Mike Trout looks like the saddest puppy discussing ‘frustrating’ injury

Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout was off to a promising start. After the past three seasons were cut short by injuries, the first month of the 2024 MLB season provided reasons for optimism. Trout was off to a scorching start — his 10 home runs are tied with Baltimore Orioles' Gunnar Henderson for most in the league this season. He also has 14 RBIs and an .867 OPS in 29 games.

Trout began to experience soreness around his knee in the third inning of Monday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies. He played the entire game and helped the Angels pull off a come-from-behind 6-5 victory, but an MRI on Tuesday morning revealed sobering news regarding his injury.

Trout has a torn meniscus in his left knee, Angels general manager Perry Minasian said on Tuesday.

Mike Trout fought back tears while discussing recent injury

Trout met with reporters to discuss the injury, and he struggled to stay composed as he fought back tears.

"Just frustrating," Trout told reporters. "It's crazy because I look back, I don't even know when I did it."

Trout explained that he felt "a little bit of an ache" in his knee when he ran back to the dugout around the third inning. He stayed in the game, but he "started feeling" the injury in the seventh or eighth inning.

"It's just one of them things, like, my body — I wasn't feeling it hitting, I wasn't feeling it running," Trout said. "It was just sore. I was telling myself, maybe I banged it on something and I didn't realize it. After the game getting treatment, it was really sore. The plan was to see how it felt in the morning. If I woke up and it was sore, get it looked at. That was the plan. Last night was tough for me to sleep. It was aching all night. I texted [Angels athletic trainer Mike Frostad] first thing: 'I need to get this looked at.'"

The torn meniscus will force Trout to miss a significant chunk of the 2024 season. Although he is expected to return later this season, the injury continues a streak of injury-shortened seasons for the Angels' superstar.

The 32-year-old hasn't played in 100 games in three of the past four seasons. He was limited to 82 games last season after fracturing the hamate bone in his left hand.

The three-time MVP and 11-time All-Star is a career .299 hitter with 378 home runs and 954 RBIs in 1,518 games over 14 seasons. Trout was selected with the No. 25 overall pick in 2009 and became the American League Rookie of the Year in 2012.

The Angels were already off to an 11-18 start in 2024. Without Trout, their road to the postseason in the American League West will be even tougher.