Mike Trout sends clear message ahead of return to Angels lineup

Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout had to spend almost the entirety of May on the IL after picking up a knock to his knee on April 30. The injury, after he missed almost the whole of 2024 due to surgery on his knee, was naturally a cause of huge concern amongst fans.

However, in what will make for extremely relieving news, the three-time AL MVP has now been cleared to take to the field again and is predicted to be in the lineup as the Angels head to Cleveland to take on the Guardians for a three-game series.

Ahead of game one - scheduled for Friday - Mike Trout took to X (formerly Twitter) to send a message expressing how he was raring to go again after such a lengthy stint on the sidelines.

"Pumped to get back out there with the boys 💪" Mike Trout captioned his post

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As a result of Trout's imminent return, Matthew Lugo, who was called up to cover for him, has been sent back down to the Salt Lake Bees, the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.

The Angels need Mike Trout to hit the ground running

The Los Angeles Angels - currently five games below .500 and a 25-30 record - are sitting fourth in the AL West. Coming off a 2024 season where they finished at the bottom of their division, this is not the kind of improvement Angels fans would have hoped for heading into the new campaign. In their most recent series, LA were swept at home by a determined New York Yankees outfit.

There is still plenty of the regular season left, and the Angels can make a surge up the standings. However, they will need returning superstar Mike Trout to be at his best.

Mike Trout in action for the Los Angeles Angels. (Credits: Getty)

So far, Trout is batting only .179 with nine home runs and 18 RBIs. If the Angels are to have any hope of snapping the unwanted eleven-year streak of missing out on the playoffs, one of baseball's all-time greats will have to show his quality on a much more consistent basis for his team.

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

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Edited by William Paul