Can Mike Trout beat out injuries and Alex Bregman to win his 3rd AL MVP?

Mike Trout had another fantastic season. He almost assuredly will finish in the top two in the AL MVP balloting which is unprecedented  for a player in their first eight season to finish in the Top 4 all 8 seasons.

Yet it won’t be enough for Mike Trout to win his third AL MVP award. Or will it? Trout has won the award two times (2014, 2016) and been second place four times.  The only year he didn’t finish one or two in the voting was in 2017 when he missed close to two months with a thumb injury.

At least two of the times Trout finished second he was robbed and it was due in large part to something that has been commonly called “West Coast Bias”. Simply put the voters on the East Coast don’t get to appreciate Trout as much because he plays a lot of late games after many people on the East Coast have gone to bed. Not only that a lot of East Coast media tend to have something against West Coast players and teams and vote for players they see more often and who get more publicity.

I think this is only a small part of the reason that many West Coast players get snubbed in the MVP voting.  However, I think the more important issue is the fact that Trout’s team did not come close to the playoffs.  The fact that he didnt play the last three weeks of the season due to an injury played a factor and it also will give voters an excuse to vote for someone else.

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Despite the missed time if you compare Trout’s chief competition, which is Alex Bregman the numbers are very close and when you think that Trout missed 28 games this season it makes it that much more amazing.  Trout had more homers with 45 (Bregman had 41). RBIs Bregman had a slight edge with 112 compared to 104 for Trout.  Bregman batted .296 compared to .291 for Trout.

Walks were nearly even with 119 for Bregman and 110 for Trout. On-Base-Percentage Trout has a distinct advantage with a .438 OBP compared to Bregman at .423. OPS. Trout’s OPS is also higher at 1.083 compared to 1.015 from Bregman.  In the WAR category Trout was 2nd to Bregman 8.4 To 8.3.

So if your a numbers person as well I can’t see you overlooking Trout’s advantages across the board.  Beside the intangibles that Trout brings to the table as well, this should put him over the top.

So as you can see Mike Trout should win his third MVP award, but it still may not be enough.  No matter what Mike Trout is our MVP here at Halo Hangout and most likely throughout all of Angel Nation.