ANAHEIM — The Angels are taking no chances with Mike Trout.
The three-time American League MVP was in the lineup on Monday, but after Manager Joe Maddon talked to him about the stomach bug that continues to bother him, he decided to scratch his star center fielder from the lineup.
“It’s Game 5,” Maddon said. “Let’s just be smart about all this stuff. If you’re not feeling well, you’re not feeling well.”
Trout was too sick to play the final two exhibition games of the Freeway Series last week, but then he played all four in the season-opening series against the Houston Astros.
Apparently, he was still not 100 percent, though, so Maddon wanted to be careful. After Trout went through his pregame work on the field, Maddon removed him from the lineup.
Maddon said he would rather start the game with Trout on the bench and have him available for later than have to take him out and not have him at the end of the game.
Another reason to keep Trout out of the lineup on Monday was that a player who has been bothered by a stomach issue can be dehydrated, and that could lead to a much more serious injury.
“With his history of soft tissue injuries, we just want to be cautious with him,” head athletic trainer Mike Frostad said. “It’s early in the year and we don’t want to run the risk of having somebody go down with a soft tissue injury at this point in the season, especially with somebody with his history.”
Last season Trout missed the final four months of the season with a strained calf injury that was expected to keep him out only two months.
Trout has said he’s been on a new regimen of workouts and flexibility exercises that is intended to prevent such injuries. He said he has been feeling better than he had in past seasons.
ADELL’S SLOW START
Jo Adell had been out of the lineup before Trout was scratched, which allowed him to get back in and try to snap out of his brief funk to begin the season. Adell was hitless in his first nine at-bats, with seven strikeouts.
The Astros threw him 19 breaking balls among the 39 pitches that he saw. He swung at 11 of them and he made contact just twice, not including one foul tip. His 34.8% contact rate is the lowest in the majors for qualified players.
“It’s just an adjustment thing,” Adell said. “I think we’re all getting the feel of how things are gonna run. They definitely mixed in a lot of offspeed pitches and I came in some situations against guys that rally spotted it up and made good pitches. I’m just getting back in a rhythm to what I had, to just keep moving forward.”
Maddon said that Adell will get better, particularly against those breaking balls.
“He’s just underneath some pitches that I thought he was squaring up,” Maddon said. “He could hit a breaking ball over those rocks. He can really crush a breaking ball. I think from what I saw some were just a little too wide. He has to narrow it down and get them over the plate a little bit. If he catches a strike breaking ball, it’s going to go really far.”
NOTES
Adell might only have a few more games to show some improvement because Taylor Ward (strained groin) is progressing well and will likely come off the injured list on Saturday, Frostad said. Ward was Maddon’s choice to be the everyday right fielder, so once he returns that will create a squeeze with Adell, Brandon Marsh and Jose Rojas in left field. …
Griffin Canning (back) is expected to begin throwing off a mound sometime during the Angels’ upcoming trip, Frostad said. Canning is on the 60-day injured list, so he’s not eligible to return until June 4. …
The Angels have continued to have their players work on bunting for hits against the shift. Maddon said he wants players to be comfortable enough to do it on their own. “The thing about guys bunting that don’t normally bunt, it always seems better when they decide to do it on their own, as opposed to getting a sign. Getting a sign has a tendency to tighten people up,” Maddon said. …
Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to make his next start as a pitcher on Thursday, the first day of a four-game series in Texas. Assuming the Angels continue in the same order, Reid Detmers, Noah Syndergaard and José Suarez would pitch the final three games of the series.
UP NEXT
Angels (LHP Patrick Sandoval, 3-6, 3.62 in 2021) vs. Marlins (LHP Jesus Luzardo, 6-9, 6.61 in 2021), Tuesday, 4:07 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM
