Mike Trout is Carrying the LA Angels, and Making an Early MVP Case in the Process

Mike Trout is currently hitting .375 in eight games this season, and has six walks to go along with that. The rest of the LA Angels are hitting .169.

Mike Trout has three home runs, two of which came Friday night against the Rangers in a 3-1 win, more than the rest of the team combined. In fact, Kole Calhoun has the other two, meaning ten of the 12 active position players on this roster have yet to hit a home run. There are four guys under a .100 batting average, and a total of six players below .200. That is half the team below the Mendoza Line.

Trout has been one of the only reasons to tune into Angels games so far this season. After his record-breaking contract extension, Trout is showing why he deserved every penny. The rest of the team is offering a preview of what it would look like if he walked in free agency.

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On top of his insane batting average, Trout is still the hardest out at the plate in the entire MLB. He gets on base more often than not (.515) and is hitting the ball harder than ever, evidenced by his .833 slugging percentage. Trout has struck out only twice so far this year.

Trout has scored four times this year. Checking back to the numbers, he has three home runs, meaning Trout has only scored once via a teammate’s efforts so far. Last year, 39 of his 79 RBI’s came as Trout big flies, which is the best stat to emphasize the incompetent lineup around him.

Obviously this lineup is not what is was supposed to be, as the injuries of Shohei Ohtani and Justin Upton have had a bigger impact than imagined. Both of those sluggers are slotted to hit behind Mike Trout once they return, however, which should provide an ample boost to Trout’s numbers as well as the Halo’s offense as a whole.

Needless to say, no player is more valuable to their team than Mike Trout is to the Angels. Without him, the team is very well winless. However, as we know, the MVP Award doesn’t always go to the best player or player truly most valuable to their team, otherwise Trout would have six MVP’s in his trophy case.

Trout currently has 0.8 WAR on the season. That is tied for the MLB lead. He is (or should be) right in the middle of any and all MVP conversations for 2019 (and 2020, 2021, 2022…you get it). He is keeping the Angels’ heads above water, although even his phenom status won’t be enough unless the rest of the team begins to step up.