Fantasy Baseball Impact of Mike Trout's Injury: Players to Target, How to Approach Trout and More
Discussing the injury news for Mike Trout.
Mike Trout has been one of the best hitters in baseball since debuting in 2011. The only thing that’s really ever slowed him down is injuries, and he’s now going to miss a good portion of this season with another injury.
Trout needs knee surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee. There’s no timetable for his return, but he is expected to be back at some point in 2024.
Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including waiver pickups, projections, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant. Use our fantasy baseball trade analyzer and trade value charts to break down trade scenarios and weekly projections to find the best fantasy options.
Trout’s Season So Far/Career Numbers
In his first 29 games this season, Trout was hitting just .220, but was tied for the MLB lead with 10 home runs. He was getting on base at a .325 clip.
Hitting in the fairly weak Angels’ lineup, Trout had just 14 RBIs, while scoring 17 times. Along with his 10 homers, Trout had two triples and a double among his 24 total hits.
Injuries have decimated Trout’s career. The last time he played over 100 games was in 2022, and the last time before that was 2019.
Trout is a career .299 hitter and has a .410 OBP. There’s no denying that he’s one of the game’s best hitters when he’s out there.
How to Approach Trout
Trout had an Average Draft Position mark of 70 this season. He usually goes a lot earlier in drafts, but the injury concerns held him back and made him a potential steal.
Now, the fantasy owners that took him have a gaping hole in their lineup. Hopefully, fantasy owners had a backup plan in place in case Trout were sidelined.
In standard redraft leagues, where IR spots aren’t used, fantasy owners really cannot afford to stash Trout. That’s a valuable roster spot, and not knowing for sure if he will return or not this season makes it a really risky gamble to try holding on to Trout.
In deeper redraft leagues without IR spots, dropping Trout or not really comes down to how your team is lined up. If you have the bodies to cover for Trout, and are off to a strong start, you could try to stash Trout at the end of your bench. You might be forced to drop Trout if things go south for your team, but if you hold on to Trout and he returns late in the season, he could absolutely help fantasy teams win titles.
In redraft leagues with IR spots available, Trout is definitely a player worth using one of those spots on. It’s a bit of a risk not knowing if he’ll actually play or not again this season, but his early season numbers speak for themselves.
In dynasty/keeper leagues, fantasy owners that have rostered Trout for a while are probably extremely frustrated at today’s news. He just hasn’t been able to stay healthy, which hurts his fantasy value and makes it hard to trade him (because you aren’t likely getting a return that a star hitter deserves). Trout is still 32 years old, so he’s going to have some more good seasons in him, even if they aren’t full ones. You could look to sell Trout and finally move on from him, but again, don’t be expecting a big return.
Players to Target with Trout Out
Baseball isn’t like football in which a player goes down, and their top backup immediately is a decent fantasy option.
Taylor Ward is locked into the team’s left field starting role, while Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak have been splitting time in right field. Moniak has made six starts in center, and Adell has made two, so at first glance, it looks like Moniak and Adell could take on more permanent roles in the lineup with Trout out of the picture for a while.
Adell, Moniak and Ward are the only three outfielders listed on the team’s active roster right now. Cole Tucker was recently called up and has some outfield experience, so he could also be an option for extended starting opportunities.
Among the team’s top prospects, Jordyn Adams is the lone top-30 player that plays the outfield and has an ETA of 2024. He played 17 MLB games in 2023, so he very well could get another crack at things now.
Whoever ends up filling in for Trout will obviously not be able to match what Trout does when he’s out there. But, more playing time means better chances for guys to become decent fantasy options.
Be sure to keep checking back to FantasySP daily, as we produce daily takeaway/waiver stories that will help identify any Los Angeles players that are stepping up with Trout out of the picture.
#2024-fantasy-baseball #injury
