ANAHEIM -- After reaching 1,000 career RBIs on a two-run homer on July 27, superstar Mike Trout is nearing another impressive milestone.
Trout crushed a three-run shot off right-hander Shane Baz in the third inning of Wednesday’s 5-4 loss to the Rays, giving him 398 career homers. He’s now just two homers away from becoming the second active player to reach 400 blasts, as Giancarlo Stanton (439) is the only current player who has reached that mark.
“I've definitely been thinking about it,” Trout said. “But the biggest thing for me is if I can trust the work in the cage and translate [that work to] the game. And then 400 will come.”
Trout, a three-time AL MVP and 11-time All-Star, also reached 200 career homers at Angel Stadium, becoming just the 27th player in MLB history to have at least 200 homers in one ballpark. He’s also the only player to ever have 200 homers and 100 stolen bases in one stadium.
“Obviously he's coming up on milestones, and those are great. But all he cares about is winning,” said interim manager Ray Montgomery. “The personal stuff, he'll put that aside for the win, for sure.”
Trout struck out in his first at-bat, but came through with a game-tying blast in his second. Baz threw a 3-2 knuckle curveball at the bottom of the zone and Trout smacked it a Statcast-projected 433 feet to left field. It was the 20th homer of the year for the 15-year veteran, giving him his 10th career season with at least 20 long balls.
“My last few at-bats felt better,” Trout said. “Just pulling off balls. My work in the cage has been great, just trying to translate it into the game. I’m just getting stuck on the backside and flying open. So it’s just about trusting my work.”
Trout, who turns 34 on Thursday, hasn’t quite produced at his usual level this season. He has been dealing with a bone bruise in his surgically repaired left knee since he injured it while stepping on the first-base bag on April 30. He missed exactly a month with the injury before returning on May 30, but has been relegated to designated hitter duty since then.
Trout, who was moved from center field to right field before the season, has twice tried to do pregame outfield work to try to return to defense but has shut it down both times. He’s still hopeful he’ll return to the outfield at some point this season, but will remain the club’s everyday DH until his knee feels good enough to play right.
Trout did show off his speed with an infield single in the eighth, reaching a sprint speed of 29.7 feet per second, which was his second-fastest sprint time of the year. Unfortunately, the Angels couldn’t score that inning despite loading the bases with nobody out.
“It’s feeling a little better,” Trout said. “There's times where I have to run hard. I was trying to get that inning started there and get the base hit. But we gave ourselves chances and we didn't execute.”
With Trout not able to play the outfield, the Angels brought up Bryce Teodosio to be their regular center fielder on Saturday, which moved Jo Adell back to right field. Teodosio showed off his defensive prowess with a spectacular diving catch in center to take away a hit from Yandy Díaz in the third.
Trout showed plenty of power before the injury, homering nine times in 29 games. Since he’s returned, he’s hit for more average and drawn more walks, but has seen his power numbers decline.
Trout slashed .179/.264/.462 before the bone bruise. Since rejoining the lineup, he’s had a slash line of .272/.412/.475 with 11 homers and 32 RBIs in 58 games. The 87 games he’s played this year are his most since 2022, when he played in 119 games and reached the 40-homer milestone, as he was limited to 82 games in '23 because of a hamate fracture and 29 games in '24 because of a torn meniscus in his left knee.
Trout could reach the 400-homer milestone this weekend with three games against the first-place Tigers. If he doesn’t get it there, though, the Angels return for three home games against the rival Dodgers from Monday to Wednesday before traveling for a three-game series against the Athletics next weekend.
“I look forward to when it happens,” Trout said. “It should be pretty cool.”