AngelsWin Today: Dissecting Mike Trout and why you should not worry

[full circle]

Whatever he was before, I wouldn’t ever say he should listed among the greatest hitters ever.  None of the truly great ever struck out at the rate he has.  

[Angel Oracle]

Be very worried.

Still owed $252 million after this season 

0-7 in two games against a pitching staff that had mostly sucked the past couple of weeks

Edited June 22, 2023 by Angel Oracle

[Stradling]

Haha. 

[full circle]

His lack of basic adjustments don’t speak well of him understanding his own swing.  The easiest thing to do would be to shorten his leg kick and simplify the movements thereby eliminating some of the chaos that causes timing issues.  But no, let’s just stay stubborn and get gassed by 94 every night.  It’s beyond ridiculous. 

[fan_since79]

In fairness to Mike, even Babe Ruth had a 'bad' year (1925). But only one. At age 39 he put up a .985 OPS. 

[full circle]

Don’t worry, the data tells us everything will be fine.  Haha. 

[Sho Way That Was A Strike]

1 hour ago, fan_since79 said:

Many great ones have precipitously declined in their 30's. Two that come to mind are Miggy Cabrera and earlier, Jimmie Foxx. Trout's had a lot of games and has been banged up through the years. Too early to write him off, but we'll see how it plays out.

Cabrera was the first thought for me as well. But Trout’s back condition didn’t do him any favors. 
 

His stats aren’t terrible, they just look really bad for a guy that usually kills the ball. Let’s wait a year or two before we really worry. 

[T-angel]

Over the weekend, Mike hit a home run off of Zach Greinke on a fastball and I heard the announcers say something like: "Well, there's been a lot said about Mike's issues hitting fastballs, so much for that".  I immediately started to cringe, because I immediately thought that home run was going to lead to more troubles for Mike. 

Just for context, my theory on Mike is that he has an upper cut swing and doesn't handle fastballs in the upper third of the strike zone very well. Furthermore, I think this weakness has been there throughout his career in some ways or another but because of how great Mike is as a player, he's been able to get away with it for most of his career. 

On the home run he hit off Greinke, that was a 90 mph fastball in Mike's nitro zone (middle to low in the zone), that he uppercut into the stands. Up to that point ,I thought he had been doing a good job in the Texas and Kansas City series getting more of a level swing on pitches. 

Sure enough in the next two games agains the Dodgers, he's getting fastballs that he can hit but he's getting under them too much and he's either fouling them off, swinging through them, or hitting lazy flyballs. What looks wrong with him, to me is that he has not been recognizing pitches as well as in his younger days and combined that with an uppercut swing path leads to a player that more resembles prime Adam Dunn statistically than prime Albert Pujols. He could try to figure out why he's not seeing spin as well as he used to but even with the reduced pitch recognition, I think he is still a 7 war player if he could make some timing adjustments and have a bit more of a level swing. 

[Angel Oracle]

Get his eyes checked?

Maybe needs lasik?

[Angelsjunky]

Even Miggy didn't collapse until his age 34 season.

Age 33 (2016): .316/.393/.563, 153 wRC+

Age 34 (2017): .249/.329/.399, 92 wRC+

And boy did Miggy collapse. He bounced back to 127 wRC+, but then back down to 97, 105, 94, 79, and 82 this year. Even Pujols had a smoother decline, even if it was still steep.

Again, I think it is an off year and he will adjust, but he may never reach 170 wRC+ again. I could see a bounce back to 150ish for a few years.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Angelsjunky

[Angelsjunky]

14 hours ago, full circle said:

Whatever he was before, I wouldn’t ever say he should listed among the greatest hitters ever.  None of the truly great ever struck out at the rate he has.  

Sstrikeouts have gone up over time, especially the last decade plus - or Trout's career. The 2023 K% for hitters is 22.7, which is actually higher than Trout's career rate (22.3) though lower than his 2023 rate (27.5).

Going back every 10 years:

2023: 22.7

2013: 19.9

2003: 16.4

1993: 15.1

1983: 13.5

1973: 13.7

1963: 15.3

1953: 10.7

1943: 9.0

1933: 7.9

1923: 7.3

1913: 10.1

The lowest was in 1925 at 6.9%, and the highest was 2020 at 23.4%. As you can see, there has been some fluctuation, but a generally upward trend since the 1920s. Or to put it more starkly: the top 16 years in K% are the last 16, in roughly chronological order (though 2022-23 are slightly below 2019-21).

So Trout's career 22.3 in the 2011-23 would be equivalent to a rate half that much in the 1940s. Mickey Mantle had a career rate of 17.3, which was actually higher relative to the major league norm than Trout's has been.

[REDneck]

I wish Nevin would just try and bat him in front of Ohtani at least for a few games. It's a long shot, but maybe a change of scenery in the lineup ahead of Ohtani sparks Trout.

It's not going to hurt anything at this point.

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, REDneck said:

I wish Nevin would just try and bat him in front of Ohtani at least for a few games. It's a long shot, but maybe a change of scenery in the lineup ahead of Ohtani sparks Trout.

It's not going to hurt anything at this point.

He (trout) got into his funk batting in front of Ohtani. Ohtani was barely moved in front of him maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago.

I think Trout needs to focus on hitting singles for awhile. And who knows, maybe he is. But he seems to swing for the fence every time.

[REDneck]

21 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

He (trout) got into his funk batting in front of Ohtani. Ohtani was barely moved in front of him maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago.

I think Trout needs to focus on hitting singles for awhile. And who knows, maybe he is. But he seems to swing for the fence every time.

Its  been longer than that. I'm not going back in the game archives,but it feels like maybe Trout started going bad when he started hitting behind Ohtani.

I'm sure someone will research and prove me wrong. I can't base this on anything, but to me it feels like Ohtani is stealing some of Trout's thunder hitting ahead of him.

 

[Angelsjunky]

As for when Trout "went bad," this has been discussed before, but I think the problem really started last May (2022):

 

2022

Opening Day - May 11: 117 PA, .337/.462/.726, 229 wRC+, 17.1 BB%

May 13 - June 5: 92 PA, .202/.272/.405, 87 wRC+, 6.5 BB% (includes team losing streak)

June 6 - end of season: 290 PA, .290/.362/.668, 183 wRC+, 9.7 BB%

He had that awful slump around the time the Angels had the 11-game losing streak. Notice how his BB% plummeted during the slump and never really fully came back, but otherwise he was his usual self for most of the year.

2023

Opening Day - April 29: 120 PA, .320/.408/.612, 179 wRC+, 11.7 BB%

April 30 - present: 196 PA, .206/.327/.376, 95 wRC+, 13.3 BB%

His BB% has crept up of late, but he's been a below average hitter for about 200 PA now - that's about a third of the year. June has seen his walk rate jump to 20.0%, but he's hitting .159 in 80 PA. Yes, you read that right: .159 with a .286 SLG over the last three weeks!

[fan_since79]

When Ty Cobb was in a slump (and there were not many) he simplified his approach and had a single thought, hard hit up the middle. Other great hitters had strategies to shorten their slumps. 

Do the hitting coaches actually do anything or do they just leave him alone?

[Inside Pitch]

On 6/22/2023 at 12:46 AM, full circle said:

Don’t worry, the data tells us everything will be fine.  Haha. 

I know right, lets ignore the data and instead buy into what some little league batting champion that never actually faced a AA quality slider or FB thinks about swing mechanics.

19 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

2023

Opening Day - April 29: 120 PA, .320/.408/.612, 179 wRC+, 11.7 BB%

April 30 - present: 196 PA, .206/.327/.376, 95 wRC+, 13.3 BB%

His BB% has crept up of late, but he's been a below average hitter for about 200 PA now - that's about a third of the year. June has seen his walk rate jump to 20.0%, but he's hitting .159 in 80 PA. Yes, you read that right: .159 with a .286 SLG over the last three weeks!

If you compare his predictive stuff when Chuck posted the BS data on May 18th to today we see that his average exit velocity on the season has improved by 11%, his maximum exit velocity has improved by 10%, his hard hit % has increased by 10%, his xwOBA has improved by 4%, his xSLG% has improved by 3%, his barrels have improved by 1%, and finally his K and whiff% clearly areas of real concern for years now seeming cancel each other out -- he's whiffing less but his K rate has worsened slightly.  The lone area where there has been ANY slippage is in xBA...  where he's gone from 81% to 74%.

So how does someone see his predictive data improve across the board and still see the worst stretch of his life?  Let's break it down into two segments...  April 30th-May 31st.

Date	Tm	G	GS	Rslt	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	ROE	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	aLI	WPA	acLI	cWPA	RE24	DFS(DK)	DFS(FD)
Apr 30 to May 31, 2023	LAA	27	26	14-13	116	102	16	24	2	0	6	13	10	2	34	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.235	.328	.431	.759	.290	1.03	0.244	1.08	0.11%	-0.80	204.00	270.70

June 1st through Wednesday

Date	Tm	G	GS	Rslt	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	ROE	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	aLI	WPA	acLI	cWPA	RE24	DFS(DK)	DFS(FD)
Jun 1 to Jun 21, 2023	LAA	18	18	10-8	80	63	10	10	2	0	2	8	16	0	22	0	0	1	0	3	1	0	.159	.325	.286	.611	.200	1.09	0.014	1.19	0.02%	-1.44	121.00	168.00

Totals since April 30th

▲	Tm	G	GS	Rslt	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	ROE	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	aLI	WPA	acLI	cWPA	RE24	DFS(DK)	DFS(FD)
May 2 to Jun 21, 2023	LAA	44	43	23-21	192	161	26	34	4	0	8	21	26	2	53	4	0	1	0	3	1	0	.211	.333	.385	.718	.257	1.06	0.329	1.14	0.17%	-1.28	325.00	438.70

The MLB average BaBip from April 30th-Wednesday was sitting at .299 according to the info at StatsPerform (formerly STATS INC).

Anyone that has actually watched Trout at bats has seen him either be on top or under the ball a lot, he's been off -- he's been missing, I don't think anyone would argue otherwise.  But when a guy with a career BaBip of .345 while sporting a 96% sprint speed is posting a .Babip 40 points below the league average over the span of 192 PAs or .200 over 80 PAs you have to ask yourself, is this actual decline, is it extremely bad luck, or both?   His full season BaBip BTW is sitting at .310, which really goes a long ways to show how unlucky he's been during this 200 PA stretch or you have to believe that MLB is positioning Mike Trout better than they are everyone else..  

Given his plate discipline has been inching up along with all his predictive data, particularly the batted ball data, it's hard to argue he's swinging harder to make up for something he's lost.  So the questions become -- has he suddenly all at once lost the ability to elevate the baseball...are we watching him hit the ball into the air like always only to see it die?  I can't say that that's what I've been seeing happen.

He's been off, he's been unlucky.  Maybe he needs to get his eyes checked -- but I'll start worrying in earnest when some of the obvious clues as to what's happening aren't as obvious.  I do think some of it is in his head, he's never had a run like this and maybe he's pressing a bit, trying to make too much happen.  Doc's post did a great job of pointing out an actual area of concern but as a whole, much of his numbers read like luck induced noise.   That being said, there are a lot of people who think BaBip is exclusively a pitcher's stat... so, some may view the luck talk as "noise".

 

[Inside Pitch]

18 hours ago, fan_since79 said:

When Ty Cobb was in a slump (and there were not many) he simplified his approach and had a single thought, hard hit up the middle. Other great hitters had strategies to shorten their slumps. 

Do the hitting coaches actually do anything or do they just leave him alone?

Comparing players today to anything prior to 68 at the earliest seems pointless to me.  The game has changed so much, the rules have changed so much -- even the equipment.  I'd argue you could hack 30 points off everyone's average due to improvements in gloves alone much less all the data and advance scouting that takes place now and that doesn't even factor in the usage of RPs and average velocities/sliders..  Ty Cobb was considered one of the finest fielders of his day and yet the dude had 271 errors over the course of his career -- Mike Trout 21, and there are some who have argued Trout has been a poor defensive CFer for years now.

Saying hit the ball up the middle sounds good, and is a sound strategy but it's not the quick fix it used to be even 30 years ago.

[full circle]

34 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

I know right, lets ignore the data and instead buy into what some little league batting champion that never actually faced a AA quality slider or FB thinks about swing mechanics.

If you compare his predictive stuff when Chuck posted the BS data on May 18th to today we see that his average exit velocity on the season has improved by 11%, his maximum exit velocity has improved by 10%, his hard hit % has increased by 10%, his xwOBA has improved by 4%, his xSLG% has improved by 3%, his barrels have improved by 1%, and finally his K and whiff% clearly areas of real concern for years now seeming cancel each other out -- he's whiffing less but his K rate has worsened slightly.  The lone area where there has been ANY slippage is in xBA...  where he's gone from 81% to 74%.

So how does someone see his predictive data improve across the board and still see the worst stretch of his life?  Let's break it down into two segments...  April 30th-May 31st.

Date	Tm	G	GS	Rslt	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	ROE	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	aLI	WPA	acLI	cWPA	RE24	DFS(DK)	DFS(FD)
Apr 30 to May 31, 2023	LAA	27	26	14-13	116	102	16	24	2	0	6	13	10	2	34	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.235	.328	.431	.759	.290	1.03	0.244	1.08	0.11%	-0.80	204.00	270.70

June 1st through Wednesday

Date	Tm	G	GS	Rslt	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	ROE	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	aLI	WPA	acLI	cWPA	RE24	DFS(DK)	DFS(FD)
Jun 1 to Jun 21, 2023	LAA	18	18	10-8	80	63	10	10	2	0	2	8	16	0	22	0	0	1	0	3	1	0	.159	.325	.286	.611	.200	1.09	0.014	1.19	0.02%	-1.44	121.00	168.00

Totals since April 30th

▲	Tm	G	GS	Rslt	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	ROE	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	aLI	WPA	acLI	cWPA	RE24	DFS(DK)	DFS(FD)
May 2 to Jun 21, 2023	LAA	44	43	23-21	192	161	26	34	4	0	8	21	26	2	53	4	0	1	0	3	1	0	.211	.333	.385	.718	.257	1.06	0.329	1.14	0.17%	-1.28	325.00	438.70

The MLB average BaBip from April 30th-Wednesday was sitting at .299 according to the info at StatsPerform (formerly STATS INC).

Anyone that has actually watched Trout at bats has seen him either be on top or under the ball a lot, he's been off -- he's been missing, I don't think anyone would argue otherwise.  But when a guy with a career BaBip of .345 while sporting a 96% sprint speed is posting a .Babip 40 points below the league average over the span of 192 PAs or .200 over 80 PAs you have to ask yourself, is this actual decline, is it extremely bad luck, or both?   His full season BaBip BTW is sitting at .310, which really goes a long ways to show how unlucky he's been during this 200 PA stretch or you have to believe that MLB is positioning Mike Trout better than they are everyone else..  

Given his plate discipline has been inching up along with all his predictive data, particularly the batted ball data, it's hard to argue he's swinging harder to make up for something he's lost.  So the questions become -- has he suddenly all at once lost the ability to elevate the baseball...are we watching him hit the ball into the air like always only to see it die?  I can't say that that's what I've been seeing happen.

He's been off, he's been unlucky.  Maybe he needs to get his eyes checked -- but I'll start worrying in earnest when some of the obvious clues as to what's happening aren't as obvious.  I do think some of it is in his head, he's never had a run like this and maybe he's pressing a bit, trying to make too much happen.  Doc's post did a great job of pointing out an actual area of concern but as a whole, much of his numbers read like luck induced noise.   That being said, there are a lot of people who think BaBip is exclusively a pitcher's stat... so, some may view the luck talk as "noise".

 

The fuck you talking about Willis?  What little league batting champion you talking about?

 

My scouting report on Trout has been dead on balls accurate.  When many thought he would come out of his slump, I said he wouldn’t. And it isn’t data that tells me that. 

[Angelsjunky]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

I know right, lets ignore the data and instead buy into what some little league batting champion that never actually faced a AA quality slider or FB thinks about swing mechanics.

If you compare his predictive stuff when Chuck posted the BS data on May 18th to today we see that his average exit velocity on the season has improved by 11%, his maximum exit velocity has improved by 10%, his hard hit % has increased by 10%, his xwOBA has improved by 4%, his xSLG% has improved by 3%, his barrels have improved by 1%, and finally his K and whiff% clearly areas of real concern for years now seeming cancel each other out -- he's whiffing less but his K rate has worsened slightly.  The lone area where there has been ANY slippage is in xBA...  where he's gone from 81% to 74%.

So how does someone see his predictive data improve across the board and still see the worst stretch of his life?  Let's break it down into two segments...  April 30th-May 31st.

Date	Tm	G	GS	Rslt	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	ROE	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	aLI	WPA	acLI	cWPA	RE24	DFS(DK)	DFS(FD)
Apr 30 to May 31, 2023	LAA	27	26	14-13	116	102	16	24	2	0	6	13	10	2	34	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.235	.328	.431	.759	.290	1.03	0.244	1.08	0.11%	-0.80	204.00	270.70

June 1st through Wednesday

Date	Tm	G	GS	Rslt	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	ROE	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	aLI	WPA	acLI	cWPA	RE24	DFS(DK)	DFS(FD)
Jun 1 to Jun 21, 2023	LAA	18	18	10-8	80	63	10	10	2	0	2	8	16	0	22	0	0	1	0	3	1	0	.159	.325	.286	.611	.200	1.09	0.014	1.19	0.02%	-1.44	121.00	168.00

Totals since April 30th

▲	Tm	G	GS	Rslt	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	ROE	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	aLI	WPA	acLI	cWPA	RE24	DFS(DK)	DFS(FD)
May 2 to Jun 21, 2023	LAA	44	43	23-21	192	161	26	34	4	0	8	21	26	2	53	4	0	1	0	3	1	0	.211	.333	.385	.718	.257	1.06	0.329	1.14	0.17%	-1.28	325.00	438.70

The MLB average BaBip from April 30th-Wednesday was sitting at .299 according to the info at StatsPerform (formerly STATS INC).

Anyone that has actually watched Trout at bats has seen him either be on top or under the ball a lot, he's been off -- he's been missing, I don't think anyone would argue otherwise.  But when a guy with a career BaBip of .345 while sporting a 96% sprint speed is posting a .Babip 40 points below the league average over the span of 192 PAs or .200 over 80 PAs you have to ask yourself, is this actual decline, is it extremely bad luck, or both?   His full season BaBip BTW is sitting at .310, which really goes a long ways to show how unlucky he's been during this 200 PA stretch or you have to believe that MLB is positioning Mike Trout better than they are everyone else..  

Given his plate discipline has been inching up along with all his predictive data, particularly the batted ball data, it's hard to argue he's swinging harder to make up for something he's lost.  So the questions become -- has he suddenly all at once lost the ability to elevate the baseball...are we watching him hit the ball into the air like always only to see it die?  I can't say that that's what I've been seeing happen.

He's been off, he's been unlucky.  Maybe he needs to get his eyes checked -- but I'll start worrying in earnest when some of the obvious clues as to what's happening aren't as obvious.  I do think some of it is in his head, he's never had a run like this and maybe he's pressing a bit, trying to make too much happen.  Doc's post did a great job of pointing out an actual area of concern but as a whole, much of his numbers read like luck induced noise.   That being said, there are a lot of people who think BaBip is exclusively a pitcher's stat... so, some may view the luck talk as "noise".

 

Nice rundown, IP. As I think you say, it is probably a combination of bad luck and actual factors related to decline. The predictive stuff you mention implies that he'll bounce back (I mean, how could he not?), but we might also just have to except that Trout 2.0 will go through more, longer, and worse bad patches, bringing his overall numbers down compared to 2012-19.

My concern has grown the longer this has gone on. If it were only or mostly bad luck, we likely would have seen improvement by now. As I said, 200 PA is a long time to slump, especially if the primary factor is luck.

What I think you're saying, and what I agree with, is that what we're seeing is a "perfect storm" of several factors: bad luck, pitchers approaching him differently, mental issues, and maybe stuff like wear and tear and his supposedly fixed back issue.

As far as wear-and-tear goes, as I've pointed out previously, given the amount of time he's missed over the last few years, his games played relative to age is no longer among the most (he's out of the top 100 still, I think). Furthermore, while I think players who rack up a ton of games early on tend to decline earlier, there are enough exceptions that this is far from a rule. But it still could be a factor, considering how many games he played through his age 27 season (2019).

As i think I've said, my concern isn't that Trout is in decline - players inevitably decline. It is how steep it has been. But this also implies that what we're seeing involves other factors, which means that there's really no reason that he shouldn't be able to bounce back, at least to a significant degree.

Another thing to note: Trout's earlier career was marked by almost preternatural consistency. Even most similarly great players fluctuate more in their prime, but from 2012-19, Trout's wRC+ stayed within a 21-point range (167-188). To compare to similar players:

The most similar player in baseball history to Trout, Mickey Mantle, saw a hitting trajectory of two peaks. For his first few years, or development period, Mantle rose from 116 to three years in the 145-160 range. Then he spiked in 1955-58 (age 23-26), before falling back to the 150s for a couple years, then spiking again in 1961-64 (age 29-32). After that his career was increasingly derailed by injuries, though he still remained an elite hitter. A lot of his fluctuation may have been due to health and lifestyle; imagining a healthier and cleaner Mantle might have yielded the best career in baseball history.

Bonds (ignoring 2001-04) was also rather similar, though he took longer to reach his peak. He was up and down for the first six years (1986-91), then spiked with his "natural" peak in 92-93 at age 27-28 (198, 193 wRC+), then plateaued in the 160-170s for half a decade after. 

Mays also had an early peak in his mid-20s, then fel half a step before another peak in his early-to-mid 30s when he had his very best offensive seasons.

The concern is always Griffey, because he's also a relatively similar player. Griffey rose gradually his first few years, peaked at 23-24, fell back a bit for another five years but still at a very high level, then collapsed in his 30s, though a lot of that was due to injury. And of course there's Pujols...

This brings up the concern that you didn't mention: his back may be impacting his swing more than he's letting on. We don't see it, but it might still be there. Maybe an edge of doubt, which impacts his mentality.

Anyhow, looking at other similar players, what is the most likely scenario - based upon Trout's high level of play and age - is that he has an up-and-down period over the next five years, with a "bad" year or two (130-140 wRC+), some good years that are still below peak (150-160s), and one or two peak level performances (170+).

OK, one more thing (you wrote a novel, so now I can as well). I think part of my frustration is from how he started last year, after so much time off. For about a month, it looked like Trout was going to have a career year with the bat. For as many players that collapse in their early 30s, there are just as many who actually have their best offensive years. Most players fall in-between, which at this point is what we can hope for. I still think it possible that he has a late career peak year or two. Mays had his best wRC+ at age 34, Aaron at 37; going back, Ted Williams had his highest at 38 (thought it wasn't quite a full year). I looked at a bunch of somewhat similar players to Trout, and there is a clump of them who had their best wRC+ at age 30 or 31, with a bit more before than after, but still a bunch who had their best hitting year after Trout's current age.

So it looked like Trout was on track for that, but instead - since May of last year - he's had the worst stretch of his career. What is concerning is that he's not figuring it out, and he's only gotten worst (as illustrated by his June stats - the worst month of his career, I'm guessing). In his 20s, his ability to adjust was noteworthy, but he seems to have lost that.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Trout go bonkers in the second half, or at least for part of it (he tends to fade in September, iirc). No matter what, this year will almost certainly go down as his worst full season to date, but we can hope that once he figures things out, we'll have a nice run over the next few years, and that this will be the worst of it, at least until he hits 35 or so.

[tdawg87]

5 hours ago, full circle said:

The fuck you talking about Willis?  What little league batting champion you talking about?

 

My scouting report on Trout has been dead on balls accurate.  When many thought he would come out of his slump, I said he wouldn’t. And it isn’t data that tells me that. 

Lmao shut the fuck up.

[Taylor]

Haha, full circle getting owned. Embarrassing.

[full circle]

3 hours ago, Taylor said:

Haha, full circle getting owned. Embarrassing.

Lmao.  Enjoy your month, it’s just for you! 

[Mark68]

On 6/21/2023 at 9:37 PM, full circle said:

Whatever he was before, I wouldn’t ever say he should listed among the greatest hitters ever.  None of the truly great ever struck out at the rate he has.  

Babe Ruth & Hank Aaron say hi. 

[Blarg]

Trout's previous 5 games .278/.409/.556/.965, not including tonight. His career to date is .300/.412/.581/.993 so he is about 90% of that for a week. The question is can he continue or does he fall off the cliff again?