Mike Trout: The Resurrection of a Mythical Beast in Major League Baseball

“Magic Trout” There is no doubt that Mike Trout is the first player in the major leagues in the 2010s. However, in recent years, not only has Trout started to be on and off the disabled list, but he has played fewer than 120 games in 2021 and 2023 combined last year , he even posted the worst batting record in recent years, and his strikeout rate is still high It seems that he is in trouble.

But, Shenyutu is indeed Shenyutu again? Can his good performance be sustained?

How will the mythical beasts of today return to glory?

First, you need to know that 134wRC+ is very good Among the players who met the batting average last year, only 12 players did better. Even Cody Bellinger, whom everyone was cheering for, and the great Taiwanese rookie Corbin Carroll, could not perform better. But this debate is about Shen Yu, the biggest of the 2010s, and that’s why it’s being picked up on.

Back to the topic, Mike Trout started the season well this year to say that he has fully resurrected.

Mike Trout is not only good at hitting the ball, but he can hit the ball very far, reaching 475 feet.

Complete development of batting ability

The biggest difference between Mike Trout and years past is his hitting! The loss rate is only 16.7%, which is not only in the top 15% of the league, but also cut in half compared to previous years. Thus, the strike rate dropped directly from a high of 27% to 18%! And it doesn’t look like Trout is swinging at random because he can’t swing nearly the same as the last two years, both over 40%. Therefore, Trout puts more at-bats in, in general, his results can increase After all, compared to an all-out strike, there is definitely more opportunity to cause damage.

Mike Trout once again had an MVP-worthy start, and finally improved his strikeout and batting issues
What heights can your career reach?

So how did Trout do it? However, the draw rate did not drop significantly, so this article is not conclusive.

Battery performance remains excellent

Careful readers will surely notice that while Trout has an “all red” Savant page, Trout’s original batting average is not as strong as it once was, and instead has become a 30 coins. %! But I don’t think you need to worry too much, as Trout Barrel% is still excellent, ranking in the top 5%. Barrel% is more predictive of future batting quality than initial batting average speed. Please look at the picture:

This chart shows the predictive power of data such as batting average speed and %Barrel in 2022 on batting quality in 2023.

The chart is based on the Barrel%, the maximum starting velocity of MAX EV, the average starting velocity of MLB hitters in 2022, andBest speed with new Eno Sarris dataWe will wait and predict xWOBACON in 2023, which is getting battery quality. Obviously, Barrel% is the one with the highest R-squared, which is brl22. So, Barrel% is definitely better than looking at average initial batting velocity!

Of course, this year’s results are only a very small sample, but last year’s Trout Barrel% was also an excellent 16%, so with historical experience as support, this article believes that Trout batting quality still as strong as before!

Summary: Is it a flash in the pan or is the beast coming back?

In fact, judging from advanced data such as xWOBA, we can know that Trout’s current results are still a bit watery. For example, Woba is 0.439, but xWOBA is only 0.418. The overall xWOBACON, that is, batting quality after excluding strikeouts and walks, is well below the career average, which is the second worst performance in the entire career. In addition, the official MLB website article influenced the writing of this article: The certain Hall of Famer hitting like GOAT againInspiration, but the article said that Trout can effectively attack the heart and corners of the ball Through the Swing/Take system, looking at Trout’s results in different areas of the Attack Zone, you can see that there is a Shadow in the corners still – 2. , is no different from other influencers, so this argument fails.

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But on the one hand, these are all small samples, and the variations are relatively large; on the other hand, even xWOBACON, the second worst player in his career, is still in the top 10% of the league. Therefore, this article believes that last year’s 134wRC+ was just a temporary drop, and Trout, the contemporary mythical beast, is back! The biggest obstacle that remains is whether he can maintain his health and continue to show his wonderful skills as the best player in the world in the past.