Trout day to day, MRI on wrist comes back negative
HOUSTON -- MRI results on Mike Trout's left wrist came back negative, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said after his team's 10-5 loss to the Astros on Tuesday night. Trout doesn't have any structural damage on the wrist, which he hurt attempting to make a diving catch in Sunday's game. The 23-year-old center fielder is day to day and may play as early as Wednesday.
Trout woke up Tuesday feeling sore, and he felt pain while taking some swings in the batting cage early in the afternoon.
"It was bothering me pretty bad," Trout said. "The MRI was probably the best it could be. I have to take the positives away from that."
Trout's glove squirted away when he attempted a full-extension diving catch on a flare off the bat of Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus a couple days ago. Then he clutched his left wrist and was attended to by the Angels' training staff.
Trout stayed in the game, recorded three hits -- one of them a grand slam -- and seemed to avoid major injury by turning his left wrist just before hitting the ground.
"It felt good, even when I got home [after Sunday's game]," Trout said. "I iced it. When I woke up the next morning, it was a little sore. I came in and got treatment yesterday and today. It was a little sore. Nothing too crazy. When I started swinging, that's when it was aching a little bit."
Video: Stoneman talks about Trout's injury, impact on club
The soreness is gone, Trout added, "But we'll see how it goes swinging tomorrow. The initial impact of the swing is where it bothered me."
Trout, the reigning American League Most Valuable Player Award winner, entered the week leading the Major Leagues in Wins Above Replacement for the fourth consecutive year. He's batting .315/.405/.632 with a Major League-leading 31 homers so far, while starting all but two of his team's 99 games.
The Angels don't believe he'll be out of the lineup much longer.
"Hopefully he'll bounce back in the next day or two and get back in our lineup," Scioscia said.
Worth noting
• The Angels placed outfielder Matt Joyce on the seven-day concussion disabled list prior to Tuesday's game, after he collided with shortstop Erick Aybar while chasing a shallow fly ball in the fourth inning Sunday. Joyce will be shut down for at least four to five days, then be re-evaluated.
• Third baseman Kyle Kubitza was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake, and Efren Navarro, a left-handed hitter with more experience playing left field than Kubitza, was called up. Shane Victorino batted eighth and started in left field in his Angels debut, filling a spot created by Joyce's DL stint.
• Angels starter Jered Weaver will throw four innings or about 60 pitches in his rehab start for Class A Inland Empire on Thursday. Scioscia said Weaver "felt really good in his bullpen sessions." The 32-year-old right-hander could be activated off the DL by the beginning of next week.
• Albert Pujols started at designated hitter for the fifth time in the last nine games on Wednesday, but the Angels' first baseman said he's fine physically. He just wanted an extra day off his feet.
• Cuban shortstop Roberto Baldoquin, given an $8 million signing bonus this offseason, was hit by a pitch in his left hand on Monday night and won't be available "for a few days," assistant general manager Scott Servais said in a text message.