AL West: Mike Trout is hurt, baseball is canceled

Yesterday, baseball loving hearts across America shattered when it was announced that Mike Trout had opted to undergo surgery to repair the UCL in his left thumb that was left damaged from a slide gone wrong on Monday. This gave the young phenom a grim timetable for his return: 6-8 weeks. That’s a slash line of .337/.461/.742 now leaving the Angels for two months.

Trout wasn’t just good for the Angels, he was good for baseball as an institution. He was tracking historical numbers that we as fans were lucky enough to bare witness to. The New Jersey native had a WAR (wins above replacement) of 3.6 this year. To put that into context, Bryce Harper’s WAR for 2017 is 2.5 The entire Angels offense has a WAR of 5.7, meaning Trout is well over half of Los Angeles’ run support. Trout’s absence is equivalent to roughly three normal hitters going on the DL all at once.

But I guess this is what makes legends even better, right? May this setback only add to Trout’s Cooperstown bound legacy.

Here’s what else is going on all throughout the American League West:

• The Texas Rangers claim Peter O’Brien from waivers.
• Shocker: Oakland’s designated hitters have been historically bad, so this is nothing to worry about.
• Could the Angels take prep pitcher Shane Baz is this year’s draft?
• The Astros’ move Joe Musgrove to the DL. David Paulino will start today in his roster spot.
• Sooooo, uh...where do the Mariners go from here?
• The Rangers have activated Adrian Beltre.
• The Athletics have placed Kendall Graveman on the disabled list and recalled Daniel Mengden.
• The Astros made history this week, so at least there’s that to hold onto to.
• Rangers pitcher Tyson Ross is struggling in his rehab starts.
• Has Sonny Gray just evolved into the perfect trading chip for the Athletics?