Angels’ Mike Trout says back injury is getting better

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — In the span of four days, Mike Trout went from his career in peril to possibly picking up a bat by the end of next week. The Los Angeles Angels star visited Thursday with Dr. Robert Watkins, a back specialist and co-director of the Marina Spine Clinic in Los Angeles. Trout is slated to begin rotational exercises on Wednesday and could return to swinging a bat shortly after that. Trout’s future appeared uncertain when athetic trainer Mike Forstad said before Wednesday’s game in Kansas City that the three-time AL MVP had a rare spinal condition, and that it was an issue Trout could have to “manage not just through the rest of this season.”