ANAHEIM — There’s still hope for Mike Trout to play in his first All-Star Game since 2019.
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The main obstacle is his hamstring, which is why he’s currently on the injured list. The second is that he has to win one more round of voting, although if he’s healthy he’d probably be selected as the Angels representative even if he’s not elected to start.
As for the hamstring, Trout said he did some “light jogging” on Friday and had no issues.
He hasn’t swung a bat yet “but I can,” he said. “I think tomorrow is the day I start swinging.”
Positive news of Trout’s rehab from an injury has to always be received with caution. Trout’s injuries in the past five years have often taken longer than expected.
For now, the three-time American League MVP seems optimistic.
“Some movements I barely feel it, but the progression has been great so far,” said Trout, who was hurt last Wednesday.
Trout is eligible to come off the injured list on Sunday. He acknowledged that he would need to get back to play sometime before the July 14 All-Star Game in order for him to cleared for the game. That gives him another 10 days to two weeks, at most, to be back in the Angels’ lineup.
“I don’t know,” Trout said. “I feel really good. It’s just a progression of running, and then play.”
This particular All-Star Game has a special meaning to Trout, because the game will be in Philadelphia. Trout grew up less than an hour’s drive from there in New Jersey, and still spends time there every winter.
“It would be huge,” Trout said. “I said before the season it was one of the things on my mind. It would be cool to play in front of the home crow, close to my hometown. It’d be special for sure.”
Trout, 34, was elected to start the All-Star Game in 2021, 2022 and 2023, but each of those years he was injured.
Even when Trout was an annual participant in the All-Star Game, he never competed in the Home Run Derby. He was thinking of doing it this year, but now that’s unlikely.
“I was thinking about it,” Trout said, “but then I hurt my leg. … I was thinking it would have been cool, but the injury kind of throws things off.”
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Phase 2 voting begins on Monday and runs through Thursday. Trout is up against Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger of the New York Yankees, Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins and Daulton Varsho and Jesus Sanchez of the Toronto Blue Jays. The top three vote-getters from that group will be the elected starters. Judge is injured and will not able to play, so he’d be replaced either way.
REHAB FOR RODRIGUEZ
Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, who is on the injured list because of back inflammation, is scheduled to make a rehab assignment on Sunday, Manager Kurt Suzuki said.
Suzuki said he’s not sure how many pitches Rodriguez will throw, but it’s possible that he returns to the major league rotation after one outing.
“We’ll see how he feels after he throws that game, and see how many pitches he throws,” Suzuki said.
Rodriguez has continued throwing throughout the two weeks he’s been on the injured list.
NO C-MO
Christian Moore was out of the starting lineup on Friday. He has started five of the eight games since he’s been back in the majors.
Moore plays second base, third base and left field, and the Angels have other productive players who play all those positions. Donovan Walton, Oswald Peraza and Vaughn Grissom play second. Wade Meckler plays left field. Denzer Guzman plays third.
Suzuki acknowledged he’s trying to find the balance between giving Moore the playing time he needs to develop and putting the best lineup on the field.
“He’s not going to get buried on the bench and sit for four days in a row,” Suzuki said. “He’s going to play. But at the same time, we just kind of keep guys playing that we feel like are best matchups and things like that. That’s kind of how we’re going to do it.”
NOTES
Outfielder José Siri is expected back from the paternity list on Saturday. Josh Lowe remained on the roster on Friday, and he started in center field. …
Peraza, the only Venezuelan on the active roster, said none of his family members were affected by Wednesday’s earthquakes, but he knows other people who were. The death tool was approaching 1,000 as of Friday afternoon with more than 3,300 injured after the pair of quakes, measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, were felt across the Caribbean coast.
UP NEXT
A’s (RHP Jack Perkins, 2-3, 6.26 ERA) at Angels (LHP Reid Detmers, 3-5, 3.93 ERA), Saturday, 6:38 p.m., ABTV, 830 AM
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