Mike Trout

Even with him and Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles is still in no position to contend — now or in the near future.

And maybe, in the back half of his career, something will click for the Angels. But for now, we get to continue to ask the questions of what could have been. And if the Angels continue to struggle, he could be doing it ringless. And at some point, you do have to wonder what could have been. Only 55 of those guys have made it to the Hall of Fame. If Trout finishes out his contract in Anaheim — and he hasn’t said anything yet that would make us think otherwise — he would be joining this exclusive club. On Wednesday, it was reported that Trout was suffering from a rare back condition that could affect him for the rest of his career. The only active player ahead of Trout in career WAR is 42-year-old Albert Pujols. Trout is only 30.

Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout was diagnosed with a rare back condition and his timeline to return to the field this season is in question, ...

"I respond to texts all the time, but just, I've got to stay on top of it," Trout said of his condition. He plans to see what the doctor says Sunday and hopes to resume swinging after the visit. He said his "goal" is to return this season and he plans to meet Sunday for a checkup with a doctor. He said he received a lot of text messages from concerned people who thought his "career is over." Trout hit .270, the lowest average since his 2011 rookie season, with 24 homers and 51 RBIs through 79 games this season. "This is a pretty rare condition that he has right now in his back," Frostad said.

The baseball world was floored yesterday when it was revealed that Los Angeles Angels slugger and 10-time All-Star Mike Trout had been diagnosed.

Trout seems confident that this won’t affect his career in any way, shape, or form, and that all it means is that he’ll have to adjust his routine a little bit and keep at that routine for the remaining days of his career. It said my career’s over. “I got back and my phone was blowing up.

When the news broke that Mike Trout has a "pretty rare" back condition, fans panicked. But Mike Trout isn't worried and says his career his not over.

The Angels have fallen back down to the dweller of the AL West and the rest of the league with a 42-56 record. Since then, though, he is hitting just .209, likely due to him - by his own admission - playing through the injury. I'm happy with it." I'm excited with the way it's going. "I think it's a little exaggeration…" It's just one [of those] things, you play, you swing a lot, and things pop up."

Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout, from Millville, N.J., left a July 12th game against the Houston Astros with back spasms.

Please consider supporting us with a subscription. But this doctor hasn’t seen a lot of it.” “This is a pretty rare condition that he has right now in his back,” Frostad said.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mike Trout returned to his locker on Wednesday afternoon and his phone had blown up with texts from concerned friends and family members.

“He’s a good big-league pitcher and we’ve got to get him back to where he where he was when he was right,” Nevin said. He’s going to go down and work as he has each time and we expect to see him back at some point.” “He’s a little bit more upbeat today,” Frostad said. The Angels sent down right-hander Austin Warren to create a roster spot for Janson Junk, who started Wednesday.Warren had a 5.63 ERA in 16 innings this season, working around two stints on the injured list. He’s going to have a follow-up here once we get back, and we’ll just kind of see what the doctor thinks at that point. “He’s been in the dugout, helping out his teammates. In the meantime, Trout will continue to work on core stability and do cardio workouts, Frostad said. Frostad also said that this could be something that Trout has to manage for the rest of his career. “I don’t think we’re at a point where we’re going to make that decision. “I’ve got to stay on top of the routine I do on a daily basis to prevent it from coming back,” Trout said. A week later, when the Angels placed him on the injured list, they announced it was rib cage inflammation. Trout’s injury was first diagnosed as back spasms when he left a game on July 12.

Trout could very well still have great seasons waiting in his future, but as he turns 31 next month, a decade-plus of Angels baseball that has been a slow- ...

Now, maybe, he feels a little more human, fighting against both time and his own body as he strives for a legacy that goes beyond individual accomplishment, and which may be fully out of his control as long as he’s in Anaheim. Every baseball fan deserves to see Mike Trout perform for a contender. At the very least this news completely shifts the context of Trout’s career, marking a clear before and after point in the early part of his second decade in MLB. Before, Trout was almost a stock mythological archetype—a demigod blessed with preternatural ability but cursed to never be able to use it for its intended purpose. I won’t claim to be an expert on the costovertebral joints, but it seems pretty clear that any kind of misalignment in that area could really mess up a baseball player when he needs to do things like “swing a bat.” So reading the news as “Mike Trout’s ability to hit has been disrupted by a rare issue around his spine,” when “rare” in a medical context is so often taken as a synonym for “very bad,” this is cause for a lot of alarm about Trout’s future in MLB. People understandably freaked! So, rare in this case may not necessarily equal very bad, but it does seem to mean that no one’s quite sure how quickly and easily a baseball player with this condition can return to full strength, or how it might affect him going forward. “This is a pretty rare condition that he has right now in his back,” Frostad said before the Angels’ game on Wednesday. “The doctor, who is one of the most well-known spine surgeons in the country—if not the world—doesn’t see a lot of these. This season felt like a reset button for a while, as Trout played through mid-July looking, if not head and shoulders above the rest of the league, easily good enough to justify another All-Star Game start, with his 24 home runs and .967 OPS.

Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout is dealing with a "rare" back condition, according to Angels athletic trainer Mike Forstad.

Although he acknowledges he will have to stay on top of maintenance of his back, he’s not concerned about his career." Fletcher: "Just talked to Mike Trout. He said his phone is blowing up and it’s all an exaggeration. Forstad via ESPN: "This is a pretty rare condition that he has right now in his back," Frostad said.