MINNEAPOLIS — The Angels arrived at their Minneapolis hotel around 5 a.m. on Friday, after playing a night game on Thursday in Anaheim.

That difficult travel turnaround could have been viewed as a reason to give Mike Trout his first day off of the season.

“He is off; he’s DH-ing,” Manager Ron Washington said with a smile.

Trout has been injured so much in the past few years that there is always concern about his health. However, Washington and Trout both said on Friday that it was an easy decision for him to play the series opener against the Twins.

“I told Wash, ‘I took a lot of games off last year. I want to play every game as much as I can,’” Trout said. “Obviously, when I need a day, we’ll talk about it. But we have a good little rotation going of DH-ing. Even back-to-back DH has been good because it refuels the legs.”

Trout has started all 25 of the Angels’ games this season, including 18 in right field and seven at DH.

“Don’t get me wrong, we’re going to pick days to get Mike off his feet totally,” Washington said, “but right now, the way our offense been going, we can’t afford to not have him in there. Like I said, there’s two things that he brings, presence and performance. We need his presence every day. Eventually he’s going to start performing, but his presence we need every day and tonight it’s his presence.”

Trout’s performance has been sporadic so far this season. His .172 batting average is low, but he’s hit eight homers that have contributed to a .757 OPS that is above average. His 28.4% strikeout rate is worse than the major league average of 22.4%.

Defensively, the metrics have shown Trout to be below average in right field, his new position. He’s had some rough moments, like when he collided with center fielder Jo Adell on Tuesday or when he failed to call off second baseman Kyren Paris, allowing a ball to drop in the ninth inning on Thursday.

But he also made a diving catch on Thursday. He said he didn’t even remember the last time he made a diving catch.

“I felt like a little kid again,” Trout said.

The point of Trout moving from center field to right was to reduce his workload and keep him healthier. While Trout hasn’t gotten hurt, it’s too early to know if there will really be less wear on his legs from playing right.

“Some games I feel like I run way more (in right field) and some games I don’t,” Trout said. “It’s a mix.”

TALK IT OVER

The Angels normal hitters’ meeting including a little extra before Thursday’s game.

Washington spoke, as did a few players, as they tried to get the team out of its funk. The Angels had averaged 2.4 runs and hit .186 over the previous 11 games. After the meeting they performed a little better, scoring four runs on six hits in a victory.

“We had a good meeting, and then we went out there and performed according to the meeting,” Washington said. “We were a lot more aggressive.”

Washington said when he spoke, it was not about the mechanics of hitting, but about the mentality.

“Having the wrong mental state can snowball you more than the fact that we’re not getting base hits,” Washington said. “So it was mainly about our mental state, and they came out last night and checked their mental state.”

NOTES

Right-hander Ben Joyce (right shoulder inflammation) has begun some light throwing. …

Third baseman Yoán Moncada (sprained right thumb) still hasn’t hit from the left side. He has been hitting from the right side and doing defensive drills. …

Right-hander Sam Bachman (thoracic outlet syndrome) has been facing hitters in Arizona. The Angels still view Bachman as a starter in the long-term but they are more likely to bring him back to the majors as a reliever this season. …

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Tommy Pham was suspended for one game because of an obscene gesture he made toward fans at Angel Stadium on Wednesday night. Pham is appealing the suspension. …

Washington said he was not anticipating any residual affect of Thursday night’s travel to hinder their performance this weekend. The buses to Target Field left the Angels’ hotel at 3 p.m., about 10 hours after their arrival. “In baseball there’s no excuses,” Washington said. “Just like there’s no crying in baseball, there’s no excuses in baseball. We’ll be ready to go.” …

The Twins are hitting .157 against lefties, which is the worst average in the majors. The Angels are starting left-hander Yusei Kikuchi on Saturday.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Yusei Kikuchi, 0-3, 3.38 ERA) at Twins (RHP Simeon Woods Richardson, 1-2, 4.74 ERA), Saturday, 11:10 a.m. PT, FDSN West, 830 AM

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