; his return to the field, even from a rehab standpoint, is not yet guaranteed.
"It's not scheduled," said Angels general manager Perry Minasian. "We're hoping. In my mind, that's the plan. We'll see if it actually happens. He's trying to play through different things. We'll see if the pain subsides. We need him back."
Jo Adell was slated to take Trout's place after the devastating injury, but the 24-year-old outfielder has been out since July 8 with an oblique injury. The injury bug has bitten the Angels big time, and their record reflects it.
With the Angels showing their commitment to winning this season by buying at the trade deadline and keeping the best player in baseball in Shohei Ohtani on their roster, anything less than a playoff berth could be viewed as a colossal failure. Ohtani is set to become a free agent in the offseason.
