"It was longer than I thought, but I feel 100%"- Mike Trout dishes out on his recovery process ahead of his first rehab assignment 

Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout made the first start of his rehab assignment with Triple-A affiliate Salt Lake Bees on Tuesday. He hasn’t played a game since April 29 after suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee.

On May 3, Trout underwent surgery and has been taking steps to recover from the same ever since to make his return to the majors. Before his first rehab appearance when a Salt Lake Bees reporter asked Trout about his knee, he said:

“It feels great, I'm looking forward to getting out there.”

The 11-time All-Star has a history of injuries that have affected his playing time over the past few seasons. In the 2023 season, he suffered a broken bone in his wrist, which limited him to 83 games while in 2021, he played only 36 games due to a torn calf muscle.

While discussing the hardest part of rehabbing his knee, Trout said:

“Trusting your body… You put so much pressure on yourself to get back out there, but you've got to listen to your body. I was able to do that, obviously it was longer than I thought, but I feel 100%.”

The 11-time All-Star started Tuesday’s game playing second in the lineup going 0-for-1 while recording one strikeout. He later had to be removed from the game early due to soreness in his left knee.

Mike Trout discusses return to Salt Lake Bees after 11 years

The last time Mike Trout played with the Salt Lake Bees was at the beginning of the 2012 season. Discussing his return to the Triple-A affiliate after so many years, he said (via The Salt Lake Tribune's Kevin Reynolds):

“Brings back a lot of good memories. I just like hitting here. The fans are great. It’s a beautiful ballpark. The field looks in great shape.

“Coming back, this isn’t where I wanted to be [back then], but ... [the last 12 years have been] like a blink of an eye, man. I tell a lot of people this. You are very fortunate to play this long. It just goes by so fast. Felt like a blink of an eye,” Trout added.

During the 2012 season, Trout played 20 games with the Bees, batting .402 with one home run and 13 RBIs.

Angels fans will hope he can get over the latest injury setback and return to the major league roster as soon as possible.