Mike Trout’s MVP Worthy Season Lost in the shuffle

LA Angels Mike Trout is a name that has popped up in the MVP race every year since 2012. This year the Angels have chalked their season up as a total loss. In a year when the AL MVP race is bound to be close, the Angels record may end up hurting Trout’s MVP chances.

This year besides Mike Trout there are a handful of players that could take the AL MVP award. In the front line you have last year’s MVP, Toronto Blue Jays Josh Donaldson. Donaldson currently has a .294 batting average, .408 on base percentage, 34 home runs and 92 RBI’s. His stats this year are very similar to his stats at the end of the 2015 season. His only 2015 stat he might not be able to come close to are his 123 RBI’s.

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Mike Trout has been near the top of the list for AL MVP since his first full season in 2012. Since then he has finished in second place in 2012, 2013, 2015 and of course he won the race in 2014. This year Trout has put up a .325 batting average, .443 on base percentage, 27 home runs and 88 RBI’s. Trout’s home runs and RBI’s aren’t that far off from Donaldson’s,and Trout has a higher batting average and on base percentage. There is one more thing to note about Mike Trout as well, his strikeout percentage is down considerably this year. The year Trout won MVP he had 184 strikeouts. In 2015 he lowered that number and finished with 158 strikeouts. This year as of now, Trout sits at 115 strikeouts. This will be Mike Trout’s least amount of striking out since he joined the team full-time in 2012.

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There are some players that could also come up from behind and take the MVP award this year as well.

The first of these players is the Houston Astros Jose Altuve. He is putting up an insane .346 batting average, .557 slugging percentage, .409 on base percentage, 22 home runs and 91 RBI’s. Looking at Altuve’s stat line this year and comparing it to last year is mind-boggling. He has improved considerably on just about every single stat. Last year he finished tenth in the AL MVP voting, so he is one to keep an eye on.

Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts is another player having an MVP worthy season. He has put up a .317 batting average, .358 on base percentage, .555 slugging percentage, 30 home runs and 100 RBI’s. Much like Altuve, Betts has improved upon his last seasons stats by a decent margin. Last year Betts finished nineteenth in the AL MVP race.

Rick Weiner from Bleacher Report has Jose Altuve having the best odds to win.  The Astros aren’t having the best season though which could ultimately hurt Altuve’s chances for an MVP award. This does show how incredibly close the race could be. It should also be taken with a grain of salt. Nobody knows for certain just how the MVP voters are going to vote when the time comes, but it is a safe bet to say it is going to be a very close race.

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So what does all of this mean for Trout’s odds of winning his 2nd MVP Award?

There is one major thing that could hold Trout back from winning his second AL MVP award. The atrocious play of his team. One could argue that an MVP award should be awarded on that single persons achievements throughout the season, and they shouldn’t be punished if their team isn’t carrying their weight or if the entire starting rotation goes down with torn UCL’s.

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That is a very valid argument, but it is one that may or may not make any difference when the votes are cast. There could be some voters that see Trout’s accomplishments this year all that much better since he has almost single handedly carried a team and has still put up some great numbers. Compare that to Josh Donaldson whose supporting cast is a lot better than Trout’s, and you’re left wondering whose stat line is more impressive.

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The Angels terrible season coupled with the stellar play of everyone I mentioned above are going to be the two big reasons Trout might not get the MVP this year. One might even go as far to say that this might be the first year Trout doesn’t finish within the top two of the AL MVP race. Either way the race for the MVP is going to be very close this year, and with a little less than a month away from seasons end, let’s hope Trout can finish strong and bring the award back home.