Is Mike Trout The American League Rookie Of The Year And MVP?
In the month of July, there was not a better player in Major League Baseball than Mike Trout.
Trout took home both Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month honors for the American League, after an absolutely scoring month. He hit .392 for the month, with 38 hits, 32 runs, 10 home runs, and nine swipes. It’s just another chapter in the story of Trout’s performance this year.
There wasn’t as much fanfare when Trout was recalled this year as there was when Bryce Harper made his debut with the Washington Nationals, but Trout has managed to take this buzz and turn it into an extravaganza every time he’s on the field.
This obviously isn’t Trout’s first go-around with the Los Angeles Angels, having struggled in 40 games with the club last year. But that’s ancient history at this point.
In 84 games with the Halos this season, Trout is hitting .347, with a terrific .408 on-base percentage. He’s an absolute hitting machine, with 119 hits in those 84 games, including 19 home runs overall and 47 knocked in. He’s been a force on the basepaths as well, with 33 steals on the year and 84 runs.
Trout has also done the work with the glove, almost totaling a web gem per night. He’s a five tool player and we’ve seen them all in almost every game he’s played in this season.
Initially struggling out of the gate, Trout helped to wake the Angels when he was called up, and they haven’t looked back. He hasn’t done it all himself, but he’s been a tremendous factor in the fact that the Halos are now in the thick of a division race, when it looked like the Texas Rangers were going to run away with it early on.
As it stands right now, Mike Trout is a lock to win the American League Rookie of the Year. It’s not even close. But he may even add another major award by the end of the season: the American League Most Valuable Player.
The award that once looked like it was reserved for Josh Hamilton could now be headed in Trout’s direction. Hamilton has struggled while Trout has done nothing but perform during the summer. By the end of the year, he should have the numbers to win it, and as much credit as he deserves for LA’s performance this season, the MVP could end up just as much of a lock as the Rookie of the Year award already is for Mike Trout.
