Mike Trout News: Angels slugger's swing's at breakneck speed; on verge of an award

Mike Trout is back and it's been beautiful. Angels fans were crestfallen when they saw their future first ballot Hall of Famer take yet another trip to the injured list for all but two games in May, but since he has recovered from his left knee issue he has looked more like himself than he did before he went down. The Halos are 9-7 since Trouty became the full-time DH, and he is slashing .316/.403/.439/.842 in those 16 games. Trout was due to get his numbers up, as he was one of the unluckiest hitters in baseball in March and April. However, there is another massive reason for why his numbers have looked more and more like the vintage version of himself.

Mike Trout News: Angels slugger's swing's at breakneck speed

Trout's bat speed is way up in June. According to new swing modeling data from Baseball Savant, Trout's swinging the bat at a well above average velocity of 75 MPH whereas in March/April it was 73.2 MPH and in May it was 73.5 MPH. The 33-year-old's bat speed for the season ranks in 76th percentile of hitters, and it should keep trending upwards with the way he is seeing the ball right now.

Trout's most special trait at the plate is his ability to generate insane torque with his swing. He has the ability to let balls travel and make his swing decision later than most hitters who have ever played the game. That allows Trout to pick his pitch wisely and get his bat head around on time over-and-over again. When he can trust his bat speed, it allows his plate discipline to get better and exit velocity to increase. His exit velocity in June is 95.8 MPH so far, while in April it was 92.4 MPH. For the season, his season-long exit velo of 92.2 MPH ranks in the 88th percentile of hitters. Essentially, his numbers for the season are already incredible and they are way up this month.

Trout's on the verge of yet another appearance in the All-Star Game

Despite taking over as the team's designated hitter these days, Trout is still being categorized in All-Star voting as an outfielder. The fans will vote in six American League outfielders, and it appears he is on-track to take part in his 12th Midsummer Classic. Trout was not selected last season after going down for the season on April 29th with only 29 games under his belt. He has made the All-Star Game every season of his career with the exception of his rookie year and in 2024.

Trout leads all active players in All-Star selections. His 12th appearance would tie him with all-time greats like Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, Wage Boggs, Miguel Cabrera, Mark McGwire, Manny Ramirez, Tom Seaver and Mike Schmidt to name a few. Only 25 players have 13 or more appearances in the All-Star under their belt.

It's an absolute honor to be able to root for Mike Trout, and fans should consider themselves lucky that the Angels never dumped him to save money like some other team in the AL might have done.

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