Trout to begin swinging bat Tuesday

Los Angeles Angels star center fielder Mike Trout is ready to take the next step in his rehab from a torn thumb ligament.

Trout will start swinging a bat Tuesday as he travels with the Angels during their road trip to New York and Boston, manager Mike Scioscia told J.P. Hoornstra of The Orange County Register, adding, "It's where he belongs and where we want him."

The skipper explained the finer details of the team's plans for Trout.

"He'll be with our medical staff as we travel. When he starts into baseball activities, he'll be with the guys on our coaching staff," Scioscia said Sunday. "When he starts to put his hand in a glove he'll have a splint in there just to be able to catch, be out there and doing pregame (warmups) to work on his defense, run down baseballs, get acclimated with that part again."

This is the first time Trout has been on the disabled list in his career.

He was given a six-to-eight week recovery timetable after undergoing surgery on May 31 for a torn ulnar collateral ligament and dorsal capsule in his left thumb. Scioscia said Trout is currently "about where you would expect a guy with his injury to be."

The Angels have held their own without the best player in all of baseball in their lineup. Since Trout went down May 28, they've put up a 10-9 record and are hovering in third place in their division.

Remarkably, despite missing more than two weeks so far, Trout still sits third in MLB by FanGraphs' WAR, behind just Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt.