TEMPE, Ariz. — Mike Trout tries to stay off social media, but the ranking nonetheless found its way into his orbit.
Last week, MLB Network compiled a list of baseball's top 100 players. Trout, a three-time MVP, 11-time All-Star and nine-time Silver Slugger, came in at No. 39, one spot behind 31-year-old Matt Chapman and one ahead of 20-year-old Jackson Chourio.
Trout, who played in just 29 games last year and 82 the season before, understood the reasoning.
"Hey, they're going off the last couple years, and I haven't been out there," Trout said Monday afternoon before the Angels' first full-squad workout of the spring.
It did not mean he agreed with it.
"I know where I stand," he continued.
Trout has played in just 266 of a possible 648 games over the last four injury-riddled seasons. During that time, though, he ranks fourth in OPS among players with at least 1,000 plate appearances. He is also the only player worth at least 12 WAR in fewer than 300 games played over that stretch.
When Trout's on the field, the 33-year-old remains one of baseball's star talents, even if he's not the perennial MVP candidate he was throughout the 2010s.
"When he plays, we're different," general manager Perry Minasian said. "When his name's in the lineup, and you walk to the park and you look at the lineup, it just feels different."
Though the last couple of years have represented a decline from his peak form, Trout still hit 32% better than the league average in 2023 and 40% better in his brief showing last season before he tore the meniscus in his left knee twice, requiring two separate surgeries.
So, while he understands why some might look at his absences and think there are 38 players better than him right now, the injuries haven't
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