HOUSTON — Angels center fielder Mike Trout left Thursday’s eventual 8-2 loss to the Houston Astros in the fifth inning with a left elbow contusion, the Angels said, after he was hit by a pitch the inning before.
The Angels did not immediately say whether the injury would keep Trout out of the lineup in coming days.
Leading off the fourth inning, Trout got to a full count against Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier. With the payoff pitch, Javier threw a 93.1-mph fastball up and in. The ball hit Trout directly on the pad protecting his elbow, which he left extended from his body.
Trout immediately reeled away in pain, walking slowly to first base. From the dugout, an Angels trainer went running toward the three-time MVP, with manager Joe Maddon following close behind. For the next couple of minutes, the three gathered near first base, evaluating Trout’s elbow. He stayed in the game to run the bases, then took the field for the bottom of the fourth.
In the top of the fifth, however, Scott Schebler walked out on deck in Trout’s place. The inning ended before Schebler could hit, but he took over for Trout defensively in center field the next half inning.
The YouTube game broadcast later aired a clip of Trout, who was wearing a microphone throughout the contest, appearing to talk about the hit by pitch with Astros third baseman Alex Bregman.
Trout said he “thought it was a slider” and that he had trouble picking up the pitch against the backdrop at Minute Maid Park, potentially explaining why it looked like Trout hadn’t made more of an effort to get out of the way. Bregman responded that he’d noticed Javier’s pitches “look like that” during his own batting practices against the right-hander.
In another clip aired on the broadcast, Trout told Bregman, “If I didn’t have a pad bro …” and then simply gave a shake of his head — seemingly indicating a worse-case scenario had been averted.
