Two ninth-inning collapses by the Angels’ bullpen have overshadowed Mike Trout‘s dominant performance in the Bronx this week. The veteran outfielder has slugged home runs in all three games of the series. He has four long balls in total against the Yankees, including three in consecutive plate appearances from Monday to Tuesday. Trout’s two-run blast in the fifth inning on Wednesday gave the Angels their first lead of the contest. Closer Jordan Romano would ultimately cough it up on a walk-off double by Jose Caballero.
The power is always there for Trout. Even in a “down” 2025 season that saw the three-time MVP post his worst wRC+ since his rookie year, he still socked 26 home runs in 130 games. The home run off Luis Gil yesterday was Trout’s sixth of the season through 18 games. Last year, it only took him 11 games to reach a half dozen dingers. Trout had a .926 OPS at that point in the year. He has a .945 OPS right now.
The main difference between last season’s strong start and this year’s early results is the contact. Trout has cut his strikeout rate to 21.4%. His swinging-strike rate is down to 6.0%. Perhaps most importantly, Trout has an overall 84.4% contact rate and a 93% in-zone contact rate. Those are the best marks of his 16-year career.
It’s a small sample, of course, but those are key indicators for aging hitters as they get deeper into their careers. Getting consistently beaten in the strike zone is usually a clear sign that a hitter can no longer compete against big-league pitching. The 34-year-old Trout has the 27th-best zone contact rate among qualified hitters this season. He had the 25th-worst mark in 2025.
One option for declining veterans is to sacrifice batted-ball quality in exchange for more contact. Trout has not gone that route. His strikeout rate improvements this season have come with an absurd level of impact on the ball. He ranks in the 100th percentile in barrel rate, expected slugging percentage, and expected wOBA. Trout’s 93.5 mph average exit velocity is his best as a pro, outside of the shortened 2020 season. He’s not beating the ball into the ground, either. Trout has a 69.4% air contact rate, right in line with his career mark of 66.6%. His split for that metric has leaned toward fly balls (42.9%) instead of line drives (18.4%), which could partly explain his meager .233 average on balls in play. Trout’s pop-up rate has been in line with career norms.
Trout’s opponent this week offers a pair of interesting comparisons from a career-arc perspective. Giancarlo Stanton and Paul Goldschmidt have taken two different paths as they’ve reached the tail-end of their MLB journeys, but ultimately ended up in a similar place. Trout seemed to be headed in the direction of the 36-year-old Stanton. The Yankees’ slugger delivered one of the more impactful campaigns of his recent New York tenure in 2025, crushing 24 home runs in just 281 plate appearances, but it came with a career-worst 34.2% strikeout rate. Stanton has never been an above-average contact hitter, though a 74.9% zone contact rate is a particularly low output. Rafael Devers was the only qualified hitter below 76% last year.
The 38-year-old Goldschmidt went the other direction. He pushed his contact metrics to career-best levels in New York. The first baseman struck out just 18.7% of the time, while putting the ball in play on more than 80% of his swings. The tradeoff was batted-ball quality. Goldschmidt had just a 7.9% barrel rate, his first year being in the single digits since 2016. The veteran’s 43.7% hard-hit rate was his worst mark since the shortened 2020 season. Goldschmidt got his batting average back up to .274 after it had slipped to .245 in his final year with the Cardinals, but he also managed just 10 home runs. The performance was enough for the Yankees to bring him back this year in a part-time role. Stanton also remains a semi-regular, given his defensive limitations and persistent health concerns.
Health is a factor with Trout as well. The main positive from his 2025 campaign was that he played 130 games, his most since 2019. That year happens to be the last time he brought home AL MVP honors. Trout already had an injury scare this season, though this one wasn’t exactly his fault. He missed a game in the first week of April after getting hit on the hand by a pitch. He’s been back in the lineup every game since.
After spending the majority of 2025 at DH, with the Angels hoping to keep him healthy, Trout is back in his familiar spot in center field this season. He has been around league average with the glove (1 DRS, -1 OAA). More notably from a health outlook, he ranks in the 90th percentile in sprint speed. That’s a huge improvement from last year, when he ranked in the 62nd percentile. It was his first time below the 90th percentile in the Statcast era.
A mid-30s resurgence for Trout would be a massive Angels boon not only for the obvious on-field benefits but also because a substantial portion of the team’s decreased payroll is tied up in Trout’s contract. He’s signed at $35.45MM annually through the 2030 season.
The Angels ran a payroll north of $205MM in 2025 but slashed spending in 2026. After accounting for Anthony Rendon‘s deferred/restructured contract, the Angels’ payroll is in the $150MM vicinity. If last year’s $200MM+ payroll was more of an outlier than the beginning of a new trend, it’ll be all the more critical for Trout to deliver on his contract. His current salary accounts for about 23.5% of the team’s payroll — a substantial hike from last year’s 17% mark.
For now, Trout will look to extend his homer streak against Max Fried on Thursday. It’ll be his first look at the Yankees lefty. Only one of Trout’s home runs has come against southpaws this season. From a bigger-picture vantage point, it’ll be telling to keep an eye on Trout’s contact metrics as the season progresses. He doesn’t need to continue posting career-best contact levels in order to return to true All-Star status, but the fact that he’s even been able to do so through his first 18 games — without sacrificing power — in his age-34 season is both remarkable and a sign of hope for Angels fans.
Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images
Everyone remember the name “Charlie Wright”. That is who’s to blame when Trout ultimate tears a CL in the coming days.
Since he was checking on Trout, is he Checkpoint Charlie?
More like Charlie Wrong
Hope nothing but the best for a legend of the sport
Even if he retires today, the man deserves a bronze statue in front of the Big A.
Trout has a 945 OPS and a 170 OPS+, so he’s definitely on his way back, just need to get 130 games, at least, out of him and if he puts up these numbers at the end of the year, he’ll probably have at least 6 bWAR by year’s end.
Let’s not get too crazy. The Yankees were serving up a lot of meatballs this series, so you have to wait till he see good pitching. As a Yankee fan, I can tell you in all honesty, the BP is bad, like epic bad.
Yeah, but
Going into that series, Yankees pitchers had given up a TOTAL of 4 home runs all season.
The Angels came in and hit 12 in four games.
So maybe give a little bit of credit to the Angels’ hitters?
One can only hope that he sustains this for the entire year
The stats have never been the problem
Trout’s stats have went downhill over the last three years, even when he was healthy enough to play. This year, he has reversed that trend.
Healthy enough to play and actually being healthy are not the same thing and im not sure what you do for a living but anyone working at less than 100% or near to it..the results usually reflect that
Then, the Angels might be able to get something more than a salary dump for him at the deadline….
I wonder what his best 3-week stretch looked like last year
Trout also hit sprint speeds of 30 feet per second in Spring Training. He had not hit near that since 2023.
If the Angels were smart they would park Trout in left to limit his mileage and bring up Nelson Rada to play CF and get on base at the top of the lineup.
Need to check in with teams and trade Trout if possible to unload this contract. Eat some salary if necessary.
He got served some batting practice pitches in a bandbox this series.
Hopefully, Kikuchi starts throwing the ball better and unload him too.
Then we sell the team and get a new owner and new GM who care about winning.
Intrigued by Rada…It would seem odd to have Trout want to be in CF, perform fine there while raking, even to the point of having Teodosio be a defensive replacement in LF, not CF, and then bring up Rada to displace him.
I’m also not sure when or why the Angels allow some prospects more time to develop (Rada, CMo this year) while rushing others unnecessarily (Urena, Johnson this year). Just seems inconsistent.
this is a really uneducated comment because the reason why he’s being resurgent is because he’s back in centerfield feeling comfortable you don’t stop what’s not working and being in left field doesn’t take wear and tear off his body just like being in right Field doesn’t and the corners are still chasing foul balls backing up bases centerfield is where he’s comfortable and it shows.
Goldschmidt won MVP in his age-34 season, the same age Trout is now. Goldy just declined pretty quickly after that. We’ll see what happens with Trout…
Yanks need Goldy at 1B everyday and Rice getting some starts at C.
Goldy raked all spring, have to keep his bat in the lineup.
Rice can’t throw. Teams would run wild on him. He only threw out 3 of 21 attempted steals last year.
strike everyone out dont have to worry about steals. this is fool proof
That’s not that good. Yanks need to start Goldy over Rice. Goldy is better playing everyday, lineup is better with Goldy getting ABs consistently.
Trout has always produced….when healthy
I’m rooting for The Fish Man!
Angels have had good luck with outfielders with fishy last names.
Tim Salmon was a great hitter, definitely one of the best players the Angels have had. Glad he got his ring in 2002.
Kevin Bass. Catfish Hunter. Mike Carp. Chris Sole. And dont forget that Red Herring.
Everyone’s doing the Fish. Yeah yeah yeah. Florida 96!
as long as he’s healthy, I will believe it
He might do be
He might not be
It is! Home run! Holy cow!
“Jesus is just alright” – Do be
“To be or not to be” – Shakespeare
“Do be Do be doo” – Frank (the Big Hurt)
Only in a rerun.
Trout has always been a force when healthy. His career 162-game average is 8.6 bWAR, 40 homeruns, 105 walks, and .293/.406/.570.
From 2020 forward, he’s been averaging 5.7 bWAR and 130 OPS+. Even with diminished defense, he can be playing at all-star level if he can stay healthy. I’m rooting for him this year.
IMO 2022-2023 Trout is back. Which means playing very well while on the field (though a sizable step down from his peak), and then not being able to stay healthy through the whole season
Which is better than 2024-2025 Trout who was not amazing even while on the field
Stupid baseball
That red light therapy looks to be working.
Looks like Trout and Stanton will both reach 500 home runs. Trout is a first ballot hall of famer. But what if Stanton plays until his current contract ends and hits a total of 501 home runs. Does Stanton make the HOF? Does clutch post-season hitting partially offset a legacy of injuries? Is 500 home runs that iconic a milestone?
Stanton is still a ways away from 500. Hes about two full seasons away, or maybe one and half seasons if he doesnt regress any more AND stays healthy. I’d bet that he gets to 500, but i wouldnt bet that much.
As far as HoF goes, i think he’d have to go ballistic these next two years. If he could repeat a 2018 or 2021 season in terms of level of production, and then tack on a 2022 season to follow that, then i can see him being really considered
500 homers and hes in
Among 500+ HR hitters with no PED connections, only Pujols and Miggy aren’t in yet.
Stanton’s 7-year peak WAR is 35.4 and falls short of the average HOF RF 7-year at 42.1. He’s way short of the 71.1 WAR RF average with 47.1 WAR right now.
In 48 postseason games, his OPS+ is 107 (not really that “clutch”). (His regular season OPS+ is 137.) Stanton’s 18 HRs/44 RBIs in 202 PAs may push that “clutch” narrative. If the voters are willing to overlook his late-career DH’ing, he would still get consideration for achieving 500+ homeruns. I think he gets in after a few years on the ballot.
If Stanton helps the Yankees win a championship, that’ll definitely help him get more votes.
You gotta wait 5 full years after you retire to be eligible. They retired in 2022 and 2023 respectively. They are not eligible yet. They will be first ballot HOFers with both getting at least 96% of a required 75% to be voted in. Honestly if Pujols gets less than 98%, then there is something wrong with the voting committee.
Nevermind. I thought you were questioning why those two weren’t in yet.
@ybc. Pujols was never caught, but he wasn’t a very highly touted prospect, and came out of nowhere. Bonds also never failed a test for what it’s worth same with big Mac, and believe they were teammates for a year.
Back from where? Did he go somewhere? I know he’s on the IL a lot but didn’t think he went anywhere. I know the Angels aren’t going anywhere fast. He could be the new Ernie Banks.
His career would have been even better if he wasn’t an Angel. Being there kind of makes him an afterthought, and not that marketable. If he played for the Cubs, RedSox or Yanks, he would be (would have been) the face of baseball. Look at what happened to Ohtani after he finally got out.
Slider – You know what? If you knew Trout like us Angels fans do, he didn’t want to play for those teams you mentioned. He let it be known he wanted to be drafted by the Angels. That’s why other teams did not draft him in the 1st round. Cubs, Red Sox and Yankee fans always think thier teams are most every players #1 destination. But in reality it’s not. Trout loves playing in Anaheim. He loves the fans. He’s a great example of what a player should be. He keeps his mouth and lets his performance on the field speak for itself. You look all the crap that makes headlines on the internet and it’s all for the wrong reasons. ESPN headlines is prime example tabloid journalism. As a life long Angel fans I’m proud Trout is an Angel. Him and Nolan Ryan will always be my 2 favorite players.
I hope Trout has a full, healthy season. it would be great for baseball. He is so good and such fun to watch.
It’s April, settle down. If he makes it to August healthy and productive then submit this article
Walter Trout is way better.
Steve Trout says hi
Every single mlbtr writer answering fan questions since season opened “it’s April calm down” also mlbtr “omg is mike trout back!?!?”
There are certain metrics that stabilize quickly and are extremely hard to luck your way into.
Mike Trout — or any player — posting career-best contact rates without sacrificing any power and delivering top-of-the-scale batted-ball metrics isn’t the same as Luke Raley hitting .350 because a .500 BABIP is masking his 36% strikeout rate. (No disrespect to Raley, just picked a random example, ha.)
No I get that 100% there was more sarcasm that was intended for the post than came across I guess
Angels going to be buyers at trading deadline
They were buyers last season and in 2023. If they’re still hovering around .500, then they’ll be buyers again.
@orange2001, sad but true with everyone’s job on the line perry won’t sell if there five games out of the race. I’m hoping that’s not the case they need to do more like the rays, and get 20 dart throws, but also they don’t have any scouts so it probably doesn’t matter.
Happy for him. Now imagine him and his prime playing alongside Shohei Ohtani? That would surely change the fortunes of the Angels overnight. Oh wait….
Now imagine having an original thought? Oh wait…
Currently he’s in the category of Very Good. Not elite, OPS is a shade low to be Elite
-Dealer Dave
Another day, another homer. Love to see it.
It’s a crime this dude only has 15 playoff PAs.
Ernie Banks says Hi
Ted Williams only played in 7 postseason games.
That’s almost unfathomable.
He hit another homer today in NY, his 7th. First person to hit HR as a visitor in Yankee Stadium in 4 consecutive games.
Angels are up 7 to 4 in the 7th. Hopefully they hold the lead this time. What we could have witnessed if Trout would have been on a contender for most of his prime.
Looks like he found the fountain of youth. Good for him. I wish he was on team USA. i’m not sure why he wasn’t.
Couldn’t get insurance. He was on the IL for 30 consecutive days last year.
Wow, he’s also posting these numbers with a low BABIP of .233, meaning he is running into a little bit of bad luck for balls in play
It’s a small sample size for BABIP but he’s hitting 43% flyballs with most going to CF.
@YBC i thought players were robots who were all supposed to have the same BABIP, and are unlucky if it is low. Are you saying that how they make contact is a factor??
Thanks for ruining Christmas
Lol. Just providing some context. Hope you get some Mike Trout cards in your stocking stuffer.
The Trout Aquarium
Yankee Stadium looked less like a ballpark and more like a giant fish aquarium tonight because the Trout were jumping.
Mike Trout walked in like he owned the tank. Every pitch he saw, he tracked it like a predator cruising through clear water.
Balls are flying out of the Stadium cos the Northeast is in an April heatwave. That and the Yankee pitching staff will make Trout the American League Player of the Week.
.239 avg is “back” lol
Someone that uses batting average as the sole measure of offensive production lol
Its April 16th all numbers are skewed early in the season.
@fat. Did you follow baseball yesterday. Way to early to worry about avg. When a good player who fails 7 out of 10 times is a hall of famer. He’s looking locked in so the average will go up. If he doesn’t trip on the dugout stairs. Lol. He’s cutting some muscle mass i don’t know why he bulks up some much, but he’s been cutting back the last couple years.
“He ranks in the 100th percentile in barrel rate, expected slugging percentage, and expected wOBA. Trout’s 93.5 mph average exit velocity is his best as a pro.”
He can’t do much more than hit the holy crap out of the baseball. If he hits it where another human being is standing, his average will suffer.
His BABIP suggests he actually has another gear in him.
If his BABIP was “normal” (based on his career numbers) he would be batting .304 right now.
Update: Mike Trout managed to homer off all 4 starting pitchers including Fried.
A better closer and they sweep the series.
Trout today: 1-for-2, HR, 3 BB, 3 R
Must’ve gotten ahold of some of Nelson Cruz’s magic ‘juice’. Everyone wants to say that Cruz is such a stand up guy, be everyone forgets how he went from failed prospect to HR king overnight and how he got busted for ‘roids after almost single-handedly beating a much better Detroit team in the playoffs in 2012.
Jordan Romano should be banished from MLB.
I hope he is back. I cannot think of many current players in the sport that deserves a good healthy season than Mike trout. Super nice guy. The definition of a ballplayer and loyal to a fault.
Im surprised you spelled his name right with your Harvard degree. I’m singing to the fences, but love your soccer mom vibes.
“That ball is Trout of here!” Five homers in four games, split the series.
Angels have some bop, need a bullpen and a starter or two.
So he is going to hit 40+ HR’s, bat .300+ with an OBP north of .400 while executing elite base running skills and play gold glove centerfield?
Unless he’s doing that he’s not back. What a stupid declaration.
Actually, those numbers are looking like a very real possibility.
(Aside from the GG, which he never had done before anyway)
Numbers are so off from his peak it’s not even worth bringing up. This is literally the problem with the analytics. To say he is back is disrespectful. Do you know how good prime Mike Trout was? One of the best to ever do it.
It’s not taking anything away from him now. He’s still undeniable. But his prime is gone. Age doesn’t revert. Appreciate what he was by how good he still is at this point. It’s a modern day Ken Griffey Jr.
Everybody said I was crazy! Jo Adell is hitting over. 300 and had the most at bats in the baseball:
“Troutahni
March 19, 2026
I love our young arms. They might be ahead of schedule. Sam Bachman will be the closer this season and I expect great things from him, but since he a former 1st round draft pick I expect him to go back to starting. If lowe has a bounce back yeah, that fixes the the Ward in left issue. Trout stays healthy this year and bats over 300 with 40 home runs. The X-Factor is Jo Adell. I would not be surprised if he hits 300 with a 400 oba and reaches 45-50 Hrs. The Angels get to. 500 this season. 82 wins, mark my words.”
If they resigned Jansen they would be better than. 500 this season.
“Troutahni
March 24, 2026
The Angels will win the west. Jack Kochanowicz will win comeback player of the year. Jo Adell will hit 50 home runs and Mike Trout wins his 4th MVP. THE Angeks will not release Chase Silseth. You just look at stats and must never see these guys pitch.”
big deal. homered a few times in a bandbox.
well, first of all, it was a four game series and he hit five home runs over four games so whoever wrote this needs to fact check … also hard to blame the second blown save entirely on Romano when the infield dropped a pop-up, which would’ve been out Number 2 … big difference there 2 out nobody on vs one out and their fastest runner on first, which was the tying run
Again, this is player-friendly tripe that doesn’t belong on MLBTR, and has NOTHING to do with transactions. Trying to be Fangraphs by adding a few advanced stats here and there. Stop this nonsense and stay in your lane.
I get Trout controls any trade, and shaming him for not leaving the Angels, if his contract is even movable is not cool but…
How nice would he look with the blue jays in left field? Springer is gone after this year so permanent dh opens up
I just feel like he deserves a real shot to be a part of something. Offence intended to the angels.