Angels' Mike Trout Shut Down for Remainder of 2023 MLB Season with Hand Injury

Mike Trout's season is over.

Los Angeles Angels manager Phil Nevin announced Sunday that Trout was being moved to the 60-day injured list, as he never seemed to recover from the fractured hamate bone in his left hand that initially landed him on the IL back on July 3.

Trout returned for exactly one game on Aug. 22, but was shut down yet again the next day.

Injuries have been the central storyline in the talent outfielder's career in recent years. He played in just 36 games in 2021, 119 games last season and 82 games this year due to a series of injuries.

That has largely kept one of baseball's most talented players off the field. He was on pace for a big season in 2023, hitting .263 with 18 homers, 44 RBI, 54 runs and a .858 OPS. But his injuries—paired with Shohei Ohtani's own injury issues late in the year and the team's inability to stay in the postseason picture—has left the Angels with yet another disappointing season.

The Angels haven't reached the postseason since 2014. And with Ohtani potentially departing in free agency, it's possible that teams around baseball could attempt to pry the 32-year-old Trout away from Los Angeles in a trade.

Earlier in September, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the Angels, "perhaps for the first time, are open to trading All-Star outfielder Trout if he indicates to them that he wants out. Trout has exclusive no-trade rights and said recently that he wants to have a private conversation with the front office and ownership about their direction."

There undoubtedly will be a market for the three-time AL MVP and 11-time All-Star, even with his recent injury concerns, the seven years left on his contract and the $35.4 million he'll be paid per season.

At his best, Trout is one of the game's top superstars. He just hasn't had many games in recent years to remind the baseball world of that fact.