ANAHEIM — It used to be a rite of summer. The All-Star Game was Mike Trout’s annual party.
Trout was an All-Star for the first eight years of his career, and he was the MVP of the game in 2014 and 2015.
Those days seem long ago. Trout hasn’t been selected to the All-Star team since 2023 and he hasn’t played in the game since 2019, missing the last few with injuries.
Balloting for the 2026 All-Star Game began on Wednesday, and Trout once again has a chance to be there. Even better, the game will be in Philadelphia, just 40 minutes from Trout’s New Jersey home.
“It definitely would mean a lot to go there, being close,” Trout said. “Besides people asking me for tickets.”
The three-time American League MVP came into Wednesday’s game hitting .243 with 14 home runs and an .897 OPS. The only AL outfielder with a higher OPS is the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge, at .908.
Even if Trout isn’t elected to start, there’s a good chance he’d be selected by MLB as the Angels’ only representative. Right-hander José Soriano is the only other player with a strong All-Star resume, and he’s been slumping for a month.
A return trip to the All-Star Game would be particularly meaningful to Trout because he didn’t have any kids the last time he played. Now he has two.
“They really enjoy going to the ballpark and MLB does a really good job with festivities for families, so it’s definitely something I’ll be looking forward to, if I get to go,” Trout said.
Trout’s renaissance season has been fueled by his health. He also said that playing everyday in center field has helped his mindset. He started 54 of the Angels’ first 63 games in center field.
“It’s huge,” Trout said. “Just to be able to go out there and be comfortable. It’s where I was since I was a kid growing up.”
Trout also said he’s been working hard with outfield coach Adam Eaton to improve his defense, which hasn’t graded out well this year.
“I went up to Eaton about two, three weeks ago, just trying to figure out like, hey, I want to know what I need to improve on, what I need to work on,” Trout said. “One thing has been the jumps. The last week and a half the jumps have been good, so I’m just trying to pinpoint things defensively.”
NO NETO
A day after Manager Kurt Suzuki said shortstop Zach Neto would be back in the lineup on Wednesday, he changed his mind.
Neto, who is still dealing with neck and head issues from a home plate collision on Saturday against Tampa Bay, was out of the lineup for a third straight game on Wednesday.
Suzuki said Neto was still having “minimal” headaches.
“The fact that it’s even minimal, I think the extra day would benefit him,” Suzuki said. “Then he comes and will be 100% ready to go.”
Neto did go through a pregame workout and Suzuki said he’d be available to come off the bench, but they wanted to give him more time.
“I’ve seen it happen,” Suzuki said. “I’ve seen it where guys come back too soon and then it’s not good. Obviously for me, I want to err on the side of caution, for his sake as a person. Obviously, we’d love to have Net in the lineup, but you gotta think about stuff, other stuff.”
NOTES
Outfielder Jo Adell was out of the lineup on Wednesday, a day after an embarrassing gaffe when a ball hit his head and went over the fence. Adell was the only player who had started all of the Angels’ games. …
The Angels called up right-hander Shaun Anderson and optioned left-hander Sam Aldegheri to provide bullpen coverage. Aldegheri pitched 5⅓ innings of relief on Tuesday night, so he would not have been available to pitch for a few days. In order to open a 40-man roster spot for Anderson, the Angels moved catcher Travis d’Arnaud (plantar fasciitis) to the 60-day injured list. …
First baseman Nolan Schanuel (ankle inflammation) did some running on the field and took batting practice. Schanuel is hoping to be activated on Friday for the start of the series against the Dodgers. “It’s a possibility,” Suzuki said. “See how he goes through he workouts today and see how he feels. But things are trending in the right direction, for sure.” …
Infielder Yoán Moncada (left knee inflammation) has been running, playing catch and swinging the bat from the left side in the cage. There is no timetable for his return.
UP NEXT
Angels (LHP Reid Detmers, 2-5, 4.63 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Roki Sasaki, 3-3, 4.59 ERA), Friday, 7:10 p.m., ABTV, 830 AM