The Los Angeles Angels’ playoff hopes are fading fast without Mike Trout. The superstar center fielder has been sidelined for a while now with a wrist injury he suffered on a swing late in a game in early July.

The Angels bought at the deadline to boost their chances to win and keep Shohei Ohtani, but they’re struggling without Trout.

Mike Trout was expected to be out between four and eight weeks. That was during the Fourth of July week, and it appears that the latter timeframe is more realistic. He’s been ramping up baseball activities as he nears a return, but it will still have been about two months since he went on the shelf.

Los Angeles Angels need Mike Trout soon

After fracturing his wrist, it appears he’s feeling good enough to swing again and that indicates that he’ll be back to try and save the Halos pretty soon.

Mike Trout is returning soon

At the time of the injury, manager Phil Nevin said:

“As soon as he feels good enough to swing and hit a ball, which I think is imminent, (a return) will be pretty quick after that. Once he can just get a feel for swinging a bat, it’s a pain tolerance thing. This is about the time, or the earliest that recovery starts to happen, and he’s right on top of that.”

He continued:

“It’s one thing to take a dry swing, it’s another to hit one off the end (of the bat) where it’s kind of rattling through your hands and the vibration gets you. I think it’s going to happen pretty soon. He feels confident that it will.”

It will be interesting to see if the LA Angels can make the playoffs with Ohtani and Trout leading the way once again.