Mike

Trout

The 35-year-old superstar will catch Sunday’s finale from the Angels’ bench, though he could make an appearance off the bench is the situation calls for it. Zach Neto will serve as the Angels’ designated hitter on Sunday while Oswald Peraza starts at shortstop and will bat seventh for the Halos against Mariners’ right-hander Logan Gilbert.

Trout’s 393-foot homer off Jeffrey Springs was the 426th of his career. That moves him into a tie with Billy Williams for 53rd all time. His next will tie him with Mike Piazza.

In what was long shaping up as a rebound campaign, Trout’s OPS is now down to .795, which is a tad lower than last year’s mark of .797. He’s hit .243/.358/.345 since the All-Star break. The decline in his exit velocity numbers over the course of the season wouldn’t seem to bode particularly well for next year.

Trout blasted a solo homer off Nationals starter Cade Cavalli in the first inning to give the Angels an early 1-0 lead. It was the 21st homer of the season for Trout and his first since August 10th. Trout has now hit safely in his last eight games and is slashing .286/.342/.457 in September.

Trout went 7-for-15 in a four-game series with the Rangers earlier this month. Since then and entering play Saturday, he was mired in a 3-for-26 (.115) slump with no home runs and no RBI over his last seven games. Trout broke out of it with two hits including an RBI single in the first inning. He’s hitting .239 with an .813 OPS and 46 RBI this year.

Trout has raised his average 10 points with six singles the last two nights. It’s the first time since 2018 that he’s had back-to-back three-hit games and the second time ever that he’s had back-to-back games with three singles; the only other time that happened was as a rookie on June 8-9, 2012.

All three hits for Trout were singles up the middle. The future Hall of Famer has now driven in 44 runs, which says more about the hitters that bat behind Trout than anything else. It’s his first multi-hit game in August, and hopefully for fantasy managers/people who like watching historic baseball players succeed, not the last.

Trout’s home run was his 20th of the season. He hit a solo shot off MacKenzie Gore in the first inning. Trout has two home runs in his last four games. Maybe he’ll continue to pop home runs down the stretch of the season, but with his average at .237 with 42 RBI and eight steals, it’s fair to question Trout’s fantasy profile at this point in his career.

Trout got off to a strong start, but March and April have been his best months by far. Things have only slipped further in August, with his strikeout rate well north of 40 percent in a small sample. Worse, the Angels’ lineup doesn’t surround him with much help, limiting his opportunities for counting stats. He has 19 homers this season but only 41 RBI. He stole five bases through April but has just three since. Trout is talented enough to go on a heater down the stretch, but serious environmental concerns cap his upside.

Trout also drew a walk, and he came around to score a run on a double by Jorge Soler. The future Hall of Famer is now hitting .245/.392/.456 on the season. It’d be wonderful if he played on a team that was even kind of relevant, but it’s nice to see Trout playing quality baseball even if it’s for a franchise that is going nowhere.