Angels History: Legendary centerfielder moves to right field in favor of a rookie

Remember when one of the greatest defensive centerfielders of all time moved to right field while playing with the Angels? We are referring to Torii Hunter, of course...who were you thinking of?

Yes, Mike Trout is officially taking the Torii Hunter route. While the circumstances are somewhat different with the two moving off of centerfield, it's hard to not draw comparisons between them. Hunter was 34-years-old when he moved to right, and Trout is 33-years-old right now. Hunter and Trout were Angels teammates from 2011-2012, and Hunter is currently on the big league staff. He will be drawing from his own experience while assisting Trout with the transition.

Angels History: Torii Hunter, one of the best defensive centerfielders ever, moves to right field in favor of Peter Bourjos

In 2010, then manager Mike Sciosia said: "Torii had talked about at some point in his career taking a little pressure off and moving to one of the corner spots. I think ... it's a great time to do it." Those circumstances are exactly the same as modern day Trout. Hunter, who was only able to play in 119 games in 2009, in which he only played centerfield. While the transition did not occur until early-August, Hunter finished the 2010 season with 152 games played.

Trout's move to right field comes after he only played in 29 games last season and 82 the season prior, so the primary difference between the two moves is that Trout had already been struggling to stay on the field for a long stretch of time. Hunter's was relatively proactive.

Peter Bourjos made his MLB debut in 2010, and only played centerfield that season. Let's just say...moving Hunter to right field was the right call. Bourjos played 51 games in center during that campaign, and posted a 17.9 defensive fWAR... which was by far the high mark on the team. Hunter finished the season with a -4.4 defensive fWAR which ranked 22nd out of 27 position players in 2010.

Bourjos played for the Angels from 2010-2013, only in centerfield. He re-joined the Angels in 2019 for what would be the last time he played major league baseball. He obviously ceded full-time centerfield duties to Trout.

Trout debuted the next season, 2011, and he played all three outfield spots. In his 40 games played that season, Trout played centerfield the most, followed by right field, then left field. During his sophomore season, he played mostly centerfield, then left field, and fewer than 10 games in right. By Trout's third season, 2013, he did not play any right field. From 2014 until 2024, only played centerfield when he was in the field.

In 2011, Hunter played primarily right field but sprinkled in some center. The next season, 2012, Hunter only played right field and he had the best year of his career. Hunter's 5.4 bWAR in 2012 was the highest mark of his career, his .313 batting average was the highest of his career, as well as his 129 OPS+.

While Trout's successors, Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak, might not inspire the same level of confidence as Trout when they track down fly balls...the historical precedent set by Hunter and Bourjos should settle everybody down a bit. Trout has six more years left on his contract, and many are hoping that this move will allow him to re-gain his MVP form moving forward. It'll all be OK. This will work.

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