For MLB fans, Mike Trout's 400th home run will be the ultimate "what could have been"

Finally, after a long drought without being able to find his power stroke, Mike Trout is one home run away from joining the 400 home run club. He will become the 59th player in the history of Major League Baseball to join the club, and the 20th player to hit all 400 with a single team.

For MLB fans, Mike Trout's 400th home run is the ultimate "what could have been"

Mike Trout joined the 300 home run club on September 5th, 2020. It’ll be nearly exactly five years to the date that he hits his 400th (assuming this weird slump ends soon). For comparison's sake, Albert Pujols hit his 400th home run a little over two years after his 300th went over the wall. This comparison works because it is between the two best right-handed hitters of the 2000’s, one who maintained his pace and another who was plagued by injuries almost immediately after hitting his 300th. 

400 home runs will be a phenomenal achievement for Trout. While he was already a first ballot Hall of Famer, this makes his case all the more stronger. This is a chapter in the story of Mike Trout: how a player on pace to be an inner circle all time great ended up simply as a Hall of Famer. Trout was the best player of the 2010’s, and it wasn’t really close. But for someone who had a start to their career similar to Mickey Mantle, the twilight of it started far sooner than expected. 

Pujols hit his 500th home run six years after his 300th, and Angels fans know all too well why that was. Parts of Pujols' game fell off rather quickly, but he still was consistently churning out 30 home runs for the Halos while staying in the lineup as a designated hitter. But Trout’s pace - if he had been able to stay on the field - would have likely been similar to that of Pujols. So while fans celebrate 400, it is hard not to think about how instead all eyes should be on how close Trout is to 500. Debates should be happening about whether or not Trout will reach 600, and just how high up he ranks among the best to ever play the game.

While Anaheim fans are going to rightfully celebrate their guy reaching such a milestone, for the rest of MLB fans this moment feels different. For years, Trout was the only reason for anyone to pay any attention to the Angels. Then Shohei Ohtani came, and left, and Trout became one of the more injury prone stars in the league. And now, all we have is this moment, 400 home runs, and a desperate hope that maybe Mike Trout stays healthy enough to threaten the 500 mark.

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