Star Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout has been one of the best and most talented players in baseball throughout his 11-year MLB career, but the three-time MVP’s future may be in question after a surprising health diagnosis became public Wednesday afternoon.
Angels head athletic trainer Mike Frostad revealed on Wednesday that Trout is dealing with a “rare condition” in his back that the star outfielder will likely will have to deal with “through the rest of his career.”
“This is a pretty rare condition that he has right now in his back,” Frostad told ESPN. “The doctor [Robert Watkins III], who is one of the most well-known spine surgeons in the country — if not the world, doesn’t see a lot of these.
“And for it to happen in a baseball player — we just have to take into consideration what he puts himself through with hitting, swinging on a daily basis just to get prepared, and then also playing in the outfield, diving for balls, jumping into the wall — things like that. There’s so many things that can aggravate it. But this doctor hasn’t seen a lot of it.”
The Angels initially expected their star outfielder to return quickly after he was placed on the injured list on July 18 with rib cage inflammation that was creating pain in his back. But now the timeline of his return is much more uncertain as he could be dealing with a much more long-term injury.
Naturally, the Major League Baseball world was stunned by the announcement and took to Twitter to express their concern about Trout’s health.
I swear, if the universe makes Mike Trout spend the last decade of his career as a part-time DH, I'm setting the air conditioning at 68 degrees and driving cars with internal combustion engines for the rest of my life.
— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) July 27, 2022
The Mike Trout news is heartbreaking and giving me intense David Wright flashbacks and I don't like it.
— Allison McCague, PhD 🧬⚾️ (@PetitePhD) July 27, 2022
So, if Mike Trout is done for the year, he’ll have played 115 of a possible 324 games over 2021-22.
Sad.
— High Heat Stats (@HighHeatStats) July 27, 2022
don't do this, baseball gods pic.twitter.com/LNEZ91D3II
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 27, 2022
I talked to an OT, a PT and two chiropractors about this on Mike Trout and it genuinely sounds like the Angels are bungling this. Unless there's something deeper going on not present in this story, none of the four think of this as anything nearly as rare or scary as it sounds. https://t.co/oZ7xwNnZWL
— Brenden Schaeffer🎳 (@bschaeffer12) July 27, 2022
Terrible news re: @MikeTrout He’s Cooperstown bound, and as good a human it seems. Back injuries are always difficult for athletes (or anyone for that matter) and will need constant monitoring and work. Fingers crossed we still get him at top level. #MLB needs it.
— Casey Stern (@CaseyStern) July 27, 2022
Frostad told ESPN that the 10-time All-Star is “upbeat” about his current injury condition.
[ESPN]
