Mike Trout makes his 2021 spring training debut

The calendar has turned to March, and today we get to watch Mike Trout play some baseball. Trout is batting third and manning center field in the Angels’ home spring training opener on Monday (12:10 p.m. PT, Fox Sports West) at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

Given the day-on/day-off nature that is usually prevalent in the early going in spring training, several Angels will make their 2021 debuts on Monday, including Shohei Ohtani, Albert Pujols, and Justin Upton. And after a busy Angels offseason, three trade acquisitions will make their Angels debut on Tuesday, with shortstop Jose Iglesias and center fielder Dexter Fowler backing starting pitcher Alex Cobb.

Monday’s game is against the White Sox and will only last five innings, which is allowed under the health and safety protocols for 2021. Given that there are no minor league spring training camps on the other side of team facilities — players from Double-A and both Class-A levels won’t report until after major league spring camps have broken — there aren’t the usual daily group of pitchers from minor league camp to fill innings in the back end of games. As such, both managers can agree to shorten games to as few as five innings through March 13, and as short as seven innings for spring games after that.

One player who won’t be the Angels lineup is third baseman Anthony Rendon, out with soreness:

Game info

Teams: Angels vs. White Sox

Location: Tempe Diablo Stadium

Time: 12:10 p.m. PT

TV: Fox Sports West