Three-time MVP Mike Trout opted for surgery instead of being season-long DH
Three-time American League MVP Mike Trout said Thursday that his left knee is progressing well from surgery performed six days earlier, but the 11-time All-Star offered no timeline for his return.
Trout had the meniscus repaired after getting injured on April 29 against the Philadelphia Phillies. He still doesn't know how he hurt the knee.
"I'm feeling good," Trout told reporters in his first comments since the procedure. "Surgery went well. Just taking it day by day and feeling better every day, so it's been good. No timeline. Just come in, rehab and hopefully it feels better every single day, see how it feels the next day and go from there."
Trout, 32, said he was given the option to delay the surgery and serve as a designated hitter for the rest of the season. He weighed the situation and decided getting fully healthy was the better move.
"It was an option they put out there," Trout said, speaking before the Angels hosted the Kansas City Royals. "It would have been just maintaining the pain level of it. The day I got the MRI and it showed that, I was in a lot of pain, so it would have been a tough road for the rest of the year to bear that. I felt the best option for me was to get it right and be fully healthy to come back soon."
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Trout led the majors with 10 homers at the time of his injury. However, he was batting just .220 with 14 RBI and six steals in 29 games.
The injury was frustrating to Trout, who has been derailed by health issues in recent seasons. A calf injury limited him to 36 games in 2021, a back injury helped hold him to 119 games in 2022, and a broken hand last season limited him to one game after July 3 and 82 contests for the season.
"Obviously it's frustrating, but you can't really do much about it," Trout said. "It is what it is. I play the game hard and stuff happens. I try to prepare my body and go out there and play every night and give 100 percent for the team, the fans, for everybody, and stuff just happens. I play the game hard."
Trout is a career .299 hitter with 378 career home runs, 954 RBI and 212 stolen bases in 1,518 games over 14 seasons, all with the Angels after he was a first-round draft pick (25th overall) in 2009.