The Official TROUTstanding Thread

[oldguy]

The answer is:

Pujols, G.A., Glaus, Reggie Jackson, Vladdy

 

What is the question?

[Chuck]

 

[Blarg]

On 4/15/2021 at 3:27 PM, ten ocho recon scout said:

Ill add here that the old legends also had the benefit of reduced competition... no blacks or dominicans... plenty of probably decent players who never gave it a real shot because of the war, etc etc

And all the benefits of rail travel where every compartment was the smoking car, rooms without air conditioning and a diet of hot dogs and whiskey. 

[Lhalo]

 

[Taylor]

Trout is having his best month ever.

https://bolavip.com/en/mlb/mike-trout-angels-having-best-month-of-mlb-career-20210427-0008.html

Quote

+ His .426 average is his best ever, past the .392 he had in July 2012.
+ His .539 OBP is his best ever, past the .500 he had in August 2012.
+ His .820 slugging is somehow only his third best ever.
+ His OPS and wOBA are each his best ever.
+ His 26.3% strikeout rate is one of his 10 highest ever. He’s making contact on 74.4% of his swings, which would be his second-lowest ever," said the report.

 

[Lou]

3 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Trout is having his best month ever.

[JustATroutFan]

21 hours ago, Taylor said:

Trout is having his best month ever.

https://bolavip.com/en/mlb/mike-trout-angels-having-best-month-of-mlb-career-20210427-0008.html

 

Trout must think this month is May. 

[Taylor]

47 minutes ago, JustATroutFan said:

Trout must think this month is May. 

Ah, I forgot about this from a few years back. It was your calling card.

[JustATroutFan]

23 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Ah, I forgot about this from a few years back. It was your calling card.

Trout had a .313/.480/.698 slash line in May 2018. Of course, I do remember him going like 20 straight at-bats without a single base hit that same month, as well as a five-hit game against the Bronx Bombers. That game against the Yankees was fun watching Trout at the plate. I mean, really fun. Angels get to play against the Mariners in the first game this May. And Trout kills the Mariners pitching staff. I hope that I didn't just jinx Trout now. 

[Angelsjunky]

He's moved up past Bill Dahlen on the all-time WAR leaders board and is a good game away from Ken Griffey Jr.

41. Griffey 77.7

42. Trout 77.6

43. Dahlen 77.5

Oh, yeah, here's the best part. Trout will pass Griffey with less than half of the games played.

Griffey 2671, Trout 1272.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Angelsjunky

[tdawg87]

Imagine if we played a full season last year.

He'd be at like 83.

[Angelsjunky]

Yeah, last season took his "highest WAR through Age X" crown. As I've written about before, without decline he probably would have kept it for a couple more years, at least, and it will be virtually impossible for him to regain in the next couple years.

Age 27: 73.1 (Trout). +4.3 over Cobb

Age 28: Cobb 78.6 (Cobb). Trout -2.9

Age 29: 87.9 (Hornsby). Trout -10.3

Age 30: 97.9 (Cobb). Trout -20.3

That said, he has a chance of reclaiming the title sometime in his early 30s, but it is a bit of long-shot. Here's what he would need to accrue and average per season, starting in 2021, to reclaim the title (by +0.1):

Age 29: 11.3

Age 30: 21.3 (avg 10.7)

Age 31: 27.8 (avg 9.3)

Age 32: 34.3 (avg 8.6)

Age 33: 45.4 (avg 9.1)

Age 34: 48.4 (avg 8.1)

Age 35: 58.9 (avg 8.4)

Age 36: 69.6 (avg 8.7)

Meaning, it will be virtually impossible for the next two years, but if he doesn't decline and remains healthy, he should have another shot starting in 2023 at age 31. It went up again at age 33 because Hornsby had a great year (his last before focusing on managing). And then it goes up again as Ruth had a strong of great seasons in his mid-30s, which will probably make it impossible for Trout.

But the point being, he "only" needs to average 9.3 WAR over the next three seasons to regain it, or 8.6 over the next four. 

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by Angelsjunky

[Chuck]

 

[T.G.]

Trout is obviously past his prime.

[Taylor]

3 hours ago, True Grich said:

Trout is obviously past his prime.

He's going to the Phillies when he's a FA for sure.

[JustATroutFan]

20 minutes ago, Taylor said:

He's going to the Phillies when he's a FA for sure.

They would gladly take 2014 second half Trout on their roster. 

[Chuck]

 

[Chuck]

 

[JustATroutFan]

Trout currently has a .568 BABIP in the 2021 regular season. MAY I get another .568 BABIP from Trout for this month, MLB Gods? I'll be happy with a .400 BABIP for Trout this month, however. 

[tdawg87]

1 hour ago, JustATroutFan said:

Trout currently has a .568 BABIP in the 2021 regular season. MAY I get another .568 BABIP from Trout for this month, MLB Gods? I'll be happy with a .400 BABIP for Trout this month, however. 

Having a high BABIP isn't a good thing.

[Taylor]

@Angelsjunky Was Trout just incredibly lucky in April, or does his atrociously high BABPIP not matter as much because Mike Trout?

[JustATroutFan]

23 minutes ago, Taylor said:

@Angelsjunky Was Trout just incredibly lucky in April, or does his atrociously high BABPIP not matter as much because Mike Trout?

Trout had a .298 BABIP in 2019. I think Trout will have a BABIP over .400 this season, which would make up for his bad luck on BABIP from 2019. .500 is just reaching it. I mean, this is Trout who we're talking about. I want Trout to bunt a few times for hits and steal bases again just to troll opposing pitchers. If Trout wanted to do those two things, he would do it, especially the stolen bases. I don't know if he wants to do it because a fluky injury might happen again if he tries to become a big base stealer again. 

[Angelsjunky]

12 hours ago, Taylor said:

@Angelsjunky Was Trout just incredibly lucky in April, or does his atrociously high BABPIP not matter as much because Mike Trout?

There are lots of weird aspects to Trout’s performance this year, most notably a massive drop in his launch angle: 10.5 so far, down from a career high of 23.1 last year. His LA has risen steadily as his power increased, but when it jumped from 18.5 in 2018 (his best hitting year) to 22.2 in 2019, Tony Blengino was ringing the warning bell that decline was just around the corner as spikes in LA often mean imminent decline. 

I’m sure some of this is just small sample noise, but it does seem that he’s adjusted his approach. He’s also pulling the ball more and barreling up more. It is almost as if he’s reversing the trend towards pure power hitter and becoming (or going back to) a more pure hitter-with-power approach. This would bode well for longevity, if true. We might see a string of years in which he hits .320 with 40 doubles and 40 HR rather than .290 with 25 doubles and 45 HR (he’s already only one behind his double total of last year).

Oh yeah, Trout has officially passed Griffey’s 77.7 WAR and is now 41st all-time with 77.9 WAR. Up next is Charlie Gerhinger with 78.6 to sneak into the top 40.

Edited May 2, 2021 by Angelsjunky

[Angelsjunky]

As for his BABIP, of course it will come down and no one expects him to hit .420 all year. But again, if he really has adjusted then he might beat his career best .326 BA and not lose too many HR in the process, due to increased hits. He’s also not walking much, but he will as his BA comes down. It is hard to take too many walks when you’re hitting .400 and thus making such solid contact. He must feel really good in the box right now.

 

Edited May 2, 2021 by Angelsjunky

[tdawg87]

3 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

He must feel really good in the box right now.