Angels’ Mike Trout will undergo season-ending foot surgery this week

ANAHEIM – A Los Angeles Angels staff member combed through Mike Trout’s locker Sunday afternoon, packing everything from sweatshirts, red and gray shoes, and entire outfits of gym clothing into a navy blue duffle bag for the team’s upcoming road trip.

Trout’s game jersey, however, was left untouched, hanging lonesomely on the side of the stall. The All-star center fielder won’t be needing it anymore this year.

As the team announced Sunday, Trout will undergo season-ending right foot surgery this week to address Morton’s neuroma, a thickening of tissue around a nerve leading to toes that causes pain in the ball of the foot.

“I’ve been dealing with it for like the last month, and it progressively got worse,” said Trout, who last played Sept. 7. “That’s what I said when they made the decision to just get it out. I was just tired of having to deal with it, having to come in and worry about my foot.”

Trout was hoping to return to the lineup Sunday. But when he still felt pain during on-field activities before the Angels’ 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, the decision was made to end his season.

“I always knew surgery was a probability,” manager Brad Ausmus said. “It was just whether it would come sooner or later.”

Trout, 28, finishes the year hitting .291 and leads the American League in on-base-plus-slugging percentage (1.083), home runs (a career-high 45) and wins above replacement (8.6, according to Fangraphs). He is still a front-runner for his third career AL MVP award but won’t have the chance to improve his statistics over the final two weeks.

“I felt like I was having my best season,” Trout said. “I was trying so hard to get back out there, but my foot wasn’t letting me.”