Mike Trout and Ryan Zeferjahn exit early due to injury; George Klassen show signs of promise but still needs to develop

ANAHEIM — As the Los Angeles Angels are in the midst of looking for their first series victory of the season, something worse than a loss is pending.

The status of Mike Trout.

Trout exited Sunday’s game after being hit by a pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Mike Trout hit in hand by a pitch

Injuries have riddled Mike Trout over the last five years, and on Sunday, it appeared he might have another.

Trout, 34, was up at the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning today in a 0-1 count, against Mariners pitcher Casey Legumina.

Legumina threw a 94 MPH fastball up and in the zone, meeting Trout’s left hand.

Trout immediately stepped off the plate in pain, walking alongside the Angels’ medical staff.

Attempting to stay in the game, Trout ended up walking back to the dugout and was replaced by Oswald Peraza.

It wasn’t the first time in this series that Trout came close to being hit by a pitch as on Friday night’s home opener, Trout was almost hit in back-to-back pitches by Mariners starter Bryan Woo.

Trout said following the game that Woo did apologize to him during the game and that it wasn’t intentional.

Still, a potentially injured Trout is a sight no baseball fan wants to see.

This story will be updated with more information later on.

George Klassen’s MLB Debut

George Klassen’s MLB debut today caught many by surprise as Ryan Johnson was scheduled to start for the Angels, but was scratched due to illness.

With Johnson unable to go, Klassen received the call and was penciled in by Angels manager Kurt Suzuki to take the mound on Easter Sunday.

It marked the second time Klassen has pitched in Angel Stadium. The first was in an exhibition game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, on March 22nd.

In that game, Klassen showed flashes of why he is the Angels’ No.4 overall prospect and third top pitching prospect.

Klassen struck out four against the Dodgers but also walked four and had command issues.

On Sunday afternoon, it was much the same for Klassen.

Facing his first batter in an MLB game, Klassen delivered a first-pitch fastball to Luke Raley. Raley was ready to take on the rookie and fired the bat immediately, and began the day with a leadoff double.

With a runner in scoring position after throwing his first big league pitch, Klassen was already starting to face the pressure. Klassen managed to retire the next three batters he faced unscathed and even picked up his first career strikeout by getting Julio Rodríguez to chase after a slider up high outside the zone.

When Klassen came out in the second inning, it was almost reminiscent of when he faced the Dodgers back in March.

Klassen threw over 40 pitches, loaded the bases twice, walked four batters, and was hard hit twice. Klassen managed to escape the second by only giving up two runs after he loaded the bases the first time.

Leo Rivas came up to the plate for Seattle and was aggressive right off the bat, swinging at an 87 MPH changeup, landing in front of Mike Trout in center. 

In the next at-bat, Klassen picked up his third strikeout by getting Raley to chase an inside fastball. Klassen threw his fastball 32% of the time, while his change-up was used almost just as heavily at 25%. His fastball was one of his best pitches today, generating 40% whiffs.

When Klassen came back out for the third time, the Mariners surprised everyone in Angel Stadium by having Josh Naylor lay out a leadoff bunt, which resulted in a single. Klassen gave up another walk to Randy Arozarena in the next at-bat, to put runners on first and second with no outs.

In another high-pressure situation, Klassen faced two more batters before his day ended. J.P. Crawford went down swinging after Klassen threw a slider outside the strike zone. Sitting in a 2-2 count against Cole Young, Young appeared to have gotten the better of Klassen, sending a ball 101 MPH towards center field, only to be snowconed into Mike Trout’s glove in front of the wall.

Ryan Zeferjahn Exits Early

After Klassen’s day came to an end, the Angels called Ryan Zeferjahn to pitch out of the bullpen in relief.

Zeferjahn kept the Mariners quiet for the Angels, going two innings and striking out five batters. But after taking a comeback ball off the leg, Zeferjahn showed he wasn’t quite right at the mound.

Zeferjahn first hit Arozarena with a pitch and then fell 3-1 in the count against J.P. Crawford with two outs left in the fifth. He was visited on the mound by Suzuki and the Angels’ medical staff.

Zeferjahn was pulled following the visit and was replaced by Brent Suter.

Suter, who came off the bench in the Angels bullpen, was not warmed up. He immediately walked J.P. Crawford, putting runners on first and second.

Cole Young came up to the plate for Seattle and immediately disrupted what looked to be another clean inning for Zeferjahn by blasting a 3-run homer over the right field wall, to give the Mariners a 5-3 lead. Zeferjahn was charged for two of the runs, while Suter was charged for Young.