FIGHTING A BAD HABIT

Trout says a mechanical issue was cause of career-worst season in 2023 before his injury

Lost amid the narratives of Mike Trout’s injuries or whether he should ask to be traded is the underlying question about what he actually did while he was on the field last season.

The Angels’ superstar, a three-time MVP, posted numbers that were, across the board, the worst of his career.

Trout finished with a .263 average and an .858 OPS, which were well below his previous career averages of .303 and 1.002.

Trout hit 18 homers in 82 games, with his season cut short by a fractured bone in his hand.

“I’ve been fighting through it for the last couple years,” said Trout, who had a .999 OPS in 2022. “Just get that rhythm down, going through a stretch where I feel comfortable. Looking back, there wasn’t a stretch in the last year or the year before where I felt like myself for a while. Just getting back to that is key.”

Trout had a .669 OPS over a 41-game span from late April to mid June, which was the worst 41-game span of his career, excluding the 2011 season when he first broke into the majors as a teenager.

Trout finally started to perform in June. He had a 1.047 OPS over his last 16 games and 68 plate appearances before he fractured his hamate bone July 3.

The obvious question is whether Trout’s down year in 2023 was an isolated slump, or if it was a sign of the decline that normally comes as a player gets older.

Trout, who turned 32 in August, scoffed at that idea.

“No, no, no,” he said. “It’s not that. I know what I’m doing wrong. I created a bad habit in the last year or two that I’m trying to get out of.”

That habit, Trout said, is “sliding,” as opposed to keeping a firm base. That caused his hips to drop and he “was under everything.”

Trout’s contact rate was 76% in 2023. He had been at least 80% in every season through 2020. He was at 73% in his injury-shortened 2021 and in 2022.

His troubles were especially acute against high velocity. Last year, Trout hit .197 on pitches at 95 mph or harder. The

STEPH CHAMBERS — GETTY IMAGES MVP. Mike Trout had a .263batting average and .858OPS in 82games last season, both well below career averages for the three-time