Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout exited Sunday afternoon's game against the Texas Rangers (GameTracker) after being hit by a pitch in the left hand in the fifth inning. It was an bit of a fluke play -- Trout brought his hand right into the path of pitch as he tried to duck out of the way.
Here's the video. Given the way he moved, it's seems possible Trout misread the pitch (81 mph slider) out of Spencer Patton's hand and was bracing to get hit by a fastball.
Not too long after, the Angels announced X-rays came back negative and Trout is day-to-day. There are so many small, easy-to-break bones in the hand, and it wasn't difficult to assume the worst once it happened. Fortunately Trout avoided major injury, as verified on Monday by further tests. He told reporters that he intends to start wearing a pad on his hand from now on.
Needless to say, losing Trout for any length of time would be devastating for an Angels team that has been to the postseason only once in Trout's 10 full seasons. Trout is irreplaceable, plus the Angels are a top-heavy team without the quality depth options to replace any injured regular.
Trout, now 30, was limited to 36 games by a nagging calf injury last season. He did not play after May 17. Between injuries and the pandemic, Trout played only 477 games from 2017-21. That's out of 708 possible games, or 67 percent.
Trout went 1-for-2 with a double in Sunday's game before exiting. He is hitting .267/.405/.567 on the season. Anaheim went into Sunday's game with a 5-4 record in the early going.
