It's difficult for baseball fans to process projections, especially when it comes to their best player's. Most fans see their best player's projections and usually complain that they are too low. Angels fans see Mike Trout's projections these days and simply pray that they come true. Projections, be it Steamer, ZiPS, ATC, THE BAT, OOPSY, or any other sillily named system, continue to serve as a reminder that Trout and the Angels have suffered dearly from injuries.
Angels fans are lost without their North Star. Well, two North Stars when you factor in losing Shohei Ohtani. Most hope of Trout continuing to dominate the sport and the Angels winning consistently has been eradicated entirely. How will the team that could never win games when Trout was playing at his peak...win games when he no longer plays regularly? Trout's absence due to injury and Ohtani's departure has taken a whole bunch of wind out of fans' sails the past few seasons. Fan attendance and engagement are down across the board, mirroring the Angels' 99-loss season being the worst in franchise history. All the while, projections continue to churn out Trout numbers that would place him back amongst the game's best players once more.
Looking forward to the return of @MikeTrout in 2025! pic.twitter.com/FDd4tLeUbk
— MLB (@MLB) February 3, 2025
That brings us to this upcoming season. Unsurprisingly, Trout's 2025 Steamer projections via FanGraphs are incredibly bullish once more. They forecast him to play 130 games, which would be his most since 2019. Everybody who works around the Angels agrees that him simply playing 130 games would be enough. Trout played 119 games in 2022, just a hair under 75% of the games. Unfortunately that is his most playing time from the span of 2021-2024. He played 36 games in 2021, 82 in 2023, and 29 in 2024.
Steamer has Trout hitting 31 home runs, the same amount as Bobby Witt Jr., Kyle Tucker, and Giancarlo Stanton. The projections also have him posting the 8th best ISO, 16th best SLG, 18th best wOBA, 19th best wRC+, and the 23rd best offensive fWAR. Sure would be nice.
Nobody is going to bet against Trout, even as he enters his 15th major league season. Whether it is a sophisticated projection system, an Angels beat writer, or a casual fan, nobody will say he cannot play at a high level anymore. However, many are saying that he will not be to stay on the field given what they have seen (or haven't seen) of late. The Angels top brass should be taking major precautions this season. Be it playing left field, right field, DH on occasion, or more routine off-days, the Angels will do everything in their power to keep him as available as possible in 2025 and the rest of his six seasons under contract.
It would seriously be nice if the Angels gave a hint as to how they will utilize Trout, too.