LA Angels: Which players will excel in a shortened season?

Angels who would excel in a shortened season: Mike Trout

If there was an actual cheat-code for Major League Baseball in the real world, it would be Mike Trout. The reigning American League Most Valuable Player and consensus best player in the game has made no bones about abusing pitchers since he broke into the league in 2011.

While Trout has been outstanding since he debuted, hitting an astounding .305/.419/.581 with 285 home runs, 903 RBI, and a cumulative fWAR of 73.4 before his 29th birthday, fans are eager to get him back onto the field in 2020 to see what he can do as he is just now entering the typical player’s prime.

But how does Mike Trout look in a shortened season? How quickly does he get things rolling?

The short answer is that it doesn’t look good for pitchers in the American or National League West in 2020.

In 657 first-half games, Mike Trout is a career .317/.422/.603 hitter and carries a wRC+ of 178 and a 21.9% HR/FB through the opening months. That includes 162 of his 285 home runs and 438 of his 903 RBI.

Outside of the three games he played in the first half of 2011, Trout has never had a wRC+ below 166 in the first half, has never hit lower than the .301 his hit last year, and it’s been since 2015 since he last posted a hard-hit rate of below 40% before the All-Star break.

For comparison’s sake, Trout is a career .290/.415/.553 hitter in the second half. So while he takes a little dip after the wear and tear of the season start taking a toll, it’s good to know that Trout could really prosper in an 82-game format.