Trout returning to California to have knee evaluated

Mike Trout's rehab assignment won't continue as planned, with the Los Angeles Angels star outfielder returning to Southern California to have his knee re-evaluated, the club announced Wednesday.

Trout - sidelined since late April with a torn meniscus - exited his first rehab game with the Salt Lake Bees after two innings on Tuesday night with pain in his surgically repaired knee.

The decision to send Trout back to Southern California comes as somewhat of a surprise, as Angels manager Ron Washington had previously told MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger earlier Wednesday that the three-time AL MVP had a chance to DH for Salt Lake that night.

Trout hit 10 home runs with an .867 OPS across 29 games for the Angels in 2024 before tearing his meniscus.

He's only appeared in 140 or more games once since 2017.