2014 schedule will be special for Angels star Mike Trout

The interleague portion of the 2014 schedule will have special significance for Angels outfielder Mike Trout, who will play in Philadelphia’s Citizen’s Bank Park, which is 45 miles north of his hometown of Millville, N.J., and in Washington’s Nationals Park against friend and fellow phenom Bryce Harper.

The Angels will open 2014 at home against the Seattle Mariners on March 31, and the bulk of their interleague schedule will be against National League East teams.

In addition to four games against the Dodgers, the Angels will travel to Philadelphia, Washington and Atlanta and play host to the New York Mets, Miami and the Phillies. The full schedule is expected to be released this week.

Trout, who is hitting .338 with a .437 on-base percentage, .574 slugging percentage, 23 home runs, 84 runs batted in, 96 runs and 89 walks entering Monday night’s game at Minnesota, grew up and played high school ball in southern New Jersey, where he was known as the “Millville Meteor.”

The 2012 American League rookie of the year and most valuable player runner-up was also called up to the Angels for good on April 28, 2012, one day before Harper, now 20, made his debut with the Nationals.

The outfielders, who have been linked by their career arcs and rapid rise to the big leagues, developed a friendship in October and November 2011, when they were Arizona Fall League teammates on the Scottsdale Scorpions.

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