TEMPE. Ariz. — The idea didn’t just come out of left field. The Angels know they’ll have to move star center fielder Mike Trout to a corner spot at some point. A right calf strain that sidelined the three-time American League most valuable player for most of 2021 may push that transition up to this season.
“To play center field every day in the big leagues coming off a severe injury, that’s not gonna be easy,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said Sunday in advance of Monday’s first spring training workout.
“Then again, playing left field in our park is not easy. It gets big. No conclusions have been made, but I’d be disingenuous if I didn’t tell you that this hasn’t been part of the conversation, because it has.”
Trout, 30, is scheduled to address the media Monday. The Angels would like to get the 6-foot-2, 235-pounder off his feet with more starts at designated hitter, but that’s rarely an option with two-way star Shohei Ohtani, the 2021 AL MVP, holding down the DH spot.
One way to ease the wear and tear on Trout would be to move him to left and start 24-year-old Brandon Marsh, a more-than-capable defender who struggled at the plate last season, in center, with Jo Adell or Justin Upton playing right.
Trout, in the fourth year of a 12-year, $426.5-million contract, was on the other end of such a move in 2012 when, as a 20-year-old rookie, he bumped nine-time Gold Glove-winning center fielder Torii Hunter, then 36, to right.
As of Sunday, Maddon hadn’t spoken to Trout about the potential move, one of many issues to be sorted out during a lockout-shortened, 24-day camp. Among the others:
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