Despite Trout's start, Angels flounder
Home run leader healthy and productive, but Ohtani's departure has wounded team
Mike Trout has been healthy this year and is leading the major leagues in home runs.
So far, that hasn't been enough to help the Los Angeles Angels withstand Shohei Ohtani's departure.
If it feels as if Trout and the Angels can't catch a break, this is certainly another example. The three-time MVP finally looks like his old self again, but with Ohtani gone, Los Angeles is eight games under .500.
The 32-year-old Trout has reached the post-season only once, a decade ago. From 2012-19, he won those three MVPs and finished second in the voting four times. He is already in the top 50 all-time in Baseball Reference's version of wins above replacement.
Trout is firmly on a Hall of Fame path and he has a chance to surpass 400 homers this year, but what he accomplishes in his 30s will go a long way toward determining exactly where he ends up historically. While he has already surpassed luminaries like Joe DiMaggio and Ken Griffey Jr. in career WAR, injuries have robbed Trout of some of his prime. He hasn't played more than 140 games since 2016, and he appeared in only 237 over three seasons from 2021-23 — part of the reason the Angels weren't much of a threat even with Ohtani and Trout both on the team.
Trout hasn't missed a game this year and he led the majors with 10 homers entering play Monday, although his stat line is still pretty unusual. He's batting just .226 and has more extra-base hits (13) than singles (11). He has five stolen bases, already his most since 2019.
His power and availability are good signs, but with Ohtani now playing for the Dodgers — and off to a great start with a bat — even a healthy Trout might not be enough to keep the Angels relevant.
SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT?
Last year at this time, Oakland was baseball's laughingstock, but although there's still plenty of turmoil surrounding the Athletics' planned moves to Sacramento and Las Vegas, their on-field performance hasn't been too bad.
This past week, Oakland split a four-game series in New York against the Yankees, then took two of three at Baltimore.
The A's have a dominant closer in Mason Miller, who has 25 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings.
The Chicago White Sox are at the bottom of the American League at 6-22, but they just swept a threegame set against Tampa Bay.
Chicago has not been able to take advantage of an AL Central that was thought to be fairly weak. The White Sox are 2-15 within their division, which is a big reason everyone else in it is above .500.
COMEBACK OF THE WEEK
San Diego had a 9-4 lead at Colorado on Thursday in the bottom of the eighth inning. Not safe at Coors Field.
With one out, the Rockies had a win probability of 1.1 per cent according to Baseball Savant. After a double and a walk, Hunter Goodman made it 9-7 with a three-run homer. After Brenton Doyle's RBI single, Ezequiel Tovar scored on a passed ball to tie it, and with two outs, Elias Diaz delivered a goahead double that sent Colorado to a 10-9 win.
LINE OF THE WEEK
Boston's Ceddanne Rafaela went 4 for 4 with a homer, two doubles, seven RBIs and three runs to lift Boston to a 17-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
TROUT'S TOUGH MVP LUCK
Mike Trout has finished second for MVP honours four times. The players who won the MVP in those years were: Miguel Cabrera in 2012, Cabrera again in 2013, Josh Donaldson in 2015 and Mookie Betts in 2018.