Mike Trout to Be Activated from DL by Angels After Thumb Injury

The Los Angeles Angels are expected to activate Mike Trout from the disabled list Friday in the team's return from the All-Star break, per Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com.

The outfielder has been out since the end of May with a UCL tear in his left thumb.

Eric Young Jr. will be outrighted to Triple-A to make room for Trout on the roster.

Trout was initially scheduled to miss six to eight weeks with the injury, per Guardado, so this return puts him right in this range at just under seven weeks.

The 25-year-old was on track for arguably his best season before the injury, which says a lot for a player who has won two MVP awards in the past three years and has never finished below second in MVP voting in five full seasons.

In 47 games, Trout had a .337 batting average, .461 on-base percentage and .742 slugging percentage, all of which would be career highs over a full season. Add in 16 home runs in just over a quarter of the year and it was enough to earn him his sixth straight All-Star selection despite the missed time.

The Angels have survived without him with a 19-19 record after going 26-28 before the injury, but they will certainly prefer to have their superstar back in the lineup as they try to reach the playoffs for the first time in three years.