Mike Trout already is dealing with an injury scare. Yes, already.
In a season where the primary storyline surrounding Mike Trout will be his health, the former MVP was hit on the hand in his first at-bat of the season. Fans — who likely were just excited to see Trout actually in action — could be heard booing White Sox starting pitcher Sean Burke following the incident.
Though Trout remained in the game and looked healthy in his other opening day at-bats, it’s still not an ideal start to the season for the superstar.
3rd pitch of 2025 for Mike Trout, and he gets hit in the hand.
Guy can’t catch a break. pic.twitter.com/cxLbS4Ce2w
— Calico Joe (@CalicoJoeMLB) March 27, 2025
The 33-year-old has played in just 266 of 648 games since the 2021 season. His performance has dipped as a result. Through 2022, Trout had a strikeout rate of 22.0%, over the past two seasons, he’s struck out 26.8% of the time.
Trout said before the season that he hopes that a hand adjustment, along with him making the move from center to right-field, will help him get back to MVP form.
“When I go to swing, it’s up and around instead of through the ball,” Trout said in an interview Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. “It’s like my hands are on a track. If they get off track, and I swing across my body, sometimes I lose vision when I rotate, and I have one eye on the ball instead of two. That’s why I was swinging and missing so much.”
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Trout lined out in his second at-bat and grounded out in his third.
