Mike Trout decided having surgery was better option than being only a DH the rest of the season

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Mike Trout decided that having surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee was a better alternative than postponing the procedure and being a designated hitter the rest of the season.

“It was an option they put out there. It would have been just maintaining the pain level of it,” the Los Angeles Angels slugger said before Thursday’s game against the Kansas City Royals. “The day I got the MRI and it showed that I was in a lot of pain. It would have been a tough road for the rest of the year to bear that."

Trout has also struggled whenever he has been a designated hitter. In 1,518 career games, he has been the DH only 81 times and has a .214 batting average.

Trout — who is sidelined with a major injury for the fourth straight season — still doesn't know when the latest one occurred. The knee soreness worsened during an April 29 game against the Philadelphia Phillies, and an MRI exam the next day revealed the tear. He underwent surgery last Friday, when the Angels began a six-game road trip.