ANAHEIM, Calif. _ One day after missing a game because of a foot injury, Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout was out of the lineup for Monday's series opener against the Cleveland Indians at Angel Stadium. He had a procedure done to relieve nerve irritation in his right foot.
Trout said he didn't even watch it happen. A needle was going to be inserted into his foot, he was told. That was enough to churn his stomach and make him turn his gaze.
When the cryoablation _ the insertion of hollow needles through which cooled fluids are circulated _ was done, Trout felt some relief. He'd been dealing with the injury for nearly a month. He played through soreness until he was spelled during the weekend in Chicago _ he was removed from Friday's game against the White Sox in the fifth inning, appeared only as a pinch-hitter Saturday and was scratched from the lineup Sunday. Before that, he had missed only one game in the last month _ an Aug. 28 home loss to the Texas Rangers.
The pain intensified the last few days. Rather than let it continue, Trout underwent a simple procedure to ease the Morton's neuroma that had formed in his right foot. Morton's neuroma is a painful condition that affects the ball of the foot.
"Once it flares up, it doesn't go away," Trout said. "It calms down at night and when you do baseball activity, it flares up again. It's just tough. I obviously want to be out there. This procedure today, they say it helps it."
Trout, who leads the American League in home runs (45) and on-base-plus-slugging percentage, is hopeful he'll miss minimal action. He could be back in the lineup as soon as Wednesday, so the foot injury should not derail Trout's chase for his third MVP award.
It could, however, lead to a different procedure during the offseason.
"It doesn't go away unless you get it taken out," Trout said. "We'll see where it goes."
