Angels' Mike Trout hits off pitching machine, closer to return

HOUSTON --Mike Trout hit off a pitching machine Friday for the first time since fracturing his left hamate bone and manager Phil Nevin said the Angels' star outfielder is moving closer to a return.

Trout has been out since July 3 and Nevin said before the start of a series with the Astros that the team believes he's close, but that there still isn't a timetable for his return.

"There's going to be some hot spots around the wrist," Nevin said. "It's natural when these things happen with this surgery. It's not necessarily ... where it was fixed, but the areas around it, it could get sensitive. So, you've got to keep swinging."

Trout hit off a tee earlier this week.

Nevin added that the more swings he gets in, the more he'll start to feel like he can "let it go, which I don't think is too far way."

Nevin said he wasn't sure whether Trout would go on a rehabilitation assignment before coming off the injured list and said that they'll discuss that in the next day or two.