Mike Trout

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Michael Nelson Trout
(Millville Meteor or Kiiiiid)

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Biographical Information[edit]

Mike Trout is a three-time All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and 2014 AL MVP centerfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, all achieved in his first three seasons in Major League Baseball. The twenty-three-year-old's start, which began as a 19-year-old in 2011 and included winning the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year Award and #2 finishes in the 2012 and 2013 AL MVP races, is generally regarded as one of the greatest in the sport's history.

Trout was a first-round pick in the 2009 amateur draft and was named baseball's top prospect after the 2010 season. He is the son of Jeff Trout, who was a minor league teammate of Greg Morhardt, the scout who signed Mike for the Angels.

Trout hit .531 as a high school senior, with 18 home runs in 81 at-bats and 20 steals. Baseball America named him a high school All-American outfielder alongside Max Walla and Randal Grichuk. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim took him 25th overall in the 2009 amateur draft, one pick after they took Grichuk. Mike was the only player on stage when Major League Baseball televised the first round of the draft for the first time ever. Trout signed for a $1,215,000 bonus.

Mike split his first pro season between the AZL Angels (.360/.418/.506, 29 R, 25 RBI in 39 G) and the Cedar Rapids Kernels (4 for 15, 4 BB). He was second in the Arizona League in average, .006 behind Jesus Brito. Baseball America rated him the top prospect in the AZL, four slots ahead of teammate Grichuk. He made the AZL All-Star outfield alongside Nick Akins and Rymer Liriano.

Trout opened 2010 with Cedar Rapids and tore up the Midwest League. After 70 games, he was hitting .372/.453/.551 with 38 steals in 45 tries and 63 runs. He was playing error-free ball in center as well. He was chosen for Team USA in the 2010 Futures Game. Trout came in as a first-inning pinch-runner after Domonic Brown hurt his hamstring. Mike stayed in the game in center field. He reached on a Osvaldo Martínez error his first time up, but was caught stealing by Wilin Rosario. In the 5th, Trout reached on an Alex Liddi miscue and scored on a homer by Hank Conger, another Angels prospect. He singled off Trystan Magnuson in the 6th. In the eight inning, Mike doubled off Jeurys Familia and would score on a double by Eric Hosmer. He finished the year playing for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in the California League, where he hit .306 and slugged .434. After the season he was named by Major League Baseball as the top prospect in the minor leagues, ahead of as P Jeremy Hellickson and OF Bryce Harper.

Trout started the 2011 season with the AA Arkansas Travelers, where he hit .330 with 9 homers, 11 triples, 27 RBI and 28 stolen bases in 78 games over the first half of the season. On July 7th, the Angels announced that he was being called up to the big leagues and would make his major league debut the next day, following a hamstring injury to rookie centerfielder Peter Bourjos. At 19, Trout was the youngest player in the major leagues. "Mike Trout has a chance to be a special player," Angels manager Mike Scioscia stated. "He can really run, and he loves to compete. He has all the tools and the desire to make things happen."

He went 0 for 3 in his debut against the Seattle Mariners, but made a great running catch in the 9th inning with the game tied, depriving Franklin Gutierrez of an apparent double. He hit his first major league home run on July 24th, a three-run shot against the Baltimore Orioles' Mark Worrell that broke open the game in the 8th inning, leading to a 9-3 Angels win. He was the first teenager to hit a major league homer since Justin Upton in 2007. With Bourjos again healthy, Trout was sent back to Arkansas on August 1st, having gone 7 for 43 with a homer and 6 RBI in his first taste of major league action.

After a few weeks in the minors, Trout was brought back up to the majors. Scioscia had talks with Bobby Abreu and Vernon Wells, apparently indicating that they would have less playing time as a result. On August 30th, Trout showed that it would be hard to dislodge him from the starting line-up from now on with a great performance against the Mariners; he hit two homers and drove in 5 runs that day. Both homers came off Anthony Vasquez, making only his second career start. At the conclusion of the minor league season, he was named by Baseball America as its Minor League Player of the Year, succeeding Jeremy Hellickson. For the year in Arkansas, he had hit .326/.414/.544, with 18 doubles, 13 triples, 11 homers and 33 steals in a tremendous all-around performance while one of the youngest players in the circuit. In the majors, Trout played in 40 games with a batting line of .220/.281/.390; he hit 6 doubles and 5 homers, and played all three outfield positions.

Mike Trout showed up in spring training in 2012 with a mysterious illness. He had lost 15 pounds and was too weak to play in the initial Cactus League games. The Angels described the illness as a type of flu bug or virus. Trout was taking medication although doctors could not pinpoint the exact condition, after ruling out a thyroid disorder or Valley Fever. The result was that his chances of making the big league team shrank to nothing, and he was assigned to the AAA Salt Lake Bees to start the season. He did not stay in Salt Lake long, though. The Angels got off to an unexpectedly rough start, and on April 27th made a couple of moves to shake the team, including releasing 17-year veteran Bobby Abreu and swallowing the remainder of his contract, and calling up Trout to Anaheim. He justified the Angels' confidence in him by winning American League Rookie of the Month honors for May and the team began to play at the level that had been anticipated. During the month, he hit .324 with 6 doubles and 5 homers, 16 RBI and 21 runs scored. On June 27th, he made what was widely described as the "catch of the year", robbing the Baltimore Orioles' J.J. Hardy of a home run at Camden Yards by extending his glove a foot and a half over the center field fence and reeling in his the ball; his feet were a good two feet above the ground when he made the catch, his back against the wall. Inspired by his great play, the Angels won the game, 13-1. For the second consecutive month, Trout was named the AL Rookie of the Month for June, after hitting .372 with 7 doubles, 27 runs and 16 RBI. If that wasn't enough, July was even better. First he was named to the All-Star team, then set an American League rookie record with 10 homers during the month, and tied Hal Trosky's record, set in 1934, with 32 runs scored. Only one other player in major league history - the great Rickey Henderson - had ever finished July with a .350 batting average, 15 homers and 30 steals: he was at .353, with 18 homers, and leading the majors in runs with 80 and steals with 31, numbers worthy not just of a Rookie of the Year but of an MVP candidate as well. Indeed, when Major League Baseball handed out its monthly honors at the end of July, he was both the AL's Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month, becoming the first player in the junior circuit to ever win both awards in the same month. He hit .392 in addition to his record numbers of homers and runs scored, and drove in 23 runs in 25 games, while stealing 9 bases. He also set an American league rookie record by scoring a run in 14 straight games that July; it was also a franchise record for all players. On August 23rd, he became the youngest player to record 20 homers and 40 steals in a season, when he swiped his 40th base in a 14-13 win over the Boston Red Sox, bettering by 6 months a record set by Cesar Cedeno in 1972. He repeated as AL Rookie of the Month in August, having hit .284 with 7 homers, 26 runs, 19 RBI and 11 stolen bases. On September 30th, he became the first rookie ever to have both 30 homers and 40 stolen bases, when he hit his 30th long ball off Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers; he still had a chance to become only the third player in major league history with 30 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season, after Eric Davis and Barry Bonds, needing only two more steals to do so, but he finished one shy, at 49, still enough to lead the AL. He also hit .326, led the AL with 129 runs, had 27 doubles, 8 triples and 30 homers, and drove in 83. He had the 5th-best Wins Above Replacement (10.7) by a player under 25 years of age in baseball history, behind Babe Ruth (1920), Lou Gehrig (1927) and Mickey Mantle (1956 and 1957). Had it not been for the Triple Crown won by the Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera, he would have been a certain winner of the AL MVP Award, but the result was uncertain given the historic nature of Cabrera's feat. Unsurprisingly, he was an unanimous choice to win the 2012 American League Rookie of the Year Award, the youngest player ever to take the award, surpassing Lou Whitaker (although National League winner Bryce Harper was even younger.

In spite of Trout's tremendous rookie season, the Angels decided to play hardball when it came to setting his salary for 2013. Taking advantage of the fact he was not eligible for arbitration, they set his salary at $510,000, just $20,000 above the minimum salary, a unilateral move which his agent, Craig Landis, found very upsetting. As he stated: "In my opinion, this contract falls well short of a 'fair' contract, and I have voiced this to the Angels throughout the process." Another upsetting issue was that the Angels had decided to move Trout from centerfield to left, leaving center for Peter Bourjos, and placing free agent signee Josh Hamilton in right field. Trout started the year relatively quietly, as did the Angels, who failed to get off to a strong start. After 44 games on May 21st, he was hitting only .278, but 23 extra-base hits and as many walks meant that his OPS+ was still an excellent 123. That night, he hit for the cycle for the first time of his career, collecting 5 RBIs to lead the Angels to a 12-0 rout of the Seattle Mariners. He was the 6th player in Angels history to hit for the cycle, and the first since Chone Figgins in 2006. Trout also became the youngest player in AL history to hit for the cycle. On September 17th, Trout became the first player in American League history to amass 25 home runs, 30 stolen bases, and 100 walks in a season. He finished the year at .323/.432/.557 in 157 games, with 39 doubles, 9 triples and 27 homers. His 109 runs scored led the AL, as did his 110 walks and he drove in 97 runs in spite of batting first and second until early August, when he was moved to the third slot. His OPS+ of 179 was even higher than in his rookie season, but was second to Cabrera, who also followed his Triple Crown season with another great year; Cabrera again won the MVP Award and Trout again finished second.

The Angels were more generous with Trout in term of contract before the 2014 season: the one-year $1 million contract they offered him in spring training was the highest ever for a player not yet eligible for arbitration, as both Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols had both made $900,000 in their final season prior to arbitration. The question now was when the Angels and Trout would agree on a contract to take him through his six arbitration years, with $150 million the figure being quoted by reporters. On March 28th, the two sides did come to an agreement, for $144.5 million; however his contract was dwarfed by Miguel Cabrera's record-breaking $292 million deal signed the same day. For all his excellence over his first two full seasons, there was one feat Trout had not accomplished, which was to hit a walk-off homer. He put an end to that on May 15th when he connected for a three-run shot off Brad Boxberger of the Tampa Bay Rays, giving the Angels a 6-5 win. He was named the AL Player of the Month in June, when he hit .361 with 10 doubles and 7 homers, 20 runs scored and 21 RBIs. He was voted to start the 2014 All-Star Game and put on a show at the mid-summer classic held at Target Field in Minneapolis, MN on July 15th: in the 1st inning, he tripled off Adam Wainwright with Derek Jeter on board to drive in the game's first run, then came in to score on Miguel Cabrera's homer; in the 5th, he doubled off Pat Neshek to drive in Derek Norris with what would prove to be the winning run in a 5-3 win. He was voted the game's MVP as a result. While his batting average was down compared to his first two seasons, he was still an offensive juggernaut, and this time, he was not alone, as the Angels surged to first place in the AL West when the Oakland A's hit a rough patch in late August. He topped 100 RBIs for the first time while also setting a career high for homers, and when he scored his 100th run on September 10th, he became only the 6th player to have done so three times by age 23 (Mel Ott, Buddy Lewis, Ted Williams, Vada Pinson and Alex Rodriguez were the others). He finished with 111 RBIs, the most in the AL, 36 homers and a .287 average. In his first taste of the postseason, however, he was limited to 1 in 12, the hit being a homer, while the Angels were swept by the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS. He was rewarded for his outstanding season by winning the AL MVP Award by unanimous vote.

On April 17, 2015, he hit two homers in a 6-3 win over the Houston Astros, which gave him 101 homers and 104 stolen bases and made him the youngest player ever to top three figures in both statistics, breaking the mark set by Alex Rodriguez. He was again voted a starter in the All-Star Game and made the contest his personal stage when he became the first repeat winner of the game's MVP Award, thanks to a home run off Zack Greinke that led off the game, and scoring the go-ahead run for the American League in the 5th inning in his league's 6-3 win. In the first game of the second half on July 17th, he hit a walk-off homer off Koji Uehara of the Boston Red Sox with two outs in the 9th to give the Angels a 1-0 win. He injured his wrist later in the month in attempting to make a diving catch on July 26th, however, forcing him to miss a game and undergo an MRI on July 28th. He succeeded teammate Pujols as AL Player of the Month in July after hitting .367 with 12 homers, 20 runs and 26 RBIs. On September 26th, he made a tremendous leaping catch over the center field fence at Anaheim Stadium, jumping a good three feet above the fence with his back to the plate to deprive Jesus Montero of the Seattle Mariners of a three-run homer. That catch was immortalized on a Topps baseball card, card number 1 of the 2016 set. He finished the season with a .299 average, a league-leading .590 slugging percentage, 104 runs, 41 homers, 90 RBIs and 92 walks. His OPS+ of 176 was also tops in the league.

The Angels had a dreadful season in 2016, but Mike was just about the lone bright light in the firmament. On August 15th, he stole his 20th bases of the year to join the 20-20 club for the third time, becoming the 7th player in major league history to do so. On August 31st, he was involved in a three-vehicle crash on a freeway in the Los Angeles area. With traffic stopped due to a collision ahead, Trout stopped too late and his car hit the back of a stopped vehicle ahead, sending it crashing into a truck. Trout escaped without being hurt, but the female driver of the second car suffered what police described as "major injuries". He finished the season with a .315 average, 29 homers and 100 RBIs to go along with an American League-leading 123 runs, 116 walks and a .441 OBP. He received his fifth straight Silver Slugger Award and in a tight race, won his second MVP Award over Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox.

Mike started off 2017 by being named the AL Player of the Month in April, on the strength of a .364 average, 18 runs scored, 7 homers and 18 RBIs. On May 28th, he was leading the majors with 16 homers when he sprained his thumb while stealing a base in a game against the Miami Marlins and had to leave the game. He was placed on the disabled list for the first time of his career the next day as he had to undergo surgery on the thumb. In spite of having played only two months, he was voted a starter on the All-Star team, his sixth nod for the Midsummer Classic, but he had to miss the game as he was not yet fully healed. He did return to action in the Angels' first game after the break, on July 14th. On August 7th, he collected his 1,000th hit on his 26th birthday and also homered for his fourth birthday homer in six big league seasons, but the Angels still lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 6-2. Only Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle, in addition to Trout had compiled 1,000 hits, 500 runs and 500 walks by the end of their age 25 season - pretty hallowed company. He was also only the 5th player to record 1,000 hits and 190 HRs by his 26th birthday, joining Foxx, Ott, Mantle, and Alex Rodriguez, although he had played less career games than the other four. He ended the year at .306 with 33 homers and 92 RBIs, his injury having cost him a shot at another MVP Award (he finished 4th in the voting). He led the AL in both OBP (.442) and slugging percentage (.629), resulting in his also winning the OPS (1.071) and OPS+ titles (187).

Trout at bat at Safeco Field (July 3, 2018)

Trout was slated to earn a salary of $34.083 million in 2018, making him the highest-paid player in baseball, ahead of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. On May 26th, he had the first five-hit game of his career to lead the Angels to an 11-4 win over the New York Yankees; he had a single, three doubles and a two-run homer while driving in 4 runs. The homer was his 17th of the season, tying him with Mookie Betts for the AL lead. On June 21st, he played his 1,000th game, and in typical fashion drew 3 walks and scored 2 runs in an 8-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. He was on a scorching run, with a .640 average and 4 homers over his last 9 games. He continued to build on his résumé as one of the greatest performers in the history of the All-Star Game when he drew a walk off Max Scherzer and homered off Jacob deGrom in the 2018 contest, in his 7th participation on July 17th at Nationals Park. Before the game, Commissioner Rob Manfred had pointed out in a town hall meeting that while many observers recognized Trout as the greatest player of the moment, he was not one to get on board with major initiatives to market himself and the sport to a broader or younger audience. The Angels replied by stating that they were happy with Mike's stance and desire to "prioritiz(e) his personal values over commercial self-promotion," and praised the time he devoted to community outreach, such as visiting children's hospitals and schools. In any case, he had his customary excellent season, finishing it off by being named the Player of the Month in the AL for September, when he hit .329 with 8 homers and 16 RBIs. That gave him season's totals of .312, 39, 79, in addition to leading the league in walks (122), OBP (.460) and OPS (1.088).

On March 19, 2019, he signed a ten-year contract extension that would pay him $426.5 million through 2030, although the official announcement had to wait a day. He started off the season red hot, hitting .393 with 5 homers and 12 RBIs in his first 10 games. On May 1st, he set a new team record when he reached base for the 28th consecutive game from the start of the season, besting Darin Erstad who had done so in 27 games to start the 2000 season. The streak reached 29 games before he was kept from reaching in 4 plate appearances on May 4th. On May 18th, he hit his 10th homer of the year in a 6-3 win over the Kansas City Royals, which was also the 250th of his career. At 473 feet, it was also the second longest he had ever hit. He was the 13th player to reach the milestone before turning 28, with teammate Albert Pujols one of those who had also done so. On June 19th, he set a personal best with 7 RBIs in an 11-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays; his night included a two-run homer and a grand slam, both off Aaron Sanchez, and a run-scoring single in the 9th when he again came up with the bases loaded. The Angels were struck by tragedy on July 1st, when pitcher Tyler Skaggs died suddenly in his hotel room in a suburb of Dallas, TX. Trout paid him tribute at the 2019 All-Star Game, his 8th straight participation, he wore Skaggs number 45 in tribute. Then, in the Angels first home game since the tragedy on July 12th, the entire team wore Skaggs' number as they paid him an emotional tribute before the game. Trout then hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat of the game in the bottom of the 1st, and after the Angels had batted around against the Seattle Mariners, he added a two-run double to cap a seven-run inning. The Angels went on to win 13-0 as pitchers Taylor Cole and Felix Pena combined on a no-hitter while Trout went 3 for 4 with 6 RBIs in what was a truly memorable game. His season ended early as he had to undergo foot surgery in September to treat a neuroma; he made his final start on September 6th. Other treatment options were tried but did not succeed. He ended the season at .291 with 45 homers and 104 RBIs and 110 runs in 134 games, in addition to an OBP of .438 and a slugging percentage of .645 - outstanding numbers but there was a risk that his failure to complete the season could cost him a third MVP Award. It did not happen, however, as voters chose him over Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros as winner of the 2019 American League Most Valuable Player Award.

On July 26, 2020, he did something he had never done before in the majors - homer on a 3-0 pitch, taking Mike Fiers of the Oakland Athletics deep. Being extremely disciplined at the plate, he had almost never swung at 3-0 pitch during his career and his last hit on such a count dated back to 2015. It was a three-run shot, and he added a sacrifice fly later in the game to account for all of the Angels' runs in a 6-4 loss. On July 30th, he was placed on the paternity list while awaiting the imminent birth of his first child. Beckham Aaron Trout was born that same day. In Trout's first at-bat after the birth, on August 4th, he homered to left-centerfield. He continued to hit extremely well even though the Angels as a team were having a terrible season, On September 4th, he hit the 299th homer of his career, tying Tim Salmon for the all-time franchise record. He hit number 300 on September 5th, off Brandon Bielak of the Houston Astros. He finished the season at .281 in 53 games, with 17 homers and 46 RBIs, good for an OPS+ of 164. For the first time since his rookie season, he did not lead the league in any offensive category, but in spite of another poor record from his team, he finished fifth in the voting for MVP.

In 2021, he was up to his old tricks at the start of the season, as by mid-May he was hitting .333 with an OBP of .466 and an OPS of 1.090, topping various leader boards. Moreover, his teammate Shohei Ohtani was also off to a great start, leading the league in homers, while incidentally being dominating on the mound during his periodic turns as a starting pitcher, but somehow, the Angels were still incapable of putting a winning team on the field, even trailing the Seattle Mariners who were batting below the Mendoza Line as a team (!) but were still playing .500 ball. Then on May 17th, he suffered a strained calf, putting him on the shelf for what was at first estimated to be 6 to 8 weeks, but in the end cost him the rest of the season. But he came seemingly without a hitch in 2022, hitting like his old self from the get-go. He batted .323 with an OPS of 1.141 in 18 games in April. On May 9th, he hit the 161st homer of his career at Angel Stadium, smashing the ballpark record held by Tim Salmon. On May 21st, he scored his 1,000th run, joining Garret Anderson as the only two players in franchise history to reach the mark. Before him, only Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez had accumulated 1,000 run, 300 homers and 200 stolen bases by their age 30 season. However, things started to fall apart in late May as he went through the worst slump of his career, going 0 for 26 at one point, which coincided with a franchise record 14 straight losses, and led to the firing of manager Joe Maddon on June 7th. On June 11th, he hit a pair of homers against the New York Mets in the same game in which Jared Walsh hit the 9th cycle in franchise history. He was now 6 for 8 with 3 homers since ending the hitless skein and looking like his old self again. On June 18th, he homered in both ends of a doubleheader to lead the Angels to a sweep of the twinbill over the Seattle Mariners. That was part of a series in which he hit an unprecedented four game-winning homers. He continued to torment the M's in their next meeting on June 24th, when he homered again in a 4-3 loss. That was his 43rd career long ball against Seattle, making him the all-time leader in that department, displacing Rafael Palmeiro. On September 9th, he became the first Angels player to homer in five straight games, then made it six straight games the next day and seven straight on September 12th to come within one game of the major league record. He finished the season at .283 in 119 games, with 40 homers, 80 RBIs and an OPS+ of 176. He earned his 9th Silver Slugger Award and finished 8th in the MVP vote.

He started the 2023 season with a healthy first half after playing for Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. In fact, he was part of the iconic moment of the tournament when he struck out against teammate Ohtani of Team Japan to end the 9th inning of the final game, as Japan won the title. In 81 games in the first half, he .263 with 18 homers and 44 RBIs, which was well below his usual standards but still good for an OPS+ of 135. He was elected as a starter in the outfield in the 2023 All-Star Game, alongside Ohtani who was elected at DH, but on July 3rd, he suffered a broken hamate bone in his left hand while taking a swing in a game against the San Diego Padres and had to be placed on the injured list once gain, this time for a period estimated at four to six weeks. The injury also cost him a chance to play in the Mid-summer Classic. He returned on August 22nd, going 1 for 4 in a loss to the Cincinnati Reds, but he felt renewed pain in his injured hand the next day and returned to the injured list. That marked the end of his season.

He started 2024 on a hot streak as after 13 games, he led the American League in homers with 6 and slugging percentage with .735. By then, Ohtani had left the Angels as a free agent and he was in effect the only star left on the team. Reporters were gushing about he was rejuvenated and still one of the greatest players in the game, but of course the issue had never been what he could when healthy - but how long he could stay healthy, which, given his recent history, was still an open question.

Trout's brother-in-law, Aaron Cox, pitched in the Angels' chain in 2015-2016 and 2018, but died young. Trout's first-born son was named in his honor. In May 2020, one of his rookie cards, an autographed 2009 Bowman Draft Chrome Red Refractor, sold at auction for $900,000, tying the record for a modern sports card. There are believed to be only five such cards in existence.

Notable Achievements[edit]


AL Rookie of the Year
2011 2012 2013
Jeremy Hellickson Mike Trout Wil Myers
AL MVP
2013 2014 2015
Miguel Cabrera Mike Trout Josh Donaldson
2015 2016 2017
Josh Donaldson Mike Trout José Altuve
2018 2019 2020
Mookie Betts Mike Trout José Abreu

Records Held[edit]

  • Most consecutive seasons leading the league in runs: 3, 2012-2014 (tied with 10 other players; Babe Ruth achieved it twice)

Sources[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Analis Bailey: "Mike Trout becomes Angels' all-time home run leader after hitting No. 300", USA Today, September 5, 2020. [1]
  • Ted Berg: "Has Mike Trout somehow gotten better?", "For the Win!", USA Today Sports, May 22, 2017. [2]
  • Scott Boeck: "Mike Trout at 26: Six facts that put his unprecedented career arc into perspective", USA Today Sports, August 7, 2017. [3]
  • Rhett Bollinger: "Trout cements place as all-time tormenter of M's", mlb.com, June 25, 2022. [4]
  • Scott Chiusano: "Angels fan brings giant Mike Trout sign to spring training", mlb.com, February 27, 2024. [5]
  • Alden Gonzalez: "Motivated Trout ready to get back to work: Outfielder enjoying spotlight, focused on continuing to improve", mlb.com, February 25, 2015. [6]
  • Alden Gonzalez: "Training Trout: What's it like to work out the phenom?: An inside look at how Trout prepares for the season", mlb.com, January 9, 2016. [7]
  • Maria Guardado: "1,000 games in, Trout remains peerless", mlb.com, June 22, 2018. [8]
  • Richard Justice: "Trout has clout to be Hall of Fame worthy: Angels slugger's numbers on par with all-time greats", mlb.com, January 8, 2016. [9]
  • Gabe Lacques: "Mike Trout: Halfway to one of the greatest seasons in baseball history", USA Today Sports, June 28, 2018. [10]
  • Gabe Lacques: "Angels star Mike Trout beats out Alex Bregman to win his third AL MVP award", USA Today, November 14, 2019. [11]
  • Sarah Langs: "Now 28, Trout is already one of the best ever", mlb.com, August 7, 2019. [12]
  • Austin Laymance: "Trout an AL MVP finalist for 5th straight year: Angels star, who won in 2014, up against Betts, Altuve", mlb.com, November 7, 2016. [13]
  • Austin Laymance: "Trout claims 'surreal' second AL MVP Award", mlb.com, November 17, 2016. [14]
  • Brent Maguire: "The certain Hall of Famer hitting like a GOAT again", mlb.com, April 13, 2024. [15]
  • Bob Nightengale: "All-Star MVP Mike Trout proves he's already living legend", mlb.com, July 15, 2015. [16]
  • Bob Nightengale: "Mike Trout-Albert Pujols stokes comparisons to Mickey Mantle-Roger Maris", USA Today Sports, August 5, 2015. [17]
  • Bob Nightengale: "Angels celebrate Mike Trout's extension, only the guest of honor was a no-show", USA Today, March 19, 2019. [18]
  • Jorge L. Ortiz: "Angels' Mike Trout wins second AL MVP, outpoints Red Sox's Mookie Betts", USA Today Sports, November 17, 2016. [19]
  • Jorge L. Ortiz: "Mike Trout stays humble, but frustrated with Angels success", USA Today Sports, February 18, 2017. [20]
  • Jorge L. Ortiz: "Mike Trout once again shines in MLB All-Star Game", USA Today Sports, July 18, 2018. [21]
  • Mike Petriello: "Trout carrying a team like few others in history: Only two hitters have ever had higher share of WAR on winning club", mlb.com, June 28, 2018. [22]
  • Mike Petriello: "Trout is having a season for the baseball gods", mlb.com, April 7, 2019. [23]
  • Joe Posnanski: "Trout needs a nickname as great as he is: Ho-hum given name doesn't fit his amazing skills", mlb.com, April 13, 2016. [24]
  • Manny Randhawa: "Barrel barrage: Trout off to best start of career: Superstar's hard-hit rate and barrel rate each highest since 2015", mlb.com, May 16, 2018. [25]
  • Jordan Schusterman: "Mike Trout is already an all-time great at age 26", "Cut4", mlb.com, May 17, 2018. [26]
  • Lyle Spencer: "Trout stacks up to legends after three seasons in Majors", mlb.com, January 14, 2015. [27]
  • Jesse Yomtov: "Mike Trout embraces role as All-Star Game stalwart – while also mourning Tyler Skaggs", USA Today, July 8, 2019. [28]

Related Sites[edit]

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