Mike Trout Moving To Right Field

Angels star Mike Trout met with the team yesterday to discuss his health outlook and potential means of keeping him healthier moving forward. The longtime center fielder now tells reporters that he’ll be shifting to right field in an effort to keep him on the field with more regularity (link via ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez).

Trout’s talents are obvious but his health, or lack thereof, has been the primary focus of his recent career. In the eight seasons from 2012 to 2019, Trout was a fixture for the Angels as their primary center fielder. He never played fewer than 114 games, got into at least 134 games in seven of those eight campaigns and got to 157 contests in four of them. He then played in 53 of the club’s 60 games in the shortened 2020 season.

But he was limited to just 36 games in 2021 by a right calf strain. He played more regularly the following year, but was still capped at 119 contests by back problems. A left hamate fracture was the primary culprit in 2023, with Trout getting into 82 games. Last year, he twice suffered a tear of his left meniscus and only got into 29 games. His production has still been very strong when on the field, but trying to keep him there more often is an obvious goal for the club.

In addition to those mounting injuries, Trout is now 33 years old and will turn 34 in August. His contract runs through 2030 and he therefore still has six seasons to get through, at a premium salary, before it runs its course. Center field is a more taxing position than either of the corners, so moving Trout over to right will detract from his value somewhat but ideally be better for his long-term health than staying up the middle.

The Angels have Taylor Ward in left field and Jorge Soler slated to be their primary designated hitter. With Trout now set to be the regular in right, they will have a question mark in center. With Trout having missed so much time in recent years, Mickey Moniak has gotten plenty of run there with good defensive metrics. He logged 445 innings up the middle in 2023 and then 800 last year. Combined with his previous center field work with the Phillies, he now has 1,465 2/3 innings at the position in his career with three Defensive Runs Saved and eight Outs Above Average.

The bigger question is what we will provide offensively. He seemed to have something of a breakout in 2023, hitting 14 home runs in 323 plate appearances, leading to a .280/.307/.495 batting line and 114 wRC+. However, there were some yellow flags in there. His 2.8% walk rate and 35% strikeout rate were both awful marks and his production seemed to be floating on top of a .397 batting average on balls in play.

Regression seemed to be likely and indeed came to pass in 2024. Though Moniak improved his walk and strikeout rates to 5% and 27.3% respectively, those were still subpar numbers. He hit another 14 home runs, but in a larger sample of 418 plate appearances. His BABIP fell to .272, far closer to the league average, which was .291 last year. His .219/.266/.380 line led to a 79 wRC+.

Moniak has 84th percentile sprint speed and those aforementioned strong grades for his glovework. That perhaps gives him a decent floor, at least capable of running down fly balls and stealing a few bases. There is perhaps a bit of upside with the bat but there’s also a chance that he’s a hole in the bottom of the lineup. The 32.% career strikeout rate is obviously a concern. Zack Gelof was the only qualified hitter to be above that in 2024. It is perhaps encouraging that Moniak has been striking out less over time. From 2021 to the present, his strikeout rate has gone from 43.2% to 39.3%, 35% and 27.3%, though even that last number is still rough.

Another option on the roster is Jo Adell, though there is perhaps even more concern with him than with Moniak. He has hit .211/.268/.381 in his career for a 78 wRC+, striking out 32.2% of the time. That includes a .207/.280/.402 line and 90 wRC+ in 2024, though with some nicer numbers under the hood. He hit 20 home runs last year and got his strikeout rate down to 27.9%. His .244 BABIP was below average and lower than his previous marks, despite decent Statcast data.

Perhaps he deserved better and there’s an offensive breakout on tap for him, though whether he can handle center field defensively is another question, as he has just 122 big league innings there. He has 3 DRS while OAA considers him to have been league average, but it’s hard to read too much into such a small sample of playing time.

It’s also possible that a platoon will form, since Moniak hits from the left side and Adell the right. Moniak has a dismal .176/.210/.244 line against lefties in his career but a more respectable .239/.282/.428 mark and 93 wRC+ against righties. Adell’s career splits aren’t massive but he was noticeably better against lefties in 2024. He only struck out 20% of the time against southpaws while slashing .245/.295/.582 for a 138 wRC+, in spite of a .232 BABIP. Against righties, he struck out 30.3% of the time and hit .195/.275/.345 for a wRC+ of 76.

They do have a notable center field prospect in Nelson Rada, though he is currently 19 years old and struggled at Double-A last year. In the short term, they could bolster the group by bringing in a veteran such as Kevin Pillar, who was with them last year and is currently unsigned.

Perhaps the Angels cane make it work but it’s an area of uncertainty on a roster that has a few of them. Anthony Rendon is slated to miss significant time yet again, leaving the Angels relying on another oft-injured player at third in Yoán Moncada. Shortstop Zach Neto is recovering from shoulder surgery and might start the season on the injured list. The rotation is currently relying on veteran soft-tossers like Kyle Hendricks and Tyler Anderson.

But those things were mostly true even before today’s news, which is a sensible one for the long run. Ideally, this development means that Trout will spend less time on the injured list and more time on the field, which will be good for both the Angels and baseball fans in general.