Mike Trout's reunion with Justin Upton on the field gives off all the feels

Justin Upton was picked up by the LA Angels' AL West rival Seattle Mariners recently, and he met up with Mike Trout ahead of their in-division series--which was Upton's season debut:

It reminds the baseball world of what could have been. When Upton was extended by the Angels, he was an excellent ballplayer. It was following a 2017 season that he spent with both the Detroit Tigers and LA Angels, and a 2017 season where he slashed .273/.361/.540 (.901 OPS) and hit 35 home runs.

He looked like a similar player in Year 1 of his five-year/$106 million contract, slashing .257/.344/.463 (.808 OPS) while smoking 30 home runs. After that, however, he started to experience durability issues. He ended up missing 180 games in the next three seasons (out of 384 games).

Hitting 38 home runs while he was on the field (despite playing hurt for much of that time), the power was there. The availability, however, wasn't. Imagine what could have been if Upton was able to stay healthy and be that great complement to the all-time great in Trout.

Instead, Upton is now with the M's after being DFA'd by Anaheim with a year and $28 million left on his contract. Clearly, based on their pre-game interaction, Trout likes Upton. He was a great guy and teammate, and it was tough to see that contract unfold the way it did.

Mike Trout and Justin Upton had very different series in the LA Angels-Seattle Mariners five-game set.

Mike Trout hit five home runs in four days in the five-game road series for the LA Angels against the Seattle Mariners, where as Justin Upton only got on base three times in the four games he played in against LA.

After having such a great spring, it was thought that Upton could potentially be back to the All-Star form this league was once used to seeing from J-Up. Again, however, Angels fans were reminded of what could have been with the Upton that baseball has been seeing since 2019.