Angels News: Mike Trout Has Some Very High Praise For Shohei Ohtani
Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani have been teammates with the Angels for five years. During that time, they've combined for six All-Star appearances, two MVP Awards, two MVP runner-up finishes, a Rookie of the Year Award, and five Silver Sluggers. It's one of the most iconic duos in MLB history.
The historic nature of the pairing isn't lost on Trout. The center-fielder was on MLB Network a few weeks ago, and he had nothing but praise for his two-way teammate.
"He’s got the best stuff in the league, I think," Trout said. "I don’t think I’ve talked to anybody in the league that wants to face that dude. And at the plate, he’s got very little weaknesses."
Over the last two years, Ohtani has a combined .918 OPS (151 OPS+) at the plate with 150 extra-base hits, including 80 homers. On the mound, he's 24-11 with a 2.70 ERA (156 ERA+) and 375 strikeouts in 296.1 innings pitched. He's a two-way player like we've never seen in our lifetimes, and we'd probably be able to say that even if we were 200 years old.
Trout knows a thing or two about great hitting, and he knows about trying to hit great pitching. He's had a front-row seat for the entirety of Ohtani's big-league career so far. If Trout can have a healthy 2023 season, it wouldn't be surprising to see the two Halos finish first and second in the MVP voting, in some order. They were recently ranked as the first (Ohtani) and third (Trout) players on MLB Network's Top 100 Right Now list, with just Aaron Judge between them.
