The Los Angeles Angels' attempt to climb out of the doldrums took a devastating hit, with superstar outfielder Mike Trout suffering an injury to his right thumb in the top of the eighth inning Sunday against the Cleveland Indians.
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Trout Removed from Game
Sunday, June 12
Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reported Trout has a right thumb contusion, and X-rays came back negative.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Trout is expected to play against the Minnesota Twins on Monday, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.
Trout said he initially was scared when he was hit because his thumb went numb, per Fletcher.
Trout's credentials through his first four seasons speak for themselves. He's a rare talent who is capable of doing anything on the diamond, leading the American League in runs scored three times, stolen bases, walks and slugging percentage once and hitting a career-high 41 homers in 2015.
Aside from being ridiculously talented, Trout has been able to finish in the top two for American League MVP voting every year from 2012-15 because of his durability. The 24-year-old has only missed 13 games since 2013 and has never been on the disabled list.
One issue for the Angels this season is depth. Their farm system is widely regarded as the worst in Major League Baseball, with ESPN Insider Keith Law calling it "by far the worst system I've ever seen" in his eight years of doing team rankings.
The Angels have already lost starting pitchers Andrew Heaney and Garrett Richards to serious arm problems that could prevent both from appearing again this season.
Even though the Angels are trying to win now, they don't have the luxury of replacing potentially injured stars with any kind of impact player. No one outside of Bryce Harper is capable of matching what Trout can do anyway, so his absence takes on even more resonance.
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