Win His Third MVP Award
If Mike Trout had played a full season in 2018, he would have beaten out Mookie Betts for the American League Most Valuable Player Award. While Trout obviously missed time for good reason, 2019 should be a different story.
Trout’s defense is elite, he is the best hitter in the game (and one of the best of all-time), and his numbers should shoot up with a better team surrounding him.
The biggest key for Trout to win the award is to win games. While he can’t do that all by himself, obviously (if he could the Angels would be coming off a sixth straight playoff run), there are parts of his game that can make him stand out more. Stealing bases is one of them.
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Another factor would be highlight plays. Walk off home runs, gunning runners down on the base paths, and going over the wall to rob home runs. Playing in the West Coast is a disadvantage for Trout, as half the country is asleep when the Angels play at home. Making highlight plays and going on ridiculously great runs will get him the attention needed.
In years past, the Angels fielding an incompetent lineup around Trout has both helped and hurt him in MVP cases. Some argue a player should elevate their team to a playoff-level in order to win MVP, while others say Trout’s greatness has kept the Angels from joining the Royals, Orioles, and Marlins as the worst teams in baseball, making his case for MVP stronger.
Either way, Trout’s first two goals are attainable whether the Angels win 70 games or 90 games. However, for his third and final one, he’s going to need some help.