OC Register: Mike Trout’s hand ‘improving’ but Angels won’t rushed him back

[AngelsWin.com]

ANAHEIM — Shohei Ohtani isn’t the only star player who isn’t expected to finish out the season on the field. Mike Trout, who suffered a fractured hamate bone, has been taking dry swings but has done little else.

Angels general manager Perry Minasian said he is hopeful that Trout can return at some point in the club’s final two weeks but said there wasn’t much reason to “push it” with the Angels out of the playoff conversation.

“It’s improving, but he hasn’t swung a bat in a while,” Minasian said. “It’s going to take some time. With that being said, the goal is for him to have a good peace of mind, which is important going into an offseason.

“I believe it would be really beneficial for him to play again but it has to feel good, and we understand that it’s still bothering him.”

Trout, who was hitting .263 with 18 home runs and 44 RBIs before he got injured, returned for one game but quickly was placed back on the injured list. He said earlier this month that his right hand was “getting a lot better,” but he was still experiencing pain.

“I do know he likes playing, he wants to play,” Minasian said. “It’s just something he has to work through.”

On Saturday, Ohtani joined Trout on the IL after it was disclosed that the oblique injury has not completely healed. Ohtani cleared out his locker Friday night and the Angels said before Saturday’s game that the two-way star was put on the injured list and potentially finished for the season.

Ohtani watched from the dugout as the Detroit Tigers beat the Angels.

 DIFFERENT DIAGNOSIS, SAME TREATMENT

Minasian downplayed the news that third baseman Anthony Rendon suffered a fractured tibia and not a bone bruise as the club had announced.

Rendon said earlier this week that he sought further imaging on his shin last month and received a different diagnosis. Rendon saw four doctors who all diagnosed a bone bruise before the fifth identified a fracture.

“The diagnosis doesn’t matter. It is treated the same way,” Minasian said.

“For us, we need to get Anthony on the field and playing. He’s a really good player and he enhances (the team) when he plays. We have a way better chance of winning games with the attitude he plays with, the baseball IQ, what he does in the batter’s box. He’s one of those winning players who will find a way to do what needs to be done to win.”

Rendon was batting .236 with two home runs and 35 hits before taking a foul ball off his shin during a July 4 game against the San Diego Padres.

RETIREMENT PARTY

Former Angels All-Star Alpert Pujols stopped by Anaheim Stadium to help present a surfboard to Detroit infielder Melky Cabrera in a pregame ceremony marking his retirement after this, his 21st season in the major leagues.

TIGERS 5, ANGELS 4

Maybe it was Ohtani’s presence in the dugout that nearly got the Angels a come-from-behind victory. But in the end, the Angels came up short in dropping their fourth consecutive game.

After tying the game in the eighth, the Tigers started the ninth with a runner on second. Cabrera drove in the winning run with a hard shot down the right field line drive off Jose Soriano (1-3).

The Angels struggled at the plate early on, coming up with just two hits – both by Nolan Schanuel – until the eighth.

Schanuel led off the game with a base hit to left, extending his streak of reaching base safely to each of his first 21 games of his career. But the Angels failed to capitalize and left two on base.

The Tigers responded in the next inning, taking a 3-0 lead on Zack Short’s three-run homerun off starter Tyler Anderson (6-7).

Schanuel (3 for 5, 1 RBI) trimmed the lead 3-1 on his first career home run, a solo shot over the right field wall, accounting for two of the Angels’ hits.

Detroit added another run in the fifth inning when Cabrera’s high fly ball to second fell between three Angels, allowing Kerry Carpenter to score from first.

The Angels cut the lead to one on a two-run home run by Jared Walsh, his third of the season, in the eighth and then tied the game 4-4 on Brett Phillips’ two-out homer to right field.

Tigers right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long shut down the Angels, allowing just one run on two hits and striking out 11 over five innings in just his second career start.

Anderson, who went eight innings in his last outing, was tagged with all four runs and walked five but struck out seven over five innings Saturday in picking up the loss.

UP NEXT

Detroit TBD vs. LHP Reid Detmers (3-10, 4.77 ERA) 1:07 p.m. Bally Sports West, 830 AM

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[Angelsjunky]

[ScottT]

Surprised they didn't refer to him as Mike Carp or Steve Trout.

[fan_since79]

"For us, we need to get Anthony on the field and playing. He’s a really good player and he enhances (the team) when he plays. We have a way better chance of winning games with the attitude he plays with, the baseball IQ, what he does in the batter’s box. He’s one of those winning players who will find a way to do what needs to be done to win.”

 

LOL. Was that a drunk AI robot that generated this pile of crap? 

[T.G.]

I think it was actually Alan Pujols that showed up to see Melky Cabrera.

[fan_since79]

Mike should rest his hand so he'll be ready for spring training and be in the best shape of his life!

[jsnpritchett]

42 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

Mike should rest his hand so he'll be ready for spring training and be in the best shape of his life!

Indeed!  We need him as healthy as possible heading into next spring, so his recovery from the next injury won't take as long.