Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout might not be healed from his right calf strain in time for next month’s All-Star Game, manager Joe Maddon said Tuesday.
As of Monday, Trout and teammate Shohei Ohtani were the leading vote-getters at their respective positions for this year’s Midsummer Classic, set for July 13 at Colorado’s Coors Field. But Trout’s status for that game is in doubt.
“He went in for an examination, everything’s coming along really well, the healing process is definitely occurring,” Maddon told mlb.com. “The timetable is probably at least another month. That’s what it sounds like. If it’s quicker than that, that would be great. I wouldn’t anticipate that, but everything’s absolutely pointing in the right direction. And I think soon he’ll be able to jog a little bit. But the baseball activities are still a little far away. The (All-Star Game) would be up in the air. I think it’d be kind of a stretch from what I’m hearing right now.”
An eight-time All-Star, Trout has been out since May 17. As of Monday, the 29-year-old led all American League outfielders with 706,503 votes.
In 36 games this season, Trout is batting .333 with eight home runs and 18 RBIs. In 1,288 career games — all with the Angels — the three-time AL MVP is a .305 career hitter with 310 home runs and 816 RBIs.
Ohtani, meanwhile, is on the verge of his first All-Star appearance, and Maddon said he would not object to having the right-hander pitch in the game. With 33 percent of the vote at designated hitter as of Monday, Ohtani was leading J.D. Martinez of the Boston Red Sox (18 percent) and the Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez (9 percent).
As a hitter, Ohtani, 26, is batting .267 with 17 home runs and 45 RBIs in 61 games this season. He is also 2-1 with a 2.85 ERA in nine starts as a pitcher. His next start on the mound is slated for Thursday as part of the Halos’ Re-Opening Day against the Detroit Tigers at a full-capacity Angel Stadium.
Maddon said that Ohtani could participate in the July 12 Home Run Derby. But the skipper added that the decision would be up to the Angels’ two-way star.
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“I’m not as against that as others,” Maddon said. “I just don’t like it when it becomes never-ending. There’s got to be a more finite way of doing it. It can be exhausting. But again, it’s something where I would want to ask him how he felt about it. He will be honest. I don’t think this is something you want to force him to do or not to do.”
–Field Level Media