10 years ago, on July 8, 2011, Mike Trout made his major league debut for the Angels. At just 19 years old, Trout started in center field and served as ninth bat against the Mariners at Angel Stadium. He went 3-0.
What has happened since then? Trout has become, plain and simple, the best player of his generation and is on the way to being remembered as every colossal whose place in the Hall of Fame is assured.
Here, let’s review some of Trout’s most striking accomplishments in his first 10 seasons in the majors.
He is in a select company among the MVPs
Trout is on a short list of players in Major League history who have won three Most Valuable Player awards, as he earned such recognition from the American League in 2014, 2016, and 2019. Only 10 players have achieved such recognition. feat: Barry Bonds, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodríguez and Mike Schmidt.
Trout has also finished second in the AL MVP voting four times and in the top five in nine consecutive seasons, representing a major league record according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
His career is already worthy of the Hall of Fame
Trout has 76 Wins Over Replacement (WAR) in his lifetime, according to Baseball Reference. That number already puts him 75th on the all-time list, ahead of… Paul Molitor.
His WAR total puts him alongside position players who are in the Hall. The average WAR for a hitter in the Hall is 67. Only 41 Cooperstown-inducted hitters had higher lifetime WAR than Trout.
Additionally, only five players have had higher WAR than Trout in his first 10 major league seasons (2011-20). Those five players are Ted Williams, Pujols, Rogers Hornsby, Musial, and Mantle. Trout is tied with Bonds at 74 WAR in that regard.
His combination of power and speed is historic
Here is the list of players in Major League history with 300 home runs and 200 stolen bases in their first 10 seasons:
Trout has no company in that regard. Even if we lower the threshold, say to 250 home runs and 200 scams, only six players have made it (Bonds, Bobby Bonds, Darryl Strawberry, Willie Mays and the Dominicans Sammy Sosa and Alfonso Soriano).
Trout hit 302 homers and stole 201 bases from 2011 to 2020. In other words, he averaged 30-20 seasons. And in fact, he is just one of 25 players in history with 300 homers and 200 stolen bases in his career.
His offensive line couldn’t be better
Trout has a .305 career batting average, .419 on-base percentage, .583 slugging percentage and 1.002 OPS. We are talking about your numbers _for life. _
He’s the active leader in those last three categories, on-base percentage, slugging and OPS.
Trout hasn’t won a batting title… yet… but he’s led the Majors in on-base percentage four times, slugging three times and OPS four.
Your trophy collection is brimming with accolades
In addition to being recognized as the AL MVP three times, Trout has won many awards.
He has just been called up to the All-Star Game for the ninth time in his 11 seasons.
He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2012, when he hit .326 with 30 home runs and led the majors with 49 stolen bases and 129 runs scored.
He has won eight Silver Bats, having won the award eight times in the span of nine years from 2012 to 2020.
He was recognized with the Wilson Award for Defensive Player of the Year in the American League in 2012.
He has even been the MVP of the All-Star Game twice, taking the award in 2014 and 2015 to become the first player to be named MVP of consecutive Midseason Classics.
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