Angels News: Writer Predicts Halos Best Player in 2023, and It’s Not Shohei Ohtani
The Angels are not lacking in star power. Between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, they have two of baseball's best players. Then you add in Anthony Rendon, and you have three guys who can give you an MVP season.
With all that talent on the roster, it may be hard to pick who will be the "best" next season. However, MLB.com's Will Leitch decided to give it a shot, and the answer may surprise you. Well, maybe not that big of a surprise, but it's not the guy who won the MVP in 2021 and led the team in WAR in 2022:
"Angels: Mike Trout, CF
OK, maybe this is the monster year he has when he’s healthy the whole time."
Trout had a sensational year last year, becoming just the sixth player in MLB history to hit 40 or more home runs in 120 or fewer games. If he could just stay healthy for a full season, who knows what those numbers could look like. Actually, I guess we do.
Trout has played more than 140 games just four times in his career. Here are what those stat lines looked like:
2013, 157 games: .323/.432/.557, 27 home runs, 97 RBIs, 110 walks, 39 doubles, 109 runs scored, .988 OPS, 179 OPS+.
2014, 157 games: .287/.377/.561, 36 home runs, 111 RBIs, 83 walks, 39 doubles, 115 runs scored, .939 OPS, 169 OPS+.
2015, 159 games: .299/.402/.590, 41 home runs, 90 RBIs, 92 walks, 32 doubles, 104 runs scored, .991 OPS, 176 OPS+.
2016, 159 games: .315/.441/.550, 29 home runs, 100 RBIs, 116 walks, 32 doubles, 123 runs scored, .991 OPS, 173 OPS+.
For reference, here's his last season numbers:
2022, 119 games: .283/.369/.630, 40 home runs, 80 RBIs, 54 walks, 28 doubles, 85 runs scored, .999 OPS, 178 OPS+.
If Trout can hit 40 home runs and 28 doubles in 119 games at the age of 31, I would love to see what he can do in 140 games.
Trout's goal next season shouldn't be to play 157 games (although that would be nice). If he can play anywhere in the 140-150 game range, he would add a huge boost to the Angels' lineup, and could easily go down as not only the best player on his team, but in the entire league.
A fully healthy Trout would give Ohtani some real competition for that 2023 AL MVP Award.
