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(CNN)<\/cite>Mike Trout has been diagnosed with a rare back condition – costovertebral dysfunction at T5 – that will likely affect him for the rest of his playing career.<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (CNN)Mike Trout has been diagnosed with a rare back condition – costovertebral dysfunction at T5 – that will likely affect him for the rest of his playing career. “The doctor (Robert Watkins III), who is one of the best-known spine surgeons in the country \u2014 if not the world \u2014 doesn’t see many of those,” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\n“The doctor (Robert Watkins III), who is one of the best-known spine surgeons in the country \u2014 if not the world \u2014 doesn’t see many of those,” Los Angeles Angels athletic coach Mike Frostad said Wednesday, according to ESPN.<\/p>\n“And for it to happen with a baseball player, we just have to consider what he’s going through on a daily basis batting and swinging just to prepare and then also playing in the outfield, diving for balls and wall-jumping – things like that. There are so many things that can make it worse.<\/p>\nFrostad added that the condition could affect Trout’s long-term prospects.<\/p>\n“We have to look at that as something that … he has to do, not just for the rest of this season but probably for the rest of his career,” he said, according to MLB.com.<\/p>\nFollowing those comments, Trout himself turned to reporters to clarify the news and downplay its seriousness following the Angels’ 4-0 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night. <\/p>\n“I appreciate all prayer requests, but my career isn’t over yet,” the 10-time All Star said, according to the Orange County Register.<\/p>\nTrout left a game against Houston on July 12 with back spasms and was put on the injury list a week later with a chest infection before the underlying condition was diagnosed. <\/p>\nHe retired from the All-Star game and was given a cortisone shot last week, but will be out of practice for at least another week.<\/p>\n“The last two days have been big steps. I’m thrilled with how it’s going. I’m happy with it,” added Trout.<\/p>\nThough he hopes to return this season, Trout acknowledged he needs to “keep on track” to cope with the illness. <\/p>\nIt’s a setback for the second-highest-paid player in the game during his comeback season, which saw him hit .270 with 24 homers and 51 RBIs in 79 games after a calf injury that forced him to miss much of last year.<\/p>\nTrout has another doctor’s appointment on Sunday.<\/p>\n