NEW YORK — Mike Trout was transferred to the 60-day injured list by the Los Angeles Angels on Monday, ruling out his return until after the All-Star break.
Trout swung a bat Monday in a batting cage for the first time since he strained his right calf on May 17.
“He’s doing really well, actually,” Angels Manager Joe Maddon said before a series opener against the New York Yankees. “He’s on pace. He’s on target.”
Trout’s injury is more than 50% healed, Maddon said. Trout will go on a minor league rehabilitation assignment, probably after the All-Star break. He is eligible to return July 17, when the Angels host Seattle in their second game after the break.
An eight-time All-Star and three-time AL MVP, Trout was batting .333 with eight homers and 18 RBI when he was hurt running the bases against Cleveland. The outfielder remains on the longer end of the initial timetable of the team, which projected his return in 6-to-8 weeks.
Los Angeles optioned infielder infielder Kean Wong to Triple-A Salt Lake after Sunday’s 6-4 win at Tampa Bay and selected the contract of outfielder Scott Schebler from Triple-A Salt Lake on Monday.
Schebler, 30, was hitting .281 with eight homers and 31 RBI in 40 games at Triple-A this season. A seven-year big league veteran, he hit .148 (4 for 27) in 11 games with the Angels from April 19 to May 3.
Outfielder Justin Upton, who hasn’t played since June 22 because of a strain on the lower right side of his back, is improving.
“I think he’s going to be fine. When he’s ready to come off, he should come off,” Maddon said. “He still would not be able to maneuver in the batter’s box like he normally does. But we think within a couple of days that he will.”
YANKEES: Outfielder Jasson Dominguez, signed by the New York Yankees in July 2019 for $5.1 million, went 0 for 2 with a walk in his professional debut, for the Florida Complex League Yankees against the FCL East Tigers.
The 18-year-old hit leadoff and played center field for the rookie level team, going 0 for 2 with a strikeout and foul popup to third against 21-year-old Australian left-hander Jack O’Loughlin and walking against 20-year-old Dominican right-hander Wilmer Fenelon.
Dominguez’s signing bonus matched that of Oakland shortstop Robert Puason for the highest in the 2019-20 international amateur free agent class.
• Gwen Goldman finally got to be a bat girl for the Yankees – 60 years after she was turned down because of her gender.
At 70, Goldman worked at Yankee Stadium during the game against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night.
She had been rejected by then-general manager Roy Hamey, who wrote her in a letter on June 23, 1961: “While we agree with you that girls are certainly as capable as boys, and no doubt would be an attractive addition on the playing field, I am sure you can understand that it is a game dominated by men a young lady such as yourself would feel out of place in a dugout.”
Current Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said he had been forwarded an email written by Goldman’s daughter, Abby. In a letter dated this June 23, Cashman wrote “it is not too late to reward and recognize the ambition you showed in writing that letter to us as a 10-year-old girl.”
“Some dreams take longer than they should to be realized, but a goal attained should not dim with the passage of time. I have a daughter myself, and it is my sincere hope that every little girl will be given the opportunity to follow her aspirations into the future.”
Wearing a full Yankees uniform, Goldman threw out a ceremonial first pitch to New York player Tyler Wade, then stood alongside Manager Aaron Boone for the national anthem.
“I think it’s really cool,” Boone said after meeting her. “I think you’re going to see her probably take balls out at some point to home plate. … Hopefully it’s an experience of a lifetime for her and a long one in coming.”
New York extended the invitation as part of the Yankees’ annual HOPE week, which stands for Helping Others Persevere & Excel.
After the third inning, the Yankees played a video that included the letters and a Zoom session in which Cashman, assistant general manager Jean Afterman and pitcher Gerrit Cole were among those informing her of the offer.
She then was introduced to the crowd, walked up the Yankees’ dugout steps onto the field and waved her cap as fans applauded.
PIRATES: The Pittsburgh Pirates optioned right-hander Max Kranick to Triple-A Indianapolisonday, a day after he pitched five perfect innings to win his major league debut.
The Pirates, who are using a six-man rotation, recalled right-hander Cody Ponce from Indianapolis.
Kranick retired all 15 batters he faced Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals before a lengthy rain delay forced him from the mound. The Pirates went on to win 7-2.
Kranick became the first pitcher since 1893 to leave after at least five innings with a perfect game intact in his MLB debut, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
HOME RUN DERBY: Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story said he will compete in this year’s Home Run Derby at Coors Field.
Story became the fourth player to confirm his participation in the event, joining Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, Trey Mancini of the Baltimore Orioles and Pete Alonso of the New York Mets. Alonso won the most recent Home Run Derby in 2019.
The competition will be held on July 12, the night before the All-Star Game.
INDIANS: Josh Naylor’s hustle and heart will be missing from Cleveland’s lineup for a while.
Naylor will need surgery after gruesomely breaking his right ankle Sunday in Minnesota during a frightening collision with rookie second baseman Ernie Clement.
Naylor, who has been a clutch hitter and bright spot for the Indians, smashed into Clement in the fourth inning of the Indians’ 8-2 loss. Naylor was sprinting toward a shallow pop in right by Minnesota’s Jorge Polanco when he hit Clement as the players were trying to make the catch.
The Indians said Naylor has a “closed” fracture and dislocation.
Naylor spent the night at Hennepin County Medical Center. He’ll travel to Ohio on Monday, accompanied by trainer James Quinlan and be evaluated at the Cleveland Clinic this week by foot/ankle specialist Dr. Mark Berkowitz.
The team did not give a timetable for Naylor’s return, but similar injuries require up to two months to heal.
The impact with Clement spun Naylor, whose right foot was planted awkwardly underneath him. Naylor immediately reacted in pain, rolling around and pounding his fists into the grass while calling for help.
His leg was placed in an air cast and the 24-year-old was carted off the field on a stretcher as his shocked teammates consoled Clement and gathered themselves.
“It was heartbreaking, man,” catcher René Rivera said. “It’s hard. A guy like him, a nice guy in the clubhouse. Really a lot of energy, positivity and seeing him go through that was really tough. You could tell the whole dugout was really in shock.”
HALL OF FAME: Josh Rawitch will become president of baseball’s Hall of Fame on Sept. 9 after spending 27 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball Advanced Media.
Tim Mead left the Los Angeles Angels after 40 years to become Hall president on June 24, 2019, taking over from Jeff Idelson, who had held the job since 2008.
Mead announced on April 16 he was quitting in mid-May. Idelson returned as interim president May 15 and will stay on the job until Rawitch starts, the Hall said.
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