Mike Trout Announces He Is Playing Despite COVID-19 Concerns

2019 AL MVP Mike Trout has confirmed that he is playing with a simple message on the Anaheim Angels Twitter account. This comes after Trout had previously expressed concerns about restarting the season amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many players shared his concerns Trout did have a special reason with his first child being due in early August. Trout said he plans to leave the team for the birth of his child, “Honestly, I still don’t feel that comfortable with the baby coming,” Trout said earlier this month. “There’s a lot of things on my mind. I’m trying to be the safest and most cautious way to get through the season. It’s going to be tough. I’ve got to be really cautious these next couple weeks. I don’t want to test positive. I don’t want to bring it back to my wife. It’s a tough situation we’re in.”

While this is a very good reason to be cautious to restart, this will hurt the Angels chances to get into the playoffs with a greater importance being put on every game in the condensed to 60 game MLB season that started on Thursday. With the number of playoff teams possibly being expanded from 10 to 16, this is a great chance for the Angels who have missed out on the playoffs every year since 2014. They may have to get by without their star and the league’s best player for what will be inordinately important games.