New dad Trout to rejoin Angels in Seattle

August 2nd, 2020

Angels superstar was placed on the restricted list on Sunday, but he will fly with the club to Seattle on Monday’s off-day and will be in the lineup against the Mariners on Tuesday, general manager Billy Eppler said Sunday.

Trout is currently away from the club after his wife, Jessica, gave birth to their first child, Beckham Aaron Trout, on Thursday. Trout was placed on the paternity list but it expired on Sunday, so he had to be shifted to the restricted list.

“He’ll play in Seattle,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “We gave him another day. We had to give him one more day to make it all work, and we did.”

Trout, a three-time AL MVP Award winner and eight-time All-Star, is hitting .292/.357/.458 with one homer, one double and four RBIs in six games this year. Brian Goodwin started in center field in Trout’s place on Sunday.

La Stella day to day
Second baseman Tommy La Stella was held out of the lineup on Sunday with neck stiffness for the second straight day, but there’s a chance he could return after Monday’s off-day. Luis Rengifo started at second on Sunday with La Stella out.

“It's one of those things where he has to turn the whole body to look at you,” Maddon said. “We all know what that feels like.”

No change in closer role yet
Closer Hansel Robles has struggled early this season with a 22.09 ERA (nine earned runs in 3 2/3 innings) over four appearances after allowing three runs on two homers in Saturday’s 5-4 win in 10 innings. He’s unavailable to pitch on Sunday after throwing 24 pitches on Saturday, and Maddon wouldn’t tip his hand on if there will be a change in the closer role.

“Robles will not pitch today after two in a row,” Maddon said. “If, in fact, I wanted to do something like that, I would not tell you guys first.”