NEWSLETTER
Oh, yeah, Mike Tout.
Too often, we, as a collective baseball fandom unit, take the presence of Mike Trout for granted (I’m no exception). After all, he is, without question, the single greatest player of this generation and has already begun challenging the greatest players of other generations …
… But we’re constantly distracted by other, new shiny toys (like that darn Aaron Judge – so magnetic).
So if you haven’t checked back in on Trout for a while, consider this your refresher. For example, did you know he just homered in four straight games:
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Because, of course he did.
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Yep, Mike Trout just homered in four straight games and each one of them was a pretty solid shot. As you can see from Statcast (via Daren Willman), none of Trout’s four homers left the bat at less than 104 MPH or traveled fewer than 410 feet. In other words, there were no cheapies – which isn’t common when you homer four games in a row.
Mike Trout smashing baseballs… 4 HRs in 4 games. pic.twitter.com/Msm7Gl33I8
— Daren Willman (@darenw) May 16, 2017
During this four-game stretch, Trout didn’t just homer four times though, he also added another hit and three walks (naturally), for a .455/.588/1.545 slash line (that’s a laughable 401 wRC+). On the season, of course, his numbers are much worse (he said sarcastically setting up the next sentence for a better comedic landing).
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Through 35 games (151 PAs), Mike Trout is hitting .352/.450/.752 with 12 home runs, seven stolen bases, and 27 RBI. His 225 wRC+ is first in the Major Leagues (ahead of Bryce Harper 215 wRC+, and, well everybody else) and suggests that he’s been about 125%Â better than the average Major League hitter.Â
Babe Ruth posted just two seasons with a wRC+ higher than that mark.*
And furthermore, with the additional 2.7 WAR from this season already, Trout has become one of just 187 players in Major League Baseball history to have more than 50 WAR for his career. When you filter down to players who are 25 years old or younger, however, things tighten up quite a bit:
- Ty Cobb: 56.3 WAR
- Mickey Mantle: 52.5 WAR
- Mike Trout: 50.4 WAR
If Trout earns just 4 more WAR this season (which, barring injury, is 100% going to happen) he will take his place at the top of these rankings – ahead of the Ty Cobb and Mickey Mantle.
So enjoy him while he’s here, baseball fans, because this is not something we see often.
*Of course, Ruth kept that up over the course of an entire season, which is not something Trout has yet proven.
