Trout misses first game of '15 with sore heel
ANAHEIM -- Angels center fielder Mike Trout was out of the starting lineup for the first time this season on Tuesday, while nursing soreness in his left heel.
He isn't quite sure how it happened.
"When I woke up, it didn't feel right," Trout said. "I got treatment today, and it's a lot better than it was this morning. I'll definitely try to be in there tomorrow."
The Angels' initial lineup was without both Trout and Albert Pujols, who have combined for 57 home runs. Pujols had been scheduled to be off on Tuesday, but asked Angels manager Mike Scioscia to put him back in the lineup when he realized Trout wouldn't play.
Pujols was put in the No. 3 slot, while serving as the designated hitter.
"When you approach Albert about a day off, he balks at it all the time," Scioscia said. "I think that's one of the things that makes him a special player. He feels good, he can DH, and we'll obviously look to see when we can get Albert off his feet, give him a day this week some time."
Pujols and Trout both started the All-Star Game in Cincinnati and played both ends of Monday's doubleheader, with each drawing a start at DH and, of course, having Sunday's rainout off. Before Tuesday, Trout had been in the Angels' lineup for 406 of their 416 games since the start of the 2013 season, starting 386 of them in the outfield.
"There are a lot of guys in their career who are really strong through 155 to 162 games, and Mike has shown he's one of those guys," Scioscia said. "Mike, as he gets experience, will understand more and more when he needs a day off. I think our training staff and our coaching staff is very well-connected with how guys are feeling and when they might benefit from a day off, and this is certainly a day that Mike needs."
Worth noting
• Jered Weaver threw a four-inning, 60-pitch simulated game on Tuesday, his latest and perhaps final step in a return from left-hip inflammation. Scioscia called it "a good workout," but the Angels won't decide Weaver's next step until he throws his usual, between-starts bullpen session in a couple days.
• Young, hard-throwing right-hander Trevor Gott has given up three runs on four hits and two walks in his last two appearances, spanning 1 2/3 innings and spread out over eight days. Scioscia chalked some of those struggles up to that long layoff and still likes him as a seventh-inning option, saying: "He's part of that puzzle."
• Angels outfielder Collin Cowgill (sprained right wrist) took dry swings on Tuesday and is expected to hit off a tee on Wednesday. The Angels will be cautious with Cowgill, who has been on the disabled list since May 28 and has already had a setback. Daniel Robertson is currently filling Cowgill's role as a fourth outfielder and left-field option against lefties.
• Nick Tropeano was scratched from his scheduled start for Triple-A Salt Lake on Tuesday and is tentatively slated to pitch Wednesday, though that can change if the Angels decide to call him up to start Friday, when they need a sixth starter because of Monday's doubleheader. Every Triple-A starter was pushed back a day so that Tyler DeLoach, who missed 2 1/2 weeks after the death of his father, could start Monday.