Trout returns to Angels’ lineup in a new spot after being activated off the injured list

CLEVELAND (AP) - Mike Trout originally expected to return to the Los Angeles Angels’ lineup on Monday in Boston.

It turns out the timeline was moved up one series and three days.

Trout was activated off the injured list before Friday night’s game against the Cleveland Guardians. The Angels slugger missed 26 games with soreness in his left knee eventually diagnosed as a bone bruise. The three-time American League MVP had two operations last year on the knee after tearing his meniscus.

"I’m just itching to get out there,” Trout said before the game. “I think came out of the other day (of running bases) good. I wasn't too sore or anything, I told them I was good enough to go out there and have some good at-bats."

Trout’s return comes with something he hasn’t done in his 15-year big league career. This will be the first time in 1,532 starts that he will be hitting fifth in the lineup.

The only other time Trout batted fifth in 1,547 previous games was on May 14, 2022, against the Athletics, when he entered in the fourth inning and finished the game in center field.

"We know where Mike Trout is in the order. It doesn't matter where he is hitting, he could be hitting ninth," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "It's got to be a different feeling for sure for them. I mean, he's been in the two or three hole for what, 12 years now? But he's still a really good player."

Manager Ron Washington is happy to have Trout back, especially since he noted Trout wasn’t aggressive in rushing back. Washington also knows that Trout isn’t ready to return to his normal spot batting second or third.

"He hasn't seen anything. So when you look at what we have, that's where he sits," Washington said. "It doesn’t make sense for him to protect (Logan) O’Hoppe. So I’ll put Mike behind him to protect O’Hoppe. He’s not ready to be at the top of the lineup, especially with those guys up there. As we go along the next couple of days, he’s not going to remain fifth."

The 33-year old Trout was hitting .179 with nine home runs, 18 RBIs and a .727 OPS in 29 games before the injury. He will be the designated hitter for the weekend series against the Guardians before possibly returning to right field when the Halos head to Boston on Monday for a three-game series.

Even though Trout has shied away from wanting to be the designated hitter, he has done well in that spot. In seven games this season, he is 8 for 28 (.286) with six home runs and nine RBIs.

Trout said whether or not he plays more games than originally planned at DH the remainder of the season is something that remains to be seen.

"Bone bruises are tricky. I know I am going to be sore but I can deal with it," he said. "I definitely have to be cautious, especially the first couple games."

Trout’s return comes with the Angels on a five-game skid after an eight-game winning streak that included a three-game sweep of the defending World Series champion Dodgers. Los Angeles were 25-30 going into Friday’s game.

"There's so many games that any sense of newness or something to make you excited is something that you'd latch on to. So today is definitely a moment like that," O’Hoppe said about Trout’s return. "He's the heart of this organization. So we’re happy to have our heart beating again for sure.”

Trout has missed 404 of the Angels' 664 games - almost 61% - since May 17, 2021, when he tore his calf muscle against Cleveland and was sidelined for the rest of that season. This is the fifth straight year he has had a stint of at least 25 games on the IL.

He missed five weeks of the 2022 season with a back injury, and all but one game after July 3 in 2023 after he broke a bone in his hand on a foul ball. Trout played in 29 games last season before the meniscus injury.