Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim Fall To Houston Astros, Mike Trout Sits Out
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim played the series closer against the Houston Astros today. The team is already suffering from a lot of various injuries, and Mike Trout sat out for this game. Jeff Flecther from the OC Register was able to get a quote from Trout about the situation.
“On Sunday, Trout was out of the lineup for the second day in a row, and third time in the last four games, resting a tight left hamstring.”
“‘Have to be smart about it,’ Trout said. ‘I figure we take today and yesterday and see how it feels in Oakland (on Monday)… I’m going to come to the field tomorrow ready to play and see how it feels.'”
“Trout sat out Thursday’s game and played on Friday. He was in the lineup on Saturday, but scratched at the last minute because it tightened up on him during pregame warmups. The decision to rest Trout was made before he even arrived at the ballpark on Sunday morning.”
The series against the Houston Astros went a little something like this for the Angels: the first game went to 10 innings after the Angels tied it up at six with the Astros ultimately winning 7-6, the Angels won game two with a run at the bottom of the 9th after neither team scoring since the second inning, and this game ended 5-3 thanks to the Astros scoring four runs in the third inning.
Should the Angels be concerned about Mike Trout?
The easy answer to this question is yes. Trout himself said that they need to be smart about it. The last thing the Angels need right now is for their star player to come down with a serious injury. There’s no guarantee he’ll be playing on Monday or not, so fans will have to just wait and see what the verdict is, just as Trout is doing himself. The team really just can’t afford any unnecessary risks right now. Healthy players will be what wins them games going forward.
The Angels start of the season
At the moment, the Angels have a losing record at 16-17. For now, this isn’t a cause for too much concern. With the amount of games that remain in the MLB season, there’s plenty of time for the Angels to improve their record. The next series is against the Oakland Athletics, who are currently 13-17. With a team that’s roughly in the same boat as the Angels, they could potentially get a few more wins here, especially if Trout is able to play. Following that, they’ll play the Detroit Tigers who just barely have a winning record of 15-14. These next two series could be the opportunity that the Angels need to get things rolling their way.
Houston Astros off to a strong start
The Houston Astros may have given one game to the Angels, but overall, they’ve been playing very well. They boast a 21-11 record, which puts them as one of the top 4 teams in the entire league at the moment. Despite giving up four runs in the bottom of the 9th during the first game of the series, the Astros have some outstanding pitching going on this season. They look like they’re on a roll and could fair well this season.
Overall, the Angels could use some help on the mound. Garrett Richards is still out and while he’s making progress, he still isn’t cleared to throw. It’ll be a bit longer before the Angels get back on of their star pitchers and no one knows how he’ll perform until he gets back into the game. C.J. Cron remains out, too, and could be taken off of the disabled list as soon as Tuesday. The Angels head to Oakland to play the Athletics tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. PST.
[Featured Image by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images]
