The Los Angeles Angels continue to find new rock bottoms.
Angels head trainer Mike Frostad revealed Wednesday that star outfielder Mike Trout, who has missed the last couple of weeks with a back injury, is dealing with a “rare” condition called costovertebral dysfunction at T5.
“This is a pretty rare condition that he has right now in his back,” Frostad said, per Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register. “[Dr. Robert Watkins], one of the most well-known spine surgeons in the country, if not the world, doesn’t see a lot of these. For it to happen in a baseball player, we just have to take into consideration what he puts himself through with hitting, swinging on a daily basis just to get prepared and then also playing in the outfield, diving for balls … There’s so many things that can aggravate it, but this doctor hasn’t seen a lot of it.
“Long-term, we do have to look at this as something that he has to manage not just through the rest of this season, but also through the rest of his career, probably,” Frostad added about Trout.
Frostad also said the team hopes that Trout will not miss the rest of the year but admits that they have not had that discussion yet. You can see Frostad’s full comments on Trout’s condition and progress towards a return here.
The three-time AL MVP Trout is hitting .270 with 24 home runs and 51 RBIs in 79 games this season, one year after he was limited to just 36 games played thanks to a calf injury. He will turn 31 next month and is under contract with the Angels through the 2030 season.
For his part, Trout told Fletcher that the concern is overblown, adding that he will play again this year and is not concerned about his career.
Just talked to Mike Trout. He said his phone is blowing up and it’s all an exaggeration. He said he will play again this year. Although he acknowledges he will have to stay on top of maintenance of his back, he’s not concerned about his career.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) July 27, 2022
Injuries to the back are obviously concerning for baseball players, and it was a back issue that helped bring about an early end to this MLB star’s career. Trout is a generational talent with the potential to go down as the GOAT by the time he retires. All fingers (and all toes, for that matter) will be crossed that Trout’s back issue is indeed, as he indicates here, a minimal concern.
