Jul 24, 2021; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) before the game against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
All you need to know about when star Los Angeles Angeles central fielder Mike Trout was drafted in the MLB.
Mike Trout, whose birth name is Michael Nelson Trout was born on August 7, 1991, in Vineland, New Jersey, United States, is a professional baseball center fielder from the United States. He is widely regarded as one of the best all-around players in baseball during the early 21st century.
Trout was a baseball star at Millville High School in New Jersey, and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim selected him with the 25th overall pick in the Major League Baseball (MLB) draught in 2009. His already apparent skills led to this selection. Before making his debut in the major leagues for good in 2012, he was a member of the minor leagues for a brief period of time, during which he won the J.G. Taylor Spink Award in 2010 for being the greatest player in the minor leagues.
After that, he went on to have an outstanding rookie season, finishing first in the American League (AL) in runs scored (129) and stolen bases (49), while also registering a batting average of.326.
Furthermore, due to his outstanding play in center field and his dominance in the various advanced statistical categories, many analysts predicted that he would win the Most Valuable Player award for the American League in 2012. However, Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers won the award after finishing second in the voting for MVP. Despite this, Trout was selected as the AL Rookie of the Year by an overwhelming majority of voters.
Trout’s sophomore season was equally remarkable. He led the AL in runs (109) and drew 110 bases-on-balls (walks), helping him to a.432 on-base percentage (OBP). However, his accomplishments were once again eclipsed by Cabrera’s in the eyes of MVP voters, and Trout placed second to the Detroit slugger in balloting for the title.
Trout hit a career-high 36 home runs in 2014, leading the league with 111 runs batted in (RBIs) while also leading the league in runs scored with 115. Trout’s outstanding play eventually propelled him beyond Cabrera, and he was named AL MVP in 2014. He also helped the Angels reach the postseason for the first time in his career, but they were swept by the Kansas City Royals in their first playoff series.
Trout was selected to his fourth consecutive All-Star Game in 2015, where he won game MVP for the second consecutive year and became the first player in the game’s 82-year history to win back-to-back All-Star MVP titles.
Despite his lack of on-field success with the Angels, Trout signed a 12-year agreement with the franchise in March 2019 for $426.5 million, which was the most money in a single contract in professional sports history at the time. He maintained his dominance in 2019, leading the AL in OBP (.438) and slugging percentage (.645) while hitting 45 home runs, a career-best. Despite the Angels’ sustained mediocrity (a 72-90 record that season), Trout’s 2019 season was so dominant that he won his third AL MVP award.
Trout hit his 300th career home run during the 2020 season, which was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He suffered a setback the next year when a calf injury forced him to miss most of the season. He returned in 2022 and scored his 1,000th career run that year. However, Trout was placed on the injured list later in the season and was ultimately diagnosed with a “rare” back issue.
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