{"id":60927,"date":"2023-08-22T20:02:13","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T00:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=60927"},"modified":"2023-08-22T20:26:11","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T00:26:11","slug":"angels-activate-trout-il","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/22\/angels-activate-trout-il\/","title":{"rendered":"Angels Star Returns Tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/16\/los-angeles-angels-vs-texas-rangers\/\" target=\"_self\">Los Angeles Angels<\/a> activated star center fielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/troutmi01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Trout<\/a>\u00a0from the injured list today. How will it affect the Angels&#8217; playoff hopes?<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">he&#8217;s baaack \ud83d\udc10<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GoHalos?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#GoHalos<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MikeTrout?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MikeTrout<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4epM3TUyCq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/4epM3TUyCq<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IEZOEraNC9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/IEZOEraNC9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Angels\/status\/1694100024748372296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 22, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Trout fractured his left hamate bone on July 4th after being hit by a pitch. He has hit .263 this season with 18 home runs in 81 games. He returns amid a\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/16\/angels-hit-rock-bottom\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">brutal 5-13 stretch<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0for the Angels since the trade deadline.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Angels Hope Dwindling<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Angels have been one of the most fascinating teams in 2023. Two-way\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/14\/ohtani-makes-history-again\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">sensation<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/o\/ohtansh01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shohei Ohtani <\/a>is an impending free agent, and it&#8217;s generally assumed that Los Angeles needs to make the playoffs to have a chance at re-signing him. Trout is signed through 2030 but has played in three career playoff games and none since 2014. The urgency is there, and the Angels decided to <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/02\/angels-trade-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">push all their chips in<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0at the August 1st trade deadline. They gave up top prospects by acquiring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/giolilu01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lucas Giolito<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lopezre01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Reynaldo L\u00f3pez<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/grichra01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Randal Grichuk<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/croncj01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">C.J. Cron<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leonedo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dominic Leone <\/a>and solidified their intentions to contend. Since those late-July deals, the Angels have gone just 9-15 and lost six games in the Wild Card standings. Mike Trout&#8217;s injury came at one of the worst times possible, leaving the team without his services during the summer.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Will It Be Enough?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Trout is undoubtedly one of the league&#8217;s best players when healthy, and he and Ohtani form the league&#8217;s best 1-2 punch. However, with seven other spots in the lineup, they can only do some of it. The roster has been\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/04\/angels-getting-healthy-key\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">decimated by injuries all year<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, and many players have been ineffective when on the field. Cron, their deadline addition, hit the injured list on Friday. With catcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/o\/ohopplo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Logan O&#8217;Hoppe<\/a>\u00a0recently returning from a long-term injury, the Angels need more time to make a push. To do so, they&#8217;re <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/21\/angels-look-towards-future\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">leaning on a youth movement.<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0If Trout is his usual self, then he&#8217;ll be vital to overtaking the field in the American League, but the deficit might be insurmountable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">LWOS&#8217; Angels beat writer Brandon Hillhouse contributed to this article. Check out his other work\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/author\/bhillhouse\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credits: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Angels activated star center fielder Mike Trout\u00a0from the injured list today. How will it affect the Angels&#8217; playoff hopes? he&#8217;s baaack \ud83d\udc10#GoHalos | @MikeTrout https:\/\/t.co\/4epM3TUyCq pic.twitter.com\/IEZOEraNC9 \u2014 Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) August 22, 2023 &nbsp; Trout fractured his left hamate bone on July 4th after being hit by a pitch. He has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4771,"featured_media":60932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1071,35],"tags":[4077,1869,6279,770,248,1089,336,2178],"class_list":["post-60927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-angels","category-mlb","category-news","tag-cj-cron","tag-dominic-leone","tag-logan-ohoppe","tag-lucas-giolito","tag-mike-trout","tag-randal-grichuk","tag-reynaldo-lopez","tag-shohei-ohtani"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4771"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}