Mike Trout Has Weirdly Become a Terrible Fastball Hitter
Of the many trends generated by the 2023 season, from the inane to the goofy, this one might be the most puzzling: Mike Trout sees more fastballs than any hitter in baseball. And he’s doing little with them.
Trout’s Angels reached a season-high six games over .500 with a stirring comeback win against the first-place Rangers on Monday. Shohei Ohtani gained the AL home run lead with numbers 19 and 20. The bullpen has been superb. And yet Trout is mired in one of the longest and strangest slumps of his great career. Pitchers are getting him out the same way over and over. Trout has a good idea what’s coming, and he still can’t square up a fastball.
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“Yeah, I mean, we’re all seeing it,” Los Angeles manager Phil Nevin says. “We’re living it every day. It’s frustrating to Mike. When you’re talking about guys being among some of the best players in the world, there’s a reason why they’re talked about that way. It’s because of their work. He wants to be that good. So, this is frustrating to him, for sure.”
In general, pitchers go right after hitters with little power when it comes to a preponderance of fastballs. Here is the list of the hitters who see the most fastballs (four-seamers and sinkers). The four players behind Trout have hit five home runs combined. That makes sense. That Trout, with 14 home runs and big-time power, gets the “here-it-is-hit-it” treatment is downright stunning.
Most Fastballs, 2023 (Min. 500 Pitches)
| Player | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
1. | Mike Trout, Angels | 63.9 |
2. | Myles Straw, Guardians | 63.0 |
3. | Steven Kwan, Guardians | 60.8 |
4. | Austin Nola, Padres | 58.9 |
5. | Jon Berti, Marlins | 57.8 |
The Trout trend is building. In 33 games since May 7, Trout is slashing .208/.324/.375. It’s no secret how pitchers are getting him out. They have thrown him 82% fastballs in those 33 games. A pitcher, Madison Bumgarner, saw 51% fastballs in 2021, the last time he hit. Trout is hitting .174 against the steady flow of fastballs in that 33-game swoon.
Because of his high launch angle swing, Trout always has been vulnerable to fastballs at the top of the zone. That’s still the case, particularly during this slump. He is 1-for-20 on heaters in the top third of the zone during these 33 games. But pitchers are feeding him fastballs in all quadrants rather than showing him breaking or offspeed pitches, which he routinely crushes. Until he turns it around, this pattern of increased heaters will continue:
Trout vs. Fastballs, by Month
| Month | Percentage | Batting Average |
|---|---|---|
April | 58.5 | .273 |
May | 63.4 | .200 |
June | 78.2 | .115 |
“I’ve seen him go through this before,” Nevin says. “Maybe not for an extended period of time like this, but he took some good swings [Sunday], had a couple of hard-hit balls on good fastballs.
“I’ve also seen the other side of it, when he comes out of it and how crazy it just gets with the numbers. And I feel like that’s about ready to happen. You can tell and sense when Mike gets really close. And him close is better than most, and when he’s really good and he’s on, he’s obviously the best.”
Trout did give Nevin a few more of those optimistic signs Monday. He singled off a 91-mph Dane Dunning fastball and took three walks. Nevin said he planned to give Trout, 31, Tuesday off because he did not want him playing four straight games on the turf at Globe Life Field in Arlington. He doesn’t want to DH Trout as a “half day off” equivalent because that would mean sitting the red-hot Ohtani.
“Honestly, I’d rather Mike just have a complete day off,” Nevin says.
The good news for the Angels is they are 18–15 during Trout’s five-week slump, including seven wins in their past eight games. Energetic rookie shortstop Zach Neto, drafted out of Campbell College just last year, gets more impressive the more he plays. Closer Carlos Estévez has been one of the best under-the-radar free-agent signings. Homegrown starters Jaime Barria, Griffin Canning and Reid Detmers are fortifying the rotation, while Ohtani appears to have bumped into some fatigue on the mound (4.88 ERA over his past eight starts.)
Angels GM Perry Minasian acquired needed depth in the offseason, and it’s coming into play. The Angels are good enough to hang at least in the wild-card race, so forget about any Ohtani trade rumors. And once Trout climbs out of his fastball funk, Los Angeles might build something of a run.
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It’s been an odd season for Trout. His slugging is the lowest since he was a 19-year-old rookie, yet he’s still hitting the ball hard (92.0-mph average exit velocity, about where it’s been for the past three years). His problem is a very narrow one: a career .309 hitter against fastballs entering this year, he is hitting .211 this season against the greatest diet of fastballs any hitter is seeing.
Trout always has talked about his front foot as the key to his hitting success. When he gets his front foot down in time, he says, everything flows in proper sequence. When he doesn’t, he gets jumpy or late with his swing. According to Nevin, Trout is “getting close” to that special zone when he is on time. And when he does, the resurgent Angels will resemble a bona fide playoff contender even more.