Still no timeline, but Trout 'feeling better every day' after knee surgery

ANAHEIM -- Six days after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, Angels superstar Mike Trout was in good spirits on Thursday, and said he’s been feeling better each day.

Trout, who still doesn’t know how or when he sustained the injury on April 29, underwent a partial medial meniscectomy on Friday. The Angels and Trout have declined to give an official timeline, but players who have had that operation generally return in four to six weeks, which is encouraging for the three-time AL MVP and 11-time All-Star.

“I’m feeling good,” Trout said before the Angels' 10-4 loss to the Royals. “Surgery went well. Just taking it day by day and feeling better every day, so it’s been good. No timeline. Just come in, rehab and hopefully it feels better every single day, see how it feels the next day and go from there.”

Trout, 32, also revealed that he had the option to put off the surgery until the offseason and try to play through the injury exclusively as a designated hitter. But there was a risk of further injury, especially while running the bases, and Trout would’ve been playing through pain while not being at full strength. So Trout decided it would be best for himself and the team to have the operation as soon as possible to put it behind him and be healthy going forward.

“It was an option they put out there,” Trout said. “It would have been just maintaining the pain level of it. The day I got the MRI and it showed that, I was in a lot of pain, so it would have been a tough road for the rest of the year to bear that. I felt the best option for me was to get it right and be fully healthy to come back soon.”

Trout was batting .220/.325/.541 with 10 homers, two triples, a double, six stolen bases and 14 RBIs in 29 games before sustaining the injury. He said he felt something in his knee in the third inning on April 29, but didn’t think anything of it until it progressively worsened. Trout underwent an MRI exam on April 30 and was emotional that day when describing yet another injury.

Trout was limited to 82 games last year because of a fractured left hamate suffered on a swing in early July and played in 119 games in 2022 as he dealt with a back injury. He also was limited to 36 games because of a strained left calf in 2021, and hasn't played in at least 130 games since 2019. And even that season ended with Trout on the injured list after undergoing a surgery to remove a neuroma from his right foot.

“Obviously it’s frustrating, but you can’t really do much about it,” Trout said. “It is what it is. I play the game hard and stuff happens. I try to prepare my body and go out there and play every night and give 100 percent for the team, the fans, for everybody, and stuff just happens. I play the game hard.”

Angels manager Ron Washington was happy to see Trout as the Angels returned from their road trip through Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The Angels have been decimated by injuries recently and have seen a shakeup of their roster since Trout was placed on the injured list.

The latest was trading for infielder Luis Guillorme and claiming fellow infielder Niko Goodrum on Thursday, while they’ve also added other veterans such as infielder Cole Tucker and outfielders Kevin Pillar and Willie Calhoun.

But Washington said they have to do their best to play without Trout and fellow veteran Anthony Rendon, who was moved to the 60-day IL on Thursday with his left hamstring strain.

“We can't approach it that we can't play baseball because we don't have this guy or we don't have that guy,” Washington said. “We’ve got to approach it where the guys we have, they're good enough to do what the game asks of them to do. And we can still be successful. We miss the guys that aren’t here, no doubt about it. But our job is to hold things down until they return.”