Background and career
Michael Nelson Trout (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). Trout is a 12-time All-Star, three-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) (winning the award in 2014, 2016, and 2019, while finishing second in 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2018), and nine-time winner of the Silver Slugger Award. He also captained the United States national team during the 2023 World Baseball Classic and was named to the All-WBC Team. He is regarded by many as the best baseball player of his generation and one of the greatest players in baseball history. The Angels selected Trout in the first round of the 2009 MLB draft. He made a brief major league appearance in 2011 before becoming a regular player for the Angels the subsequent season and won the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year Award unanimously. Trout's athleticism on the field has received praise from both the mainstream media and sabermetricians. Trout led the American League in wins above replacement (WAR) in each of his first five full seasons, and is the active leader in the stat with 91.7 bWAR. Trout has led the American League in runs (2012–14, 2016) and times on base (2013, 2015–16, 2018) four times. In 2019, he signed a 12-year, $426 million contract with the Angels, one of the richest contracts ever in professional sports and the second-biggest contract at the time of signing.
Michael Nelson Trout was born on August 7, 1991, in Vineland, New Jersey, to Jeff and Debbie (née Busonick) Trout. He grew up in nearby Millville, New Jersey. He has two older siblings, sister Teal and brother Tyler. His father, Jeff (born January 7, 1961), played baseball at the University of Delaware and was a fifth-round draft pick as a second baseman by the Minnesota Twins in 1983. Jeff played four years of minor league baseball before a torn plantar fascia and knee injuries ended his career. Trout grew up a die-hard Philadelphia Phillies fan and attended their World Series parade in 2008. Trout began playing baseball in Cal Ripken Baseball, a division of Babe Ruth League. His main position as a youth baseball player was shortstop. He wore #2 in honor of his childhood hero, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. He would switch to #1 in high school. Mike attended Lakeside Middle School and is a 2009 graduate of Millville Senior High School. Trout attended Millville Senior High School in Millville, New Jersey, where he played both baseball and basketball, earning five letters (three in baseball and two in basketball). In his junior year, he threw a no-hitter against Egg Harbor Township High School. The Thunderbolts made it to the state playoffs and were defeated by Cherry Hill High School East. He started as a pitcher and shortstop and was shifted to the outfield during his senior year. That year, he hit 18 home runs, a New Jersey high school record. Trout had committed to play baseball at East Carolina University before the 2009 MLB draft. Millville initially planned to retire Trout's jersey number but instead began awarding it to the team captain, starting in 2012. Trout played travel ball with Tri-State Arsenal, one of the premier travel programs in the Northeast. He began working with the coaches at Arsenal at age 14. Trout played in various tournaments with Tri-State Arsenal, including the Perfect Game WWBA Championships in Jupiter, Florida, in 2007 and 2008. In the summer before his senior year, Trout attended the Area Code Games in southern California, where he went 6 for 11 against some of the best players in the country. Angels scout Greg Morhardt, who had played in the minor leagues with Trout's father, claimed Mike was the fastest and strongest 17-year-old he had ever seen.
The Angels selected Trout, using their compensation pick from the New York Yankees for their signing of Mark Teixeira, 25th overall in the 2009 MLB draft. He signed a contract including a $1.215 million bonus with the Angels on July 2, 2009, foregoing his commitment to play college baseball at East Carolina. He started his professional career out of high school in 2009 playing for the Arizona Angels of the rookie-level Arizona League (AZL), hitting .360 with a .418 OBP and .506 SLG with one home run, 25 runs batted in (RBIs), and 13 stolen bases in 187 plate appearances over 39 games. He was beaten out in being named AZL Most Valuable Player by Cody Decker. He finished the season playing for the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Class A Midwest League, hitting .267 over 20 plate appearances in five games. Before the 2010 season, Trout was considered the Angels' third-best prospect and the 85th-best in all of baseball by Baseball America. He started the season playing for Cedar Rapids, where he hit .362 with a .454 on-base percentage (OBP) and a .526 slugging percentage (SLG) with six home runs, 39 RBIs, and 45 stolen bases in 82 games. He was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game. In July, Baseball America named Trout the second-best overall baseball prospect. After the Futures game, he was promoted to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the Class A-Advanced California League. After the 2010 season, Trout received the Topps Minor League Player of the Year Award; at just 19 years and 2 months, he became the youngest player to win the award. He was also named a Baseball America All-Star as well as a Topps Class A All-Star. Prior to the 2011 season, Trout was ranked number one by ESPN's Keith Law in his 2011 top 100 prospects list and by MLB's Jonathan Mayo. Trout started the 2011 season with the Arkansas Travelers of the Class AA Texas League. He hit .324 with nine home runs, 27 RBIs, and 28 stolen bases in his first 75 games.
The Los Angeles Angels promoted Trout on July 8, 2011, to replace the injured Peter Bourjos in center field. He made his major league debut that night, going 0-for-3. In his next game, Trout recorded his first career major league hit, an infield single against Seattle Mariners pitcher Michael Pineda in the bottom of the third inning. He hit his first major league home run against Baltimore Orioles pitcher Mark Worrell on July 24. Trout was sent back to Double-A Arkansas on August 1, 2011, after hitting .163 with one home run and six runs batted in 12 starts for the Angels. After spending time back in Double-A Arkansas, Trout was recalled by the Angels on August 19, 2011. That night, he went 1-for-4 with a home run, his first at Angel Stadium. On August 30, Trout became the youngest Angel to hit two home runs in one game, homering off Mariners pitcher Anthony Vasquez in the top of the second inning and again in the top of the fourth inning. In his 40-game rookie big league stint in 2011, Trout's batting average was .220, while his on-base percentage was .281 and his slugging percentage .390. For the 2011 season, of the 13 votes cast for the USA Today Minor League Player of the Year Award, Trout received the two votes allocated to the fan poll. He was named Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year after hitting .326/.414/.544 with 11 home runs, 38 RBIs, 82 runs scored, and 33 stolen bases in 91 games. He was again named an outfielder on Baseball America's 2011 Minor League All-Star team.
Trout began the 2012 season with the Salt Lake Bees of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. On April 28, he was again brought up from the minors, this time to replace Bobby Abreu (who was batting .208 in 24 at-bats). At that time, Trout had a .403 batting average, a .467 on-base percentage, and a .623 slugging percentage in 20 games with Salt Lake. Trout recorded his first career four-hit game on June 4 (and his second 15 days later). In the process, he scored all four times and two of his four hits went for doubles. Trout, along with Angels right fielder Torii Hunter, was named American League co-Player of the Week for June 4–10. During that stretch, Trout went 13-for-25 for a .520 batting average to go along with 10 runs scored and four stolen bases. On June 27 against the Baltimore Orioles, Trout had his third career four-hit game in the same month. In the same game, he showed off his defensive skills when he robbed Orioles shortstop J. J. Hardy of a home run as he leaped up in the center-field wall to make a spectacular catch in the bottom of the first inning. Trout broke both an Angels' franchise and American League rookie record when he crossed home plate in 14 consecutive games after scoring a run in a game on July 22. Trout's 26 stolen bases tied Jerry Remy for the team's rookie record for most stolen bases by the All-Star Break. Playing in his first All-Star Game, Trout singled off of New York Mets pitcher R. A. Dickey in the bottom of the 6th inning and drew a base on balls against Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the 7th. In the month of June, Trout batted .372 with three home runs and 16 RBI and was named AL Player of the Month and AL Rookie of the Month. Angels manager Mike Scioscia explained Trout's impact by saying, "It's a pleasant surprise only with the fact that you see very few guys come up and do this much. Is it surprising that Mike Trout's talent is able to produce what's happening on the field? No, that's not a surprise. He's an extraordinary talent." Trout's 34 runs scored in July tied the Major League rookie record with Cleveland Indians first baseman Hal Trosky in 1934. He had a .392 batting average, 10 home runs, and 23 runs batted in. In addition, Trout continued to show his speed by stealing nine bases and scoring 32 runs in July. Trout also became the first rookie to drive in at least 55 runs and score 80 runs in 81 games since Joe DiMaggio in 1936." Against the Chicago White Sox on August 4, Trout made another highlight catch, robbing second baseman Gordon Beckham of a home run in the second inning. White Sox catcher A. J. Pierzynski told reporters after the game that Trout "makes those catches in the outfield look so good.". On August 21, Trout went 2-for-4 in a victory over the Boston Red Sox, raising his batting average to .344. With the .344 average, Trout set the rookie record for batting average through 100 games. Trout finished the month of August with a .284 batting average, seven home runs, 19 runs batted in, 11 stolen bases, and a .866 OPS. Trout was again named AL Rookie of the Month for August, his fourth time winning the honor. In winning the award for the fourth time, Trout became the first American League rookie since Ichiro Suzuki in 2001 to win Rookie of the Month four times during a single season. Trout became the youngest player ever to hit at least 20 home runs and steal at least 40 bases in a season. Houston Astros center fielder César Cedeño had been the youngest player to accomplish the feat, doing so in 1972. He also became the youngest hitter ever to hit at least 20 home runs and steal at least 30 bases in a season. Trout scored his 100th run of the season on August 26, becoming the second Angels rookie to score at least 100 runs in a season after Devon White. Trout set a new Angels record for runs scored in a rookie season, passing White. Trout scored three runs that day, the tenth time in the 2012 season that he scored three or more runs in one game, the most since Sammy Sosa's 11 games in 2001. On September 9, in a game against the Detroit Tigers, Trout became the first player in baseball history under the age of 22 to hit a leadoff home run in back-to-back games. On September 21, Trout became the first rookie to score 120 or more runs since Ichiro Suzuki and the fourth rookie to accomplish that feat since 1964. On September 30, Trout became the youngest player in Major League Baseball history to join the 30–30 club when he belted a 7th-inning home run off of Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish, helping the Angels win the game by a score of 5–4. Trout became the first player in MLB history to hit 30 home runs, steal 45 bases, and score 125 runs in one season. Trout set the Angels' club record for most runs scored in a season, surpassing Vladimir Guerrero. He also set the Angels rookie record for most hits in a season with 173, passing Wally Joyner. Trout became the first rookie ever to hit 30 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season. In addition, Trout finished second in the AL in batting average (.326), third in slugging percentage (.564), third in on-base percentage (.399), second in OPS (.963), 9th in hits (182), and first in OPS+ (171). He became the first Angels player to lead the league in stolen bases since Chone Figgins did so in 2005 with 49 stolen bases. He led the American League in power-speed number (37.2). According to Baseball-Reference.com, Trout finished with a wins above replacement (WAR) value of 10.9, 2.4 better than second-place finisher Robinson Canó of the Yankees. Trout was the first position player to have a WAR above 10 since Barry Bonds for the San Francisco Giants in 2004. Trout led the Angels in batting average, runs scored, hits (182), triples, stolen bases, total bases (315), base on balls, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging despite playing in just 139 games. He was tied with Albert Pujols for second place on the team in home runs behind Mark Trumbo and was fourth in runs batted in. On November 12, 2012, Trout won the Rookie of the Year Award, receiving all 28 first-place votes, becoming the first Angels player to win the award since Tim Salmon won it in 1993 and the youngest player to win the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Trout became just the 18th Rookie of the Year winner to win the award unanimously. On November 13, Trout won the Heart and Hustle Award, given to the player who "demonstrates a passion for the game of baseball and best embodies the values, spirit and traditions of the game.” Trout was one of three outfielders in the American League to win the Silver Slugger for being the best offensive players at their position; the others were then-Ranger Josh Hamilton and Josh Willingham of the Minnesota Twins. He also won a Fielding Bible Award as the best fielding center fielder in MLB. Trout's high WAR value led many to support his candidacy for American League Most Valuable Player. Trout's main competition for the award was Miguel Cabrera, who became the first player since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 to win the triple crown, leading the AL in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in. The race between Trout and Cabrera created controversy amongst baseball fans and writers, and was described by many as a clash between new-age sabermetrics and supporters of more "traditional" statistics. In supporting Trout's case, Jayson Stark wrote, "We just understand that Trout's insane 10.5 WAR are one more clear indication that he's a better baseball player than even one of the greatest hitters of our lifetimes. ... If you want to toss in his slash line, his 62 extra-base hits, his 92.3 percent stolen-base success rate or any other item on his stat sheet, you'll find that no player in the history of baseball has combined this much excellence in so many areas in the same season." Meanwhile, Scott Miller of CBS Sports wrote, "Nobody combined overall statistics, badass lineup presence, and value to his team more than Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera." On November 15, Cabrera won the MVP decisively, winning 22 of 28 first-place votes, as Trout received the other six.
Trout began the 2013 season as a left fielder to accommodate for Peter Bourjos in center field. He started season slowly, hitting .261 with two home runs and 16 RBIs in April. During a game on April 20 against the Detroit Tigers, Trout hit his first career grand slam off pitcher Rick Porcello, capping a 10-run inning for the Angels, their highest-scoring inning in almost 18 years. On April 30, Bourjos injured his hamstring, and Trout was moved back to center field. In May, Trout regained his rookie-year form, batting .327 with 8 home runs, 21 RBIs, and 27 runs scored. Trout stated that he had struggled early in the season because he was chasing pitches out of the strike zone and pressing too much on himself. On May 21, 2013, Trout became the youngest player to hit for the cycle in American League history and sixth youngest in Major League history, doing so at home against the Seattle Mariners. On May 30, Angels manager Mike Scioscia announced that Trout would return to left field after Bourjos returned from the disabled list. This decision caused some controversy, as some believed that Trout's successful May was a direct result of his move back to center field. Scioscia, however, believed that Trout's numbers as a center fielder had to do with his batting-order position and hype subsiding. On June 8, with shortstop Erick Aybar struggling at the leadoff spot, Trout began batting leadoff, marking his first time hitting in the leadoff spot since April 14. In his first game batting leadoff since mid-April, Trout went 3-for-5, with two doubles, a run batted in, scored two runs, had a base on balls, and stole a base, helping the Angels win the game over the Boston Red Sox in the first game of a doubleheader. Trout indeed moved back to left field after Bourjos returned to the Angels' lineup on June 10. In his 249th career game, he scored his 200th career run, becoming the fastest player to accomplish this since Ted Williams (225 games) and Barney McCosky (236 games) did it in 1940. Trout represented the Angels in the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. He was the leading vote-getter among all AL outfielders and the first Angels position player to start in the All-Star Game since Vladimir Guerrero in 2007. In July, Trout led all of baseball with an on-base percentage of .475 and OPS of 1.108. In addition, he was the only player in the American League to reach base in every game of the month and became the first Angels player to have two consecutive streaks of reaching base in at least 33 games. Trout continued his strong play in August, batting .337 with 6 home runs and an on-base percentage of .500. As in 2012, Trout's play declined somewhat in September, as he batted .281 with 4 home runs and 4 stolen bases. According to Baseball-Reference, Trout finished the 2013 season with 9.2 WAR, again the highest in baseball. Notably, Trout's walk rate increased from 10.5% in 2012 to 15.4% in 2013. Trout's 110 bases on balls led the American League. He again led the American League in power-speed number (29.7). Echoing the 2012 season, Miguel Cabrera won the 2013 AL MVP with 23 first-place votes, while Trout finished second with five.
