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Here we go again with the lofty Mike Trout projections for the Angels in 2025

Evan Roberts
Evan Roberts

Halo Hangout

San Diego Padres v Los Angeles Angels / Harry How/GettyImages

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.

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.

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Evan Roberts

Evan Roberts

Evan Roberts worked in professional baseball for 5 years, after pitching collegiately at Davidson College for 4. After graduating in 2018, he worked with the Boston Red Sox at their Pawtucket affiliate for the 2019 season as a Player Development Intern. He picked up with the Chicago White Sox in 2020, but after the Minor League season was canceled he worked with Team USA Baseball at their National Training Complex as a Trackman Stringer/Operator. From 2021-2023, he worked with the Los Angeles Angels as a Game Planning Strategist at their Arizona (ROK League), Salt Lake (AAA), Rocket City (AA) affiliates. He attended the Angels' last 2 Major League Spring Trainings. During Rookie Ball games, he coached 1st base and assisted the players & coaches in the dugout.