Trout gets cortisone shot, remains day to day

ANAHEIM -- Mike Trout received a cortisone injection to help quell the inflammation in his ailing right wrist on Monday and remains day to day, the Angels announced. Trout was out of the lineup for the fifth consecutive game, but manager Mike Scioscia said the club is hoping the star center fielder will be able to return to action on Friday against the A's.
"I think all the tests that he had point to just some inflammation that has to run its course," Scioscia said before Monday's series opener against the Tigers. "His injection will help that to happen. We anticipate him getting into baseball activities in a couple days and seeing how he feels for Friday."
Trout jammed his wrist on an awkward feet-first slide into third base on Wednesday in Tampa. While Trout has been able to field and throw without many issues, he's still struggling to fully extend through his swing without feeling the injury.
Though the ailment has taken longer to heal than expected, Scioscia said the Angels still believe Trout will avoid the disabled list. Since DL stints can only be backdated by three days, Trout would not be eligible to return until Aug. 13 if he were placed on the 10-day DL on Monday.
"If you can get Mike Trout to play on the seventh day instead of the 10th day, I think you'd want to, right?" Scioscia said. "We're just going to let it run its course, and when it's 100 percent, he'll play."
Trout is expected to refrain from baseball activities over the next couple of days to allow the cortisone injection to take hold in his wrist. The treatment will likely prevent Trout from playing against the Tigers on his 27th birthday on Tuesday.
Rivera update
Catcher René Rivera, who hasn't played since May 16 after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, said that he is slated to begin a rehab assignment with Class A Advanced Inland Empire on Tuesday.
Rivera was initially projected to miss four to six weeks, but his rehab hit a snag after he experienced renewed soreness in his surgically repaired knee. The 35-year-old veteran received a platelet-rich plasma injection and resumed baseball activities last week.
"This is my first time experiencing this," said Rivera, who had never been on the disabled list prior to this injury. "Being home, I want to play. Watching these guys play, give everything they have every night and being at home, not being able to do anything, makes me feel bad. I'm happy now that at least I can feel that I can play, Hopefully, these rehab games go well, and I can join the team soon."
Rivera estimated that he'll need about five games before he's ready to come off the DL, though he said that the Angels have yet to given him an official timetable.
"It's going to obviously be a couple," Scioscia said. "Naturally, you want to get some at-bats to see some velocity, but he's got to get up there and catch deep into games too and then have a little recovery, so it's more than one game, for sure."
Rivera will likely be eased back into the primary catching role for the Angels once he is activated. The Angels have been using rookies Josè Briceño and Francisco Arcia to fill the void behind the plate after trading starter Martín Maldonado to the Astros.
Worth noting
• Right-hander Matt Shoemaker threw a bullpen session on Monday for the first time since undergoing forearm surgery on May 29. Shoemaker made only one start for the Angels this season before landing on the DL on April 3.
"It went well, but we'll kind of read it afterward," Scioscia said. "That's as big as anything we're talking about, so we'll see how he came out of it and how he feels moving forward. Hopefully, he'll repeat it in a couple days."
• The Angels called up infielder Jose Miguel Fernandez on Monday and optioned right-hander Deck McGuire to Triple-A Salt Lake. Scioscia said they decided to bring up Fernandez because they wanted an extra bench option as they wait for Trout's wrist to heal.