OC Register: Can you guess what Mike Trout hasn’t done this spring?

[AngelsWin.com]

TEMPE, Ariz. — If you’ve paid no attention to Mike Trout’s spring training stats, you are excused. Spring training numbers, especially for a player of Trout’s caliber, are mostly meaningless.

But you’ve missed something that’s fairly remarkable, even among the noise of stats generated in mind-numbing exhibition games.

Trout has not struck out one time this spring.

His 41 plate appearances without a strikeout, prior to Tuesday’s game, are the most in the major leagues. The Royals’ Humberto Arteaga is second with 28. For context, Trout’s longest career whiff-less streak in the regular season is 28 plate appearances, from last year.

And going without strikeouts in spring training is probably harder than in the regular season, because hitters are still trying to get their timing and acclimate to the strike zone. They are also facing many pitchers they’ve never seen.

Trout, as you may expect, shrugged off this accomplishment, saying he’s made no changes to his swing or approach to cut down his strikeouts.

“Nothing new,” he said. “Just with two strikes, I’m trying to battle and get a pitch and put it in play…. Just getting better at it.”

Angels assistant hitting coach Paul Sorrento, who has been working with Trout since 2014, said he wasn’t even aware of what Trout had done.

“It’s not like we made it a priority for Mike,” Sorrento said. “I think Mike just keeps evolving as a player. He keeps getting better and better. I don’t think it’s a conscious effort.”

Trout struck out 184 times in 2014, one of a few blemishes on his first MVP season. He said the following spring that cutting down on those strikeouts was one of his goals.

His strikeout rate has decreased from 26 percent in 2014 to 23 percent (2015) to 20 percent (2016) to 18 percent last year.

If Trout can continue cutting down those strikeouts, it obviously further improves his otherworldly production. With his speed, he has a .355 average on balls in play through his career.

Sorrento said this is all part of the way a player, even Trout, improves as he gets more experience. Trout is just 26, not even to an age at which most players hit their prime.

“As crazy as it sounds,” Sorrento said, “I don’t think he’s tapped his full potential really. He’s getting older. He’s getting smarter at the plate. He’s got a better concept of the pitches he can and can’t handle, which is really very few. I think he’s just evolving, getting better and better every year. I don’t know what his ceiling is. Hopefully, it’s a lot higher. We’re looking at someone who comes around once every 20-25 years.”

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[JustATroutFan]

Jinx

[krAbs]

This is pretty cool. Theoretically, as his k% comes down, his batting average should approach his babip (assuming that HRs aren't a HUGE factor in these number/ his HR rate stays about the same). So...I decided to look some stuff up for fun (and because I'm the kind of person who likes visuals and numbers) :

 

There are a couple of interpretations of the above, assuming BA is some function of BABIP and K%. Its possible that his BABIP is unsustainable at a low K rate, and Trout's k rate will continue to decline until its very low, but his batting average will stay similar to what we have (we would have a Mike Trout who rarely Ks, but isn't supernaturally good at making balls fall into gaps). Its possible that his K rate levels off, and we don't see much of a change from this last year (oh darn, we "only" get 2017 Mike Trout). But...its also possible that we are looking at the makings of a break out season for Trout. His BA tends to track with his BABIP, but displaced a bit below. This makes sense - more balls fall in for hits, higher BA. But, as hit Ks drop, those lines get closer together. His BABIP was unusually low last year, but he also k'd less, so his BA looked very normal for him. If his BABIP bounces back to a more standard Mike Trout level, and his Ks continue to decline (or even stay steady), then we could see a dramatic uptick in his BA (presumably, given Trout's talent and today's hitting environment, we would see his power levels rise accordingly). Think, somewhere along the lines of .330, .340 (based on a career BABIP of .355). Who knows if this will actually happen, but man it would be fun to watch.

This is assuming that its unlikely that his Ks jump up again, and that his BABIP is more talent than luck. These both feel pretty reasonable to me.

[JustATroutFan]

24 minutes ago, krAbs said:

This is pretty cool. Theoretically, as his k% comes down, his batting average should approach his babip (assuming that HRs aren't a HUGE factor in these number/ his HR rate stays about the same). So...I decided to look some stuff up for fun (and because I'm the kind of person who likes visuals and numbers) :

 

There are a couple of interpretations of the above, assuming BA is some function of BABIP and K%. Its possible that his BABIP is unsustainable at a low K rate, and Trout's k rate will continue to decline until its very low, but his batting average will stay similar to what we have (we would have a Mike Trout who rarely Ks, but isn't supernaturally good at making balls fall into gaps). Its possible that his K rate levels off, and we don't see much of a change from this last year (oh darn, we "only" get 2017 Mike Trout). But...its also possible that we are looking at the makings of a break out season for Trout. His BA tends to track with his BABIP, but displaced a bit below. This makes sense - more balls fall in for hits, higher BA. But, as hit Ks drop, those lines get closer together. His BABIP was unusually low last year, but he also k'd less, so his BA looked very normal for him. If his BABIP bounces back to a more standard Mike Trout level, and his Ks continue to decline (or even stay steady), then we could see a dramatic uptick in his BA (presumably, given Trout's talent and today's hitting environment, we would see his power levels rise accordingly). Think, somewhere along the lines of .330, .340 (based on a career BABIP of .355). Who knows if this will actually happen, but man it would be fun to watch.

This is assuming that its unlikely that his Ks jump up again, and that his BABIP is more talent than luck. These both feel pretty reasonable to me.

I'm actually surprise that his batting average last year wasn't higher than .306, despite the fact that he had a career low in SO%.

That BABIP that was low by Trout's standards was a fluke, to me. He's always had super high BABIPs in every year of his career since the start of 2012.

[krAbs]

Just now, JustATroutFan said:

I'm actually surprise that his batting average last year wasn't higher than .306, despite the fact that he had a career low in SO%.

That BABIP that was low by Trout's standards was a fluke, to me. He's always had super high BABIPs in every year of his career since the start of 2012.

Right- to me there are two explanations, and I have no idea of how to figure out which one was until we have more data - either he decided to put harder pitches into play instead of striking out on them, made less efficient contact because of it, and his BABIP dropped a bit. Or, it was an off year for him, and he's about to go off.

[Angel Oracle]

His two MVP seasons have come in even numbered years (knock on wood).    Just sayin'

[Hubs]

58 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

His two MVP seasons have come in even numbered years (knock on wood).    Just sayin'

And he got royally screwed in 2012. He had a better season than Cabrera.

 

 

[Erstad Grit]

He's never been in my kitchen this Spring. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

27 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

He's never been in my kitchen this Spring. 

True as that may be alex, hes still never been in my kitchen.

[tdawg87]

Trout is a man. 

[Angelsjunky]

Trout has made small gains over the last few years that are yielding slightly better numbers but, I think, could also lead to another step forward offensively, perhaps even this year. I don't think it is impossible if he hits something like .330/.450/.650 this year.

[JustATroutFan]

Trout needs to get at least 100 RBIs to win the MVP this season. Notice how he got at least 100 RBIs in both of the seasons that he won the MVP and it both occurred in even numbered years, which is what @Angel Oracle already mentioned. 

The one even numbered year in which Trout did not win MVP, he didn't even get 90 RBIs.

[Angelsjunky]

Fuck Are Bee Eyes.

[Tank]

so this news comes out on the same day as the new SI cover featuring him?

crap. he'll be lucky to hit .225 with a WAR above 0.

[Angelsfan1984]

Trout has never lost a game of Yahtzee in his life. Lucky bastard

[Erstad Grit]

16 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

True as that may be alex, hes still never been in my kitchen.

glad someone still gets a cheers reference!

[Hubs]

15 hours ago, JustATroutFan said:

Trout needs to get at least 100 RBIs to win the MVP this season. Notice how he got at least 100 RBIs in both of the seasons that he won the MVP and it both occurred in even numbered years, which is what @Angel Oracle already mentioned. 

The one even numbered year in which Trout did not win MVP, he didn't even get 90 RBIs.

He had 83, batting leadoff, and only played 139 games in 2012. Add his month in AAA and you get 96.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

A blumpkin?