The Los Angeles Angels are coming off a 7-0 loss Saturday against the Miami Marlins, setting the stage for Sunday’s matchup to decide who takes the weekend series.
Ahead of Sunday’s game, which will feature Grayson Rodriguez for the Angels and Ryan Gusto for the Marlins, Angels manager Kurt Suzuki made a few tweaks to the starting lineup.
Angels Announce Mike Trout Change
After starting each of the last two games in center field, Suzuki has decided to give veteran Mike Trout the day off from defense and slot him in as the team’s designated hitter.
This has become a common trend for Trout this season. He’ll play two games in the field before getting a day off defensively, and the approach has helped him appear in 98 games this season.
The Angels’ outfield will instead feature Wade Meckler in left field, Jose Siri in center and Josh Lowe in right.
Angels 8/9
W. Meckler LF
M. Trout DH
N. Schanuel 1B
Z. Neto SS
M. Ballesteros C
D. Guzman 3B
J. Lowe RF
J. Siri CF
A. Frazier 2BG. Rodriguez SP
— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) August 9, 2026
Trout’s 2026 Season
Trout is in his 16th MLB season, all with the Angels, and he remains productive at the plate.
Across 353 at-bats this season, Trout enters Sunday batting .238. That’s on the lower end of his career marks, but it’s an improvement over his numbers from the last two seasons.
He’s recorded 84 hits, 19 home runs and 41 RBIs while slugging .445 with an .828 OPS.
Angels Right Now
The biggest downside of Trout’s career is that fans have only seen him play in three postseason games. Unfortunately, that won’t change this season.
Los Angeles is 45-72 entering Sunday and sits dead last in the AL West, 14.5 games back.
The Angels are also 14 games back of a Wild Card spot and currently have the worst record in MLB.
Los Angeles Angels Announce Mike Trout Change During Marlins Series