DENVER -- Mike Trout hasn’t been Mike Trout in 2025. And he’s the first one to admit that.
But as a trying season winds down for the three-time American League MVP and 11-time All-Star, we saw a glimpse of his vintage self on Saturday night at Coors Field.
During the Angels’ 3-0 victory over the Rockies to snap a season-long eight-game losing streak, Trout launched the 400th home run of his illustrious career.
“Coming into this season, that was on the list,” Trout said. “I’m just happy it’s over. I’m enjoying it, obviously … my buddies back home and my family back in Jersey can stop texting me to make the 400 [club].”
In his final plate appearance on Saturday, Trout crushed a 3-1 fastball from Rockies reliever Jaden Hill a Statcast-projected 485 feet into the left-center-field bleachers. It was Trout’s 22nd home run of the season and his second since Aug. 6 (he hit his 399th on Sept. 11).
With the titanic shot, the 34-year-old became the second active player with at least 400 home runs, joining Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who smashed his 450th earlier on Saturday.
Trout is the 59th player in AL/NL history to reach 400 homers but just the 20th to hit all 400 with one franchise. He was already the franchise leader in homers, surpassing Tim Salmon’s 299 in 2020, and he is the third to reach the mark while with the Angels, joining Hall of Famers Dave Winfield (Aug. 14, 1991 at Minnesota) and Vladimir Guerrero (Aug. 10, 2009 vs. Tampa Bay).
Before Trout’s milestone homer on Saturday, only four others had 400+ homers and 200+ steals by their age-33 campaign (Trout has 214 steals): Willie Mays, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.
The clout on Saturday was Trout’s third-longest homer tracked by Statcast, and he now has three home runs of at least 485 feet since Statcast began tracking in 2015, the most of any player. Number 400 -- his 200th on the road -- was also the 10th-longest home run tracked by Statcast at Coors Field.
“It was good that I knew I got it,” Trout said. “… Just one of the ones when you’re in Colorado and you barrel one, you know it’s going.”
Of course, this ball would have been way out in any park. It was a magnificent moment in a season that, for Trout individually and for the Halos as a group, has been difficult.
Though he has played in more games this year (124) than in any season since 2019 (134), Trout has been hampered by injury (a bone bruise on his surgically repaired left knee sidelined him for a month) and has seen his offensive production slide significantly.
He showed plenty of power before his bone bruise, hitting nine homers through his first 29 games, but since coming back, he’s been getting on base at a healthy clip as his power numbers have declined. He’s hitting .229/.358/.414 this year, which is a departure from his career slash line of .294/.407/.569.
“I’ve been battling it pretty much all year,” Trout said. “Just recognizing the ball, seeing the ball. It seems like the majority of the year, I would take a few pitches early -- good pitches to hit -- and then start chasing because I’m trying to get going.
“Playing defense instead of being on the offensive side.”
He was certainly on the offensive side when he connected for No. 400 on Saturday. It is a tremendous accomplishment, but Trout seemed destined to reach some of the game’s all-time marks much like his former teammate Albert Pujols, whose 703 homers rank as the fourth-most in AL/NL history.
Trout was hurt by the shortened 60-game 2020 season and has been limited due to various injuries in recent seasons. He played in 36 games in 2021 (calf injury), 119 games in '22 (back issues), 82 games in '23 (hamate fracture) and 29 games last season after having the meniscus in his left knee repaired twice.
Still, his achievement is a momentous one. And with it, Trout will be tied to a family of four sitting in the left-center-field bleachers on this night.
A fan named Alberto caught Trout’s homer barehanded, and after the game, he, his wife and two children met Trout and exchanged the ball for three signed bats. He also got a unique experience -- a game of catch.
As Trout visited with the family, Alberto told him what he told his son just before Trout connected:
“He has a lot of power.”