Mike Trout has been the face of the Los Angeles Angels since 2012, when he put together an MVP-caliber season without actually winning the award.
He eventually won not one or two, but three AL MVP awards and became universally regarded as one of the best players of his generation.
The problem is that the Angels have also been one of the most dysfunctional franchises in baseball for years, even decades if you will.
They have failed to build around Trout (and Shohei Ohtani) when they had the chance, and haven’t made the postseason since 2014.
LA is now known as an underachieving franchise, without enough talent to surround Trout with a truly competitive roster.
That fact was on display once again on Monday.
For the fifth time in the season, Trout went yard.
And for the fifth time, his home run was of the solo variety.
No one gets on base ahead of him, and that is a symptom of the lack of talent in the Angels lineup.
Once again, if Trout wants to play in the postseason, he will have to do the heavy lifting and that is an unfair ask for any player.
The frequency with which he hits solo home runs is astounding and not at all his fault.
“Mike Trout has now hit 10 consecutive solo HRs dating back to last season. He now has hit 235 of his 373 HRs with the bases empty (63.0%). The only player in MLB history to have at least 373 homers with 60% or more being solo shots is Alfonso Soriano (249 of 412, 60.4%),” MLB insider Bob Nightengale tweeted.
Mike Trout has now hit 10 consecutive solo HRs dating back to last season.
He now has hit 235 of his 373 HRs with the bases empty (63.0%).
The only player in MLB history to have at least 373 homers with 60% or more being solo shots is Alfonso Soriano (249 of 412, 60.4%).
Alfonso Soriano, a slugger in the 2000s and 2010s, is the only hitter who comes close to Trout’s sad mark.
To think that Trout’s 946 RBI could have been many, many more if he played on a competent team.
He is having an amazing start to his 2024 campaign, with a .297/.381/.757 line and a 1.138 OPS.
It’s too bad that it all seems destined to end just like it has throughout the last decade.