MLB Lockout has again robbed Mike Trout of chance to write his story

In 2020, Mike Trout did not get much of a chance to prove just how dominant the LA Angels' franchise player truly is. He got 60 games to add to his resume, and that was it. He didn't have the chance to rack up 40 more home runs, or 100 more runs and RBIs, or 35 doubles.

It's why some fans were unhappy about Trout placing just 15th on ESPN's all-time players list. Most fans believed that Trout deserved to be higher, but when he didn't have an extra 102 more games that nobody else ahead of him had stripped, he wasn't able to add to his career totals.

It's also because of the calf strain that led him to just 36 games last season, in a year where he was having the best season of his career while he was out there. It seems like Trout's career keeps being affected by things out of his control. First it was a devastating global pandemic, then it was a random crippling injury, and now it's an MLB lockout.

MLB has now shortened Mike Trout's season by canceling the first two series of the LA Angels season.

It's not just the LA Angels, but every teams' first two series have been canceled due to the MLB lockout. Mike Trout now has six less games to add to his career totals. When looking at Trout's career averages, that means that Trout is going to lose 1-2 home runs, 3-4 RBIs, and 4-5 runs. That's already annoying, and now the league has proven that they have no issue canceling games. More and more now have the potential to be lost.

In the past, people have criticized the Angels' organization for 'wasting' Trout's career. And you can't completely blame them. They have not put together a pitching staff capable of getting Trout to the postseason. He has been the best MLB player of the last 10 years, but even the three-time MVP can't will a team to the playoffs. Now, as Brad Berreman of FanSided.com has pointed out, the fault of wasting Trout's career is no longer of the Angels:

"With the COVID-19 pandemic shortening the 2020 season, an injury costing him most of 2021 and now the 2022 season already shortened due to a labor negotiation that’s gone nowhere, Mike Trout’s prime is all but gone. And after years of them being seen as the problem, wasting the best player in baseball’s prime years is no longer the Angels’ fault."

- Brad Berreman, FanSided.com

Look, Trout has a case to be the best player of all time when looking at his slash line and factoring in that he's a plus defender. He does not have the total numbers to be named that guy just yet, however. He also could use more accolades on his resume to support his claim. Constantly having seasons cut short doesn't allow the nine-time All-Star to add to that case, and this time, it's MLB itself that's preventing the world from discovering just how amazing their brightest star truly is.