Angels’ Mike Trout to start Friday, but big league stay could be short

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Mike Trout, the 19-year-old phenom (pictured at right) the Angels called up from double-A Arkansas late Thursday night, will start in center field and bat ninth against the Seattle Mariners Friday night, but he probably shouldn’t get too comfortable there.

Manager Mike Scioscia said that Peter Bourjos, who was pulled from Thursday night’s game in the eighth inning because of a slight right hamstring strain, will not lose his center field job because of injury.

‘When Peter Bourjos is healthy, it’s his job,’ Scioscia said. ‘Peter will still play center field.’

Trout, named by several websites as the top prospect in all of baseball last winter, was asleep in his Little Rock, Ark., apartment when Angels General Manager Tony Reagins called him with news of his promotion at about 1 a.m. CDT.

‘I was mumbling the whole time; I was speechless,’ Trout said in a pregame news conference. ‘I can’t even really explain it. I was almost in tears. Getting the opportunity to play with the big club ... I’m going to have fun with it.’

Bourjos, who is hitting .412 (14 for 34) on this homestand and .341 (31 for 91) since June 1, underwent an MRI test Friday that revealed a slight tear and some bruising but no major damage.

He will sit out the final three games before the All-Star break and hope he heals in time to join the Angels when they resume play in Oakland next Friday night.

To make room on the 25-man roster for Trout, the Angels optioned starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood to triple-A Salt Lake. Chatwood will start a minor league game on July 14, which will put him in line to rejoin the Angels’ rotation for a July 19 game against Texas, when the team will need a fifth starter.

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-- Mike DiGiovanna