It Is Way Too Early To Worry About Mike Trout Struggling Before Opening Day

Not long after I noted all the things Mike Trout is doing in camp to make us believe he is Mike Trout again his Cactus League numbers started to drop. Now facing a batting line of .219/.286/.344 and yet to hit his first home run in 2026, people are getting worried about his continued decline.

It is way to early to be worried about Mike Trout this year. In fact, there are more reasons to be optimisitc about his 2026 season than pessimistic.

Mike Trout is implementing swing adjustments.

Trout has been open about this in numerous interviews. Towards the end of last season, Trout made a couple of subtle mechanical changes that helped him get a cleaner path to the ball. Over his last 99 plate appearances in 2025 Trout walked a dozen times and cracked 6 home runs.

Established players often use Spring Training working on minor adjustments because they know their roster spots are secure. The numbers take a hit, but the games don't matter. This is the time to dial in minor adjustments before the real season begins.

The reason I'm convinced Trout is working on something is evident in his early Cactus League play. Take a look at this early at bat and notice Trout looking very much like Trout. It was after about a week or so that his numbers started to crater. Something changed and it wasn't the quality of opposition.

Mike Trout with a single to center field in his second at-bat to pick up his first hit of the spring and he's 1-for-1 with a walk. pic.twitter.com/zg3NksBxuN
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) February 22, 2026

Look for Trout to look more like Trout in the Freeway Series and possibly a couple of games before. The sample size will be small but the approach should be apparent. In fact, he's likely already starting to prioritize results this week.

Mike Trout fell behind 0-2 and then still worked a 9-pitch AB, fouling off three straight pitches that were 98-99. He poked an RBI single into right-center on a 98 mph pitch.

He had some trouble with high velo last year.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) March 18, 2026

Mike Trout is running faster than he has in years.

When it was announced that Mike Trout intended to play center field in 2026 the news was a bit of a shock. Injuries, including two to his knees, have sapped Trout of his youthful ability and limited the number of games he was available the last few years.

One great data point to indicate player health is sprint speed. 30 feet per second is elite sprint speed by MLB standards. That is also a number Mike Trout has not hit in several years. But he is hitting it now.

He did it. https://t.co/xJawWWOnd9 pic.twitter.com/WThKq6tsbe
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) March 7, 2026

Baseball is a data driven sport, perhaps too much so in many regards, but there is no debating this data. Mike Trout is running better than he has since before his knee injury in 2023. This isn't hope, this isn't an eyeball test, this is scientific proof that Trout is again a speed demon.

Between the swing adjustments of last year and improved health this year Angels fans have some concrete reasons to dream on another summer of Mike Trout performing at a high level. Given his recent history any setback is going to make fans nervous. There may be a time to worry about Mike Trout, but this is not it.