Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Mike Trout Injury Update: What Happened to LA Angels Star?

Mike Trout is headed to the 10-day IL!

Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Just over a year removed from a devastating knee injury that derailed his 2024 season, Mike Trout is back on the injured list, again with an issue in the same left knee.

The Los Angeles Angels announced Thursday night that their star outfielder will be placed on the IL due to a bone bruise in his surgically repaired knee. Manager Ron Washington delivered the update following the team’s 10-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers, confirming that while Trout would be sidelined, early test results had at least one silver lining: no structural damage.

Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters Thursday night that Mike Trout is being placed on the IL with a bone bruise on his left knee. pic.twitter.com/wIlYTgV7LS
— MLB (@MLB) May 2, 2025

It’s a frustrating blow for the Angels and Trout, who had started every game this season until now. The injury occurred during Wednesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners when Trout attempted to leg out a ground ball in the third inning. He sprinted hard down the line, lunged toward first base, and was called out by a step. Though he remained in the game defensively for another inning, he was replaced by Jo Adell the next time through the lineup.

Trout underwent a round of imaging and evaluation postgame and initially speculated that the discomfort might have been from scar tissue breaking up, a byproduct of last year’s meniscus surgery. He even expressed optimism about returning to the lineup for Thursday’s game. Instead, he was held out and now faces another stint on the sidelines.

ALSO READ: Michael Kay Calls Out Baseball’s Dumbest Tradition

That cautious tone echoed throughout the Angels’ clubhouse, but the reality is hard to ignore: Trout’s recent seasons have been marred by injuries. In 2021, a calf strain limited him to just 36 games. A fractured hamate in July 2023 effectively ended another season after just one post-injury appearance. And in 2024, his promising start came to a sudden halt exactly one year and one day before this latest setback, when a torn meniscus required surgery and led to lingering complications.

Mike Trout is slashing just .173 through April but has still managed to produce nine home runs and 18 RBIs in 29 games. Despite the modest average, his presence atop the Angels’ lineup remained vital, and this injury, regardless of how minor it seems, raises familiar questions about longevity and availability.

The Angels are hopeful this absence will be a short one. But for Trout, who’s played more than 100 games only once in the past four years, staying on the field continues to be his toughest challenge.

Angels

Mike trout

Mohsin Baldiwala

mlb

Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.