Angels star Trout returns to field after lengthy bout with back injury
Three-time MVP set to face the Tigers in first game action since middle of July
The Los Angeles Angels activated star outfielder Mike Trout from the 10-day injured list prior to Friday’s game against the host Detroit Tigers.
Trout, 31, hasn’t played since July 12 when he left a game against the Houston Astros with back spasms. He since has been diagnosed with costovertebral dysfunction at his T5 vertebrae, which refers to the inflammation of a joint connected to a rib at the thoracic section of his spine.
The three-time American League MVP began taking batting practice last Saturday.
Trout is batting .270 with 24 home runs and 51 RBIS in 79 games this season. The 10-time All-star has played in just 115 games over the past two seasons because of his current injury and a right calf strain that cost him most of 2021.
Over 12 seasons, all with the Angels, Trout is a career. 303 hitter with a 1.000 OPS, along with 334 home runs and 867 RBIS.
A Little League World Series player who seriously injured his head when he fell out of his top bunk in dorms at the World Series complex has Facetimed with his coach and continues to improve, the coach said Friday.
Mark Ence, the manager for Snow Canyon, Utah, said he told his 12-year-old player, Easton Oliverson, that he loved him and Easton said he loved the coach back.
“It was great to hear his voice,” Ence said.
Easton has been recovering in the hospital since the accident Monday. His MRI on Wednesday night came back normal, he has begun walking and walked to the bathroom on his own Friday morning, Ence said.
Closure in Cleveland has been a matter of perspective, but Browns backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett kept his eyes focused on the same plan: Be ready when your number is called.
Deshaun Watson’s 11-game suspension means the Browns will have Brissett under centre into December.
Brissett, 29, learned Thursday along with the rest of the league how long Watson would be sidelined by a league suspension for violating the personal-conduct policy.
“Since I’ve been in this league, it’s been the next man up,” Brissett said Friday. “That was the case my rookie year, so that experience helps with not only the playing, but with the mindset of understanding that you’ve got to be ready whenever your number is called.”
Though he hasn’t played yet this pre-season and could be kept on the sideline to preserve the depth chart, Brissett said he’s using practices and scrimmages to get more comfortable with the offence.
“I use these practices as my game,” Brissett said.
Brissett brings a wealth of starting experience from his stints with the New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins. Behind him is former first-round pick Josh Rosen, and the Browns still could add an arm during Watson’s suspension.
Watson is eligible to return to the Browns on Nov. 28.
World heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has maintained a similar weight for his rematch with Anthony Joshua.
The Ukrainian boxer, who is defending his WBA, IBF and WBO belts against Joshua in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, tipped the scales at 221.5 pounds at the weigh-in on Friday. Usyk weighed in at 221 pounds for the first fight in London in September, which he won by a unanimous decision. Joshua came in at 244.5 pounds, which is slightly heavier than the first fight.
The two fighters shared an intense stare-down after the weighin at King Abdullah Sports City, ignoring repeated requests to break away.
“All this stuff doesn’t matter, it’s just about the fight,” said Joshua, who is looking to regain the belts and become a three-time world champion. “Weight, faceoffs — none of it matters to me. I’m just looking forward to the fight.”
A more aggressive approach is expected from Joshua after being dominated by the smaller Usyk last year.
Primoz Roglic got off to a good start in his quest to win an unprecedented fourth straight Spanish Vuelta cycling title when his Jumbo-visma team won the opening team time trial in the Netherlands on Friday.
Jumbo-visma is finally competing on home soil. The Netherlands is opening the Vuelta after not being able to do so in previous years due to the pandemic.
Jumbo-visma finished 13 seconds ahead of team Ineos Grenadiers and 14 seconds in front of Quick-step Alpha Vinyl.
Roglic’s teammate Robert Gesink, who is Dutch, will get to wear the leader’s red jersey in his ninth appearance in the Grand Tour race.