Trout’s opposite-field streak lights up Angels’ week

Trout’s opposite-field – Mike Trout keeps finding his way to the ball the opposite way as the Angels press toward the July 14 All-Star Game in Philadelphia. Tuesday’s signs—plus Trout’s speed to first base—arrive alongside updates on right-hander Grayson Rodriguez’s back stiffness, re

PHOENIX — Mike Trout didn’t talk like a player chasing a moment. He talked like a hitter watching a swing fall back into place.

Before Tuesday night’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Trout was already carrying a six-game hitting streak. It included an opposite-field home run in the Monday night stretch of the Angels’ 4-3 loss, a 2-for-3 performance that left little doubt about where his timing was trending.

On Tuesday, he added another homer—this one to center field—coming in the fifth inning. Afterward. Trout pointed directly to what the ball coming off his bat the “right” way has meant to him: “I’ve always told myself. when I’m going good. I’m hitting the ball the opposite way. When I’m pulling off things and not driving the ball to right, it’s when something’s really off. So it’s good to see that.”.

This season, that opposite-field power has shown up in a specific way: Trout has hit three of his 17 home runs to right or right center.

Speed was the other signal. Trout was clocked at 30.1 feet per second while running to first base, a number he credited to the prep he’s been able to maintain after several injury-plagued seasons. The result has been availability, too. Trout has played in all but one of the Angels’ first 74 games.

For the All-Star Game, that momentum comes with a personal hook. The July 14 event is scheduled for Philadelphia, 45 minutes south of Trout’s hometown of Millville, N.J. Trout said the location matters because it’s close enough to feel reachable in a way it hasn’t always been. “When I saw (a few years ago) it was (going to be) in Philadelphia. I want to try to get there. ” he said. Trout is an 11-time All-Star. and he was second among American League outfielders when the first Phase 1 voting update was revealed on Monday. “So to be up there in the voting means a lot. Hopefully I get it.”.

Back on the injury front, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez offered relief of a different kind. On Monday, he was placed on the 15-day injured list, and the worry was whether it would be an arm issue. It wasn’t.

Rodriguez dealt with lower back stiffness and left Sunday’s start after 2⅓ innings. On Tuesday, he resumed playing catch and said he would continue to throw as long as he could tolerate it. “I had it (back stiffness) a little bit in the prior starts,” Rodriguez said. “It just got to a point where it was just too difficult to throw.” He added he isn’t worried about the severity of the stiffness.

Rodriguez’s season hasn’t been a straight line, either. He was acquired from Baltimore in the offseason trade for outfielder Taylor Ward, and he missed the first 7½ weeks of the regular season because of right shoulder inflammation.

The Angels’ roster also carried a different kind of growth story: the continued arrival of their 2021 draft class. Recently promoted reliever Brett Kerry became the fourth member of the Angels’ 20-player 2021 draft group—an entire class of pitchers—to reach the major leagues.

Kerry said the bonds formed early still matter now. “We actually had a really good group of guys, they were all fantastic,” Kerry recalled. “Our first (Instructional League) was really good. it was a ton of fun bonding with the guys. and then a bunch of us actually got to go to Double-A in our first season in 2022. so it was almost like that core unit of us was able to kind of work together that first year and kind of experience minor league baseball.”.

Kerry joins relievers Sam Bachman and Chase Silseth on the Angels’ active roster. Bachman is the first-round pick, Silseth was taken 11th, and second-round pick Ky Bush made his major league debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2024. Bush is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery.

In the bullpen, the Angels also had small-but-real progress to report. Right-handed reliever Ben Joyce threw a bullpen session at the Angels’ Tempe complex and felt fine, according to Manager Kurt Suzuki.

“We’ll see how he feels (Wednesday) to determine what the next steps are,” Suzuki said of Joyce. Joyce’s rehab assignment at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga was halted after four appearances in April, and he had shoulder surgery last season.

Another rehab update came from Vaughn Grissom. The infielder, dealing with a left oblique strain, went 2 for 5 in his first rehab game for Rancho Cucamonga on Monday and was transferred to Triple-A Salt Lake.

Suzuki said Grissom, who was placed on the IL on June 5, will play various infield positions before the Angels decide he’s ready, with the layoff built in to let his oblique heal.

There’s still a game to play, and the next one sets the tone for what comes next. The Angels are scheduled to face the Diamondbacks on Wednesday at 12:40 p.m. PT. The pitching matchup lists LHP Sam Aldegheri (2-1, 2.12 ERA) for the Angels against LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (5-2, 2.55 ERA) for Arizona. The game will be carried on ABTV, with an 8:30 AM window listed for the start.

Mike Trout Angels All-Star Game Philadelphia opposite-field home run Grayson Rodriguez Brett Kerry Ben Joyce Vaughn Grissom injured list