Mike Trout Strikeouts

@bigred84

 Yes he will. Not because of his numbers. Because he's popular. But IDK. Will he be the 3rd player to be in the Hall of Fame to have more strikeouts than hits in his career. This is important to HOF voters. The other two Reggie Jackson and Jim Thome obviously has World series achievements. Playoff achievements. Something that trout will never have. With that alone I'm not so sure he even belongs in the Hall of Fame. According to the Hall of Fame voters

@bigred84

 He will have the shortest Hof introduction speech ever. Seriously? What are they going to talk about? His championships, World series appearances, playoff experiences, 3K hits, 500 home runs, 1500 RBIs, over 290 career batting average, gold gloves. He won't have any of these. They will mention metrics, and that's it. His intro speech will last 19 seconds. "Elected in the 2032 Hall of Fame, Mike Trout. 3 MVPs, 800 ops, 9 silver sluggers. And that's it, welcome to the Hall of Fame". It will be the shortest HOF  intro speech ever.

Take away the Mike Trout name. When his career ends he will have more strikeouts than hits. 0 championships, playoff wins. And guess what? He's not going in the Hall of Fame. Take away the name, and his stats won't be good enough for Hall of Fame. Not even close. He will have 2,100 hits, 2300 strikeouts, 480 home runs, 1200 RBIs, .280 avg. Those aren't Hall of Fame numbers. If he had a championship, that would be different

@undermysac

 Yes.  Aaron is often overlooked a bit because of the longevity and never having outrageous totals.  I think the most HRs he had in one year was 47.  But he had so many consistent years and was healthy.

But his skill in the outfield is what is really overlooked a lot.

But the emphasis was still somewhat on contact and not HRs, as much as it is today.  You can see this trend from way back when guys concentrated more on average.

Plus pitchers aimed more for bad contact and not trying to blow the ball past every batter.  This was a trend that was changing from the Cobb and Wagner days.  

Then folks intuitively felt what was more productive and likely better longterm for a team to produce runs.  

Then with the advent of advanced analytics and computers the numbers reflect this.  Then the MLB is the league that will bear the best fruit because of the longer season with more games and more situational times for this 'production' to show itself.  For example, the NFL has far fewer chances for this to work in a team's favor.  But they have to try anyway because other teams are.

Etc., etc.

@TxRangers

No one is disputing this.

My point about this earlier is that the emphasis on strikeouts is not what it used to be.  

Now it is more about the way to produce runs over a long period, throughout the season and in multiple opportunities.

@TxRangers

For example:

"Trout is not a low-strikeout hitter like Manny Machado, but his combination of elite power, patience, and on-base ability makes the strikeouts more than offset by production."

He’s not having a bad year thus far.. 

@Raiders22

 I understand what you are saying and I appreciate your comments. But, every Mike Trout fan and the media is disputing this. It burns them up, it pisses them off that Manny Machado played 30 more games and struck out 48 times less than trout last year. They are so mad that happened, they can't function properly. When I mention that stat to them, they go absolutely berserk. They can't stand facts about the GREAT Mike Trout striking out.

Some guys strike out more than others.

Mike trout, albeit high strike outs, leads the league in runs scored and walks. I think he's in the top 5 of ops.

He's doing something right.

It's not easy getting a good barrel on a ball. Some guys do it better than others. But when they do it's worth it I suppose. 

Baseball is a game of failures, many failures. Your failing more often than not.

For instance, anyone hitting .330 in baseball is frigin awesome. That's a 33% success rate. Imagine if we normal folk did 33% of our jobs well at work. We'd be instantly canned.

@TxRangers

 They may feel that way because it is true.  
But also they cannot articulate well enough why it does not matter that much anymore.  

The easiest way for them to explain it would be that when you compare expected earned runs based off of strikeouts compared to non-strikeouts.  

For example, when you strike out it has zero expected run value.  Just by definition.  

It is when you look at all of the other possible results besides strikeouts that a batters true value will show up. 
Then you have to weigh that and see if it outweighs the strikeouts in expected run value.  

This is a very rough estimate:

Non-strikeout outs: -.25 runs

Walks: +.3 runs

Singles: +.45 runs 

Doubles: +.75 runs

Triples: +1.0 runs

Homers: +1.4 runs.  

When you examine it this way, it is a very rudimentary way of looking at whether the value would be better for a guy that strikes out more than another guy.  
Just because a guy strikes out less does not mean he is a more valuable hitter — when you are considering the expected runs produced.  

Take Aaron Judge and compare him to an average player.  Steven Kwan.  

Judge had a 204 wRC+ in 2025

That means he was creating twice as many runs per plate appearance as an average hitter.  

Kwan had a 100 wRC+ (league average range)

That would be the way you look at a hitter that has a lot of HRs, walks and high-run producing events — but has a lot of strikeouts.

Versus a contact hitter with a lot of singles but far fewer strikeouts. 

That is the area where Trout has shown himself to be one of the all-time elite players.  

That is why the number of strikeouts has become outdated.  

So more than one thing at a time can be true.  

Yes, Trout strikes out a lot. 
Yes, Trout produces far more runs than the average contact hitter that does not strikeout as much.  
Yes, he is an elite baseball player.  

I think that is where his ‘fans’ whoever they are fail to explain what they are seeing and realize is greatness.  

I do not know of any particular Trout ‘fans’ on here — just folks that see how good he has been.  

This is what the baseball gurus and pundits see and they are talking about when they say he is a generational talent.  

For comparison’s sake I will list the top ones some site had.  No idea if it is 100% accurate. But it looks fairly accurate at a glance:

1. Aaron Judge — ~177–178 wRC+
2. Mike Trout — ~165–171
3. Juan Soto — ~160–161
4. Shohei Ohtani — ~158–160
5. Freddie Freeman — ~145
6. Ronald Acuña Jr. — ~144
7. Bryce Harper — ~142
8. Paul Goldschmidt — ~141
9. Mookie Betts — ~135–138
10. Corey Seager / Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — ~137
<

 Top all-time hitters by career wRC+

1. Babe Ruth — 197
2. Ted Williams — 188
3. Barry Bonds — 173
4. Lou Gehrig — 172
5. Rogers Hornsby — 170
6. Mickey Mantle — 170
7. Mike Trout — ~165–170 (best active player, already top 10 all-time)
8. Ty Cobb — 168
9. Honus Wagner — 162
10. Stan Musial — 158
<

I'm sorry, but how can anyone find Mike Trout stats respectable, or much less a top-hitter. Seriously? How many times can the dude strike out? He's up to 8 in his last 10 at bats! That's hard to do.

Do people realize how hard it is to accomplish something that Mike Trout accomplished? Well, for starters, he won my wager for me again by striking out. Thank you little Mikey. But, do you people realize how hard it is for a MLB player to strikeout 8 times in 10 at bats. That's hard to do. Why doesn't ESPN write an article on this? This a major accomplishment. It rarely happens. And that's not a slump. When a player is in a slump. He hits the ball. He hits line drives. The ball isn't finding holes during a slump. When a player is it a slump, he rarely, actually, strikes out. ESPN needs to write an article on how many times this has happened. Because it's very rare. But the great Mike Trout has accomplished this feat several times. I just don't find it productive as a Major League hitter. I know guys will disagree with me. But I go with the eyeball test.

@Raiders22

 He doesn't care about your facts and detailed analysis comparing Trout to the history of the league. Texas Deranger has his eyeball test thru his rose-colored glasses...It's much more reliable.

Aaron Judge hasn't won a title either and he is on a team that spends way more than the Angels. He must suck too.

In 2026, in supposedly a down year according to Deranger...Trout leads the Angels in homeruns (10). He is only three off the leader for all teams. He is THIRD in onbase percentage in the entire league. TROUT is THIRD in RUNS SCORED in the entire league. Trout is 80 out of 193 qualified batters in average. Not great, but better than half. Trout is 27th overall in RBI's. TROUT is CURRENTLY 12th out of all players in OPS (.987)

So, in 2026 Trout is third overall in on base percentage, third in runs scored overall, top 10 in home runs, 27th over all in RBI's, and top 12 in OPS, but he sucks because he strikes out too much. Your eye test sucks. 

@TxRangers

 My friend you need to eat more carrots many many more.....

What are our thoughts on Shohei Ohtani? He has more strikeouts than Trout. An he surely has more fans, while being talked about by media and experts ad nauseum. 

Does he suck too?

@undermysac

 Nope, because his fans aren't crazy like Mike Trout fans are. That's the issue here. And once again like I've always said, I don't have a problem with trout, it's his fans. And once again, a player in the last 6 seasons that has 580 k's 430 hits .250 avg isn't productive and I don't know why everybody thinks it is??? 8 years in a row including this year he will have more strikeouts than the hits. Ohtani doesn't do this, Machado has never done this in his career, judge only a few times. Trout fans need to realize this isn't 2015 anymore, that was 10 years ago. 580 k's 430 hits, that's hard to do. No one else has these stats

@undermysac

 Whenever ohtani has more strikeouts than hits for 8 seasons in a row. Then you can mention them together. Whenever Machado has more strikeouts than hits for 8 seasons in a row. Actually he has never done this. Then we can talk about things. What is it going to take for Mike Trout's fans and the media to realize his career is over. Last year, fully healthy, 106 hits, 178 k's, 64 RBI's.220 BA. And this year he will have those same stats? And yet people think he needs to win the MVP. Effing hilarious

Last year, fully healthy, 106 hits, 178 strikeouts, 64 rbis, 220, and this year stats will be the same. Yet people thinks he's the greatest. Take away the Yankees series in which the ball was obviously flying out of the ballpark with 22 home runs hit. Trout has 5 home runs, 10 rbis, 210 avg. But everyone only mentions the Yankees series. Have you noticed. His fans and the media hasn't talked about ANYTHING ELSE. Only the Yankee series!

@undermysac

 How long can trout fans and the media "hang on" to the Yankees series? Where the ball was obviously flying out of the ballpark with 22 home runs were hit. But nobody mentions that. That was 3 weeks ago. Since the Yankees series. 5 RBI's 3 HR, 48 at bats, 13 hits, 17 k's. Before Yankee series, 7 RBI's, 2 HR, 53 at bats, 11 hits, 15 k's. 207 avg. Really? Trout fans are hanging on to 1 series? How long can they live off this one series? Because he hasn't done anything before or since.

Before the infamous Yankee series, 53 at bats, 2 home runs. And yet people think he's great??? After the Yankee series, 48 at bats 3 home runs, 5 RBI's. And yet people think he's great. HOW LONG CAN TROUT FANS AND THE MEDIA LIVE OFF A ONE WEEKEND WHERE THE BALL WAS OBVIOUSLY FLYING OUT OF THE PARK. THERE WERE 22 HOME RUNS HIT IN THAT SERIES.  BUT NO ONE WILL MENTION THAT. THEY WILL ONLY MENTION THAT THE GREAT MIKE TROUT HAD 5 HOME RUNS. They won't mention before the Yankees series were he had 2 home runs in 53 at bats

It's hilarious Mike Trout fans in the media are living off of 4 days of the season. Freaking hilarious. That's all they talk about, because that's all they CAN, talk about!!!

Hey trout fans! The Angels have played 11 series. Talk about the other 10 series trout has played in. Why do you only mention the Yankees series? Talk about the Mets series right now, the Padres series, the Toronto series. Why do you only talk about 1 series out of 11. Come on now? You have to be able to talk about more than 1 damn series. Will someone please talk to me about Angels versus Padres series and what Mike Trout's stats were? PLEASE, somebody talk to me about that series. Let's face reality.