Most important Angels players for the 2025 MLB season: Mike Trout

There are few absolutes in life. One of them is that baseball is better when Mike Trout is on the field. The future Hall of Fame outfielder and all-time Los Angeles Angels star has spent more time at home than he has on the diamond over the past four seasons, but 2025 represents a new sense of hope for Trout.

We are not too far removed from a time when he was undoubtedly the best baseball player on the planet. Those days may be in the past, but make no mistake about it, Trout is still an incredible ballplayer. Health is the top priority and the Angels believe a move to right field will help keep him in the lineup more often than not. If that's the case, there's no reason to think he can't return to MVP form.

Mike Trout has stuff left in the tank

It's easy to knock Trout down a few pegs given his recent injury history. He's played an average of 67 games since 2021, topping out at 119 during the 2022 season. Despite the shortened seasons, he continued to put up numbers well above average at the plate. Trout posted a .951 on-base plus slugging percentage and a 160 OPS+ in that span. He hit 40 home runs in 2022 and had 10 bombs in 29 games last season.

Trout's Baseball Savant page still showed plenty of red with a small sample size in 2024. His barrel rate (17.1), average bat speed (75.7) and expected slugging percentage (.591) were all higher than they were in 2023. He believes he can have elite production with a few tweaks to his mechanics and is happy with where his swing is heading into the season.

"I’ve been feeling good,” Trout said during the final week of spring training, per MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger. “There have been a few at-bats where I didn’t feel as good, but the last few days, I’ve been feeling really good.”

Another promising sign was Trout's usage of his legs on the base paths. After stealing six combined bases in the previous four seasons, he recorded six steals in 2024 with two triples. The two meniscus tears he suffered might limit his baserunning abilities moving forward, but the confidence to be more mobile was there.

What are realistic expectations for Trout in 2025?

Outside of another unfortunate injury, Trout should be in line for an All-Star-caliber season. His ability to hit consistently is still among the best in the sport and his confidence on both sides of the ball has built throughout spring. He feels more comfortable in right field each day and his hitting numbers indicate he can get back toward the top of leaderboards in the American League.

Trout reached base safely in 16 of the 17 spring training games he appeared in, including nine straight to close the exhibition slate. He smoked a ball 109.8 mph off the bat against Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Anthony Banda on March 24 for his third homer of the spring. His final slash line reads .282 batting average, .462 on-base percentage, .564 slugging percentage and 1.026 OPS.

It's not out of the realm of possibility Trout hits 40 home runs this season and is in contention for the AL MVP Award. The reality is simple though. Baseball fans just want to see him stay healthy and play a full six months. The league and the Angels will be that much more fun to follow this year if Mike Trout is doing Mike Trout things again.

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