Trout bats leadoff for first time since 2020
Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington was hoping to get a spark by putting Mike Trout in the leadoff spot Tuesday night against the Baltimore Orioles. The three-time American League most valuable player quickly obliged.
Hitting leadoff for the first time since 2020, Trout drove a fastball from Baltimore’s Grayson Rodriguez off the auxiliary scoreboard above the wall in right-centre field in the first inning in the Angels’ 7-4 win.
“Mike set the tone right away and we didn’t look back,” Angels pitcher Griffin Canning said.
It was the sixth leadoff homer of Trout’s career and first since Sept. 28, 2012, against Texas.
Coincidentally, Washington was the Rangers manager when Trout took Ryan Dempster deep in that game.
“I didn’t know that until I was told coming in here (the post-game interview room),” said Washington. “So that was a big move I made tonight. The credit goes to Mike, it doesn’t go to me.”
Meanwhile, the Orioles have brought up another top hitting prospect, recalling outfielder Heston Kjerstad from triple-a Norfolk. Kjerstad is ranked 29th on MLB Pipeline’s prospects list. He was the No. 2 pick in the 2020 draft and made his big league debut last season, hitting .233 with two home runs in 13 games.
Kjerstad got the start in right field and went 0-for-4 in Tuesday’s loss.
He has hit 10 home runs in 21 games for Norfolk.
Kjerstad was one of four top 10 picks in the lineup for Baltimore on Tuesday. That included top overall picks Adley Rutschman (2019) and Jackson Holliday (2022), as well as Colton Cowser, the fifth overall selection in 2021.