ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Mike Trout was considerably sore and probably a little bit woozy, but he still made his way to Angel Stadium by late Wednesday afternoon, hours after undergoing surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament and dorsal capsule of his left thumb.

He wanted to be there in case Albert Pujols belted his 600th career home run.

"That's the first thing I think I told them coming out of surgery -- I wanted to come see Albert play that night," said Trout, the Los Angeles Angels' superstar center fielder, during a news conference prior to Saturday's game against the Minnesota Twins. "I told myself I couldn't miss it. I went out there to the dugout to watch his at-bats. I was definitely aching. I was in some pain."

It took a few days, but Trout did get to see Pujols make history when the slugger hit career homer No. 600 Saturday night.

As for his own status, Trout said he is "getting better" now. He will have the cast removed Sunday and will begin the rehab portion of his recovery Monday. When he does return -- in six to eight weeks, maybe sooner -- Trout will wear a guard on his left hand to protect him on the bases.

And he will continue to slide headfirst, even though doing so in Miami last Sunday prompted his first career trip to the disabled list. The 25-year-old has been sliding headfirst ever since he began playing baseball. He tried learning to slide feetfirst once, but it never felt comfortable and he quickly scrapped it.

"I think I just have to have more control when I dive headfirst," Trout said. "They say [sliding feetfirst] doesn't slow you down, but it feels like it slows you down. ... Diving headfirst, you have more room that you can trick them a little bit."

The Angels, 28-30 heading into Saturday's game, have dropped three of their first five games without Trout. The reigning American League MVP went on the shelf as the early favorite for the award once again, with a .337/.461/.742 slash line, 16 home runs, 36 RBIs, 10 stolen bases and a league-best 1.203 OPS.

Trout was the AL's leading vote-getter when the first All-Star Game ballot update was released earlier this week and is almost certain to get voted in for a sixth straight year, regardless of the number of games he will miss.

But he isn't certain about playing in the Midsummer Classic.

"I would love to; obviously I have to get voted in," Trout said. "It would be pretty quick to get back by that time. But it would be a goal, for sure."

A six-week time frame would have Trout back by July 12, the day after the All-Star Game in Miami. An eight-week recovery gets him back on the field July 26, but it seems that would only be the case if a setback occurs. Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons suffered a similar injury last year and returned in 5 1/2 weeks.

Trout said he wants to return "as quick as I can, but I want to make sure it's fully healed."

"I want to be able to go out there and not think about it," he added. "Just go out there and play. I play the game hard."

Trout injured himself while sliding headfirst into second base in the series finale from Marlins Park. He picked his head up to see if the baseball had bounced into center field, which caused him to slide short of the bag and jam his thumb.

"Usually I would just slide right into the bag," Trout said. "It was a crazy play."

Trout, who exited the game after playing a half-inning in the outfield, had never really been hurt before this.

"I've never torn anything or broken anything, ever," he said. "It's frustrating."

He was admittedly nervous about having surgery for the first time, but "it went by quick. I was in there, and then I was done before you knew it."

The Angels are hoping his recovery moves just as swiftly.

Four of their best starting pitchers (Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs, Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano) are nursing injuries, as are three of their best relievers (Cam Bedrosian, Huston Street and Andrew Bailey). They have one of the worst farm systems in the game, and their lineup on Saturday included five players with a batting average below .250.

"Everybody's just got to do their job," Trout said when asked how the team will do while he is absent. "You can't try to hit a home run every time."