Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout is entering an important season. This will be the first time in six seasons that he will not take the field with the two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani.
This is, once again, Trout’s team, and much is expected of him if he wants to make the Halos relevant. He must stay on the field and avoid lengthy trips to the IL this season.
Trout has not looked himself the last few seasons, battling various injuries. MLB analyst Chris Rose wants to see the 11-time All-Star return to being a force to be reckoned with.
“He is just starting his 30s, and it feel like if he doesn’t crank it up back to the guy who was like a .950 OPS, that he’s in danger of having a decade of just kind of treading water,” stated Rose.
In 2023, Trout had an OPS of .858, one of the worst in his career. That is far from the player who led the entire league in OPS with a 1.088 in 2019.
“Like, Albert Pujols’ last decade, it was kind of a lost cause. It’s one of the most decorated first-halves of a career in the history of the sport for Albert Pujols, and then the second half, you’re like “God, I wish we hadn’t seen that'” said Rose.
Mike Trout and the Angels could look different under manager Ron Washington
While the Angels said goodbye to Shohei Ohtani during the winter, they said hello to Ron Washington. This will be Washington’s first time managing since 2014 when he was the skipper of the Texas Rangers.
Washington is one of the most well-respected coaches in the league and is known for getting the most out of his players. He values building relationships with his teams and should be a great addition to this team.
One of the things that Washington wants to bring to this club this upcoming season is being aggressive on the basepaths. Stolen bases are nothing new for Mike Trout, but they have been rarer in the last few seasons.
Seeing Trout get more aggressive on the basepaths will surely help the club and his stat line. In 2012, he led the entire league after successfully swiping 49 bags.
While he will not be a league leader again, he has only stolen six bases in the last three seasons. Trout has the wheels and the baseball IQ to get into the minds of pitchers on the basepaths.
