Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout has been the best player in baseball since he exhausted his rookie limits in 2012.
Many people say he is the best player ever to step foot on a baseball field, and it’s easy to see why: he can hit for a high average (he is a career .303 hitter), he can get on base at a high clip (.415 OBP), he has enormous power (350 home runs and a .587 slugging percentage), he can field, and he can run.
His arm is merely average but who cares?
Trout is a true superstar and one of the best five players in history.
He is 31, meaning that he is still theoretically in his prime.
If his offensive performance last year was any indication, we are still in for some really fun Trout years as he hasn’t declined one bit as a hitter.
He may not run as often as he used to and his range in center field is not Gold-Glove-caliber anymore, but the man sure can rake.
In 2022, he slashed .283/.369/.630 with 40 home runs in just 119 games played.
He could have had his first 50-homer season had he not missed so many games.
If he keeps this up in the power department, it’s not hard to see him getting close to the home run kings in the historical standings.
Mike Trout has hit 350 career homers.
Will he end up hitting at least 600?— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) February 1, 2023
Trout still has eight years left on his mammoth 12-year, $426.5 million deal.
Let’s be conservative and account for potential injuries and decline in performance sometime in the next few years.
With that in mind, let’s say he averages 27 home runs per year over the next eight seasons.
Again, this is just hypothetical.
That would give him 216 long balls.
With the 350 he already has, he would reach 566 by the time he finishes his contract if he plays at that power pace.
What does this tells us?
That getting to 600 will be very hard, but by no means impossible.
He will need health, and he can do the rest.
NEXT: The Angels Have A Pair Of New Sluggers To Look Forward To
