OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Los Angeles Angels star outfielder Mike Trout was pleased that an MRI on his tight left hamstring showed no damage but is not ready to return to the lineup.
“You never want to take an MRI. It’s tough. But hearing the news, it relieves me a little bit,” Trout said Monday before the opener of a three-game series in Oakland. “It made me feel comfortable, just cleared my mind a little bit. And obviously with them it helped them out.”
The Angels requested the MRI to “have a thumbprint moving forward” on the two-time AL MVP’s leg, general manager Billy Eppler said, and the images came back “clean and normal.”
Trout was being held out of Monday’s game against the Athletics, sitting out for the fourth time in five games. Trout said he initially hurt the hamstring last week in Seattle. He returned to the lineup Friday night against Houston and felt it again chasing a ball in the gap. He has missed the past three games but said it feels better every day.
Manager Mike Scioscia said the team has discussed putting Trout on the disabled list but doesn’t want to make a move if he’d be able to come back before the 10-day DL stint ended. Scioscia characterized the injury as day to day and that a decision about the disabled list wouldn’t come for at least a few more days.
“We want to make sure this is 100 percent behind him before he gets on the field and does the things he needs to do,” Scioscia said. “He plays a demanding position. It’s moving in the right direction. We’re assessing how quickly it’s moving and when he can get out there and work out a little bit and test it and see when he can get back in the lineup. It’s not there today. We’ll assess it tomorrow.”
Trout missed only three games in each of the past two seasons. He hasn’t missed more than five games in a season since his AL Rookie of the Year campaign in 2012, which he began in the minor leagues.
Trout was the AL’s player of the month for April after batting .364 with 18 RBIs.
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