Mike Trout Health Woes Continue, Now Needs Major Knee Surgery

Mike Trout can't catch a break.

Unquestionably one of the best players of his generation, and one of the best in baseball history, Trout's spent most of the past few years battling injuries. But entering 2024, he repeatedly professed his health and positive outlook for the upcoming season. Even after the Los Angeles Angels lost all-world superstar Shohei Ohtani to the Dodgers.

And through the first month of the season, Trout looked the part. Shaking off some poor luck on batted balls, Trout jumped out to an early lead in the American League home run race with 10. After years of being hesitant to run the bases at full speed, hoping to protect his legs, Trout even started stealing again. His six steals through 29 games is the highest season total for the 32-year-old since 2019 when he stole 11 in 134 games.

His expected weighted on base average (wOBA) placed him 13th in Major League Baseball, and though the Angels were a disappointing 11-18, Trout's performance and health gave room for optimism. Well, not anymore.

ESPN's Alden Gonzalez and Jeff Passan reported late Tuesday afternoon that an MRI after Monday night's Angels win revealed that Trout needs major knee surgery, though it's not supposed to end his season entirely.

Oh boy.

Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout. Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Trout Injury Woes Continue

According to Gonzalez, Angels General Manager Perry Minasian said that Trout has a torn meniscus in his left knee. The team didn't reveal a timetable, but they do apparently expect Trout to return this season, a small comfort in an otherwise devastating day.

The ramifications from this injury are massive. The Angels already had little hope of making a postseason run, with just a 5 percent chance as of April 30th, according to Fangraphs. But with one of the game's best players now out for the foreseeable future, as well as baseball-lover Anthony Rendon out for an extended period of time, even five percent seems optimistic.

There was also the possibility that a healthy Trout could finally demand a trade out of Anaheim this year; if the Angels remained buried in the standings this summer, he may have decided it wasn't worth staying. That's almost assuredly impossible now.

For Trout's career, it's yet another concerning blow. Given his awe-inspiring success at a young age, it seemed possible that Trout could challenge for all sorts of career records. But since the end of 2019, he's played just 319 games, and is now set to miss most of 2024 as well.

Baseball is better when Mike Trout is healthy and performing well. He's a unique talent, someone who's truly elite in all aspects of the sport. Despite fighting injury after injury, his expected slugging percentage so far this season is effectively .600. He's a superstar, and the game needs more superstars. But yet again, he's down with a major injury. It's another frustrating entry into an extremely frustrating past few years.