Trout to wear face guard after getting beaned Sunday
Baseball's best player is taking no chances.
After being hit in the head by an errant pitch during a Cactus League contest Sunday, Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout announced plans to try wearing a face guard on his helmet.
He'll don the new headgear for the first time Monday versus the Cincinnati Reds.
"I was thinking about (wearing) it before, but that sealed the deal," Trout told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register on Monday, almost 24 hours after the beaning.
A fastball from Texas Rangers reliever Erik Goeddel hit Trout in the head during the sixth inning, sending his helmet flying. Trout immediately shook it off and jogged to first base, but he was replaced with a pinch-runner. Manager Mike Scioscia said after the game that Trout was fine, and he would've been replaced following that at-bat anyway.
Trout won't be the first star to wear extra facial protection. New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton began wearing a customized face guard in 2015 after he was struck in the cheek by a pitch the previous season. Another former MVP, Josh Donaldson, briefly wore one last year following a few too many inside pitches, but quickly ditched the shield after finding it blocked his vision.
The 26-year-old Trout enters Monday hitting just .211 (4-for-19) with one homer this spring.