Tempe, Arizona. -Yeah, you better believe that Mike Trout saw it.
He’s away from social media, but in recent rankings from the MLB network, he only ranks as the 39th best player in baseball.
He understood that, but you believe it provided all the motivations he needed to prove everyone wrong this year again.
“Oh, yeah…” he said with a laugh. “That kind of thing will fire you a little.”
Trout realized that he has only played 111 games for the Los Angeles Angels in the past two years and has not played more than 140 games since 2016. Famer’s.
Follow all MLB games: Latest MLB scores, statistics, schedules, and rankings.
“They’ve been in the last few years,” Trout said Monday morning. “I wasn’t there.
“I know where I stand.”
Mass arrived at camp for his 15th season, this time as Angel’s new right fielder.
Angels managers Ron Washington and GM Perry Minasian met personally with Mass on Sunday to let him know that he’s been moving from center field to the right field, and will also be used as DH.
Simply put, the angels believe that the switching position offers him a better chance to stay healthy.
Trout, 33, has been an Angels’ everyday center fielder since 2014, has not played the right field since 2012, and has only played 17 games in his career.
But if this move keeps him healthy and better for the team, he says he’s everything for it.
Plus, if the 9th Gold Globe Center Fielder Tori Hunter can ask the Angels to move from the center field to the right field, who will he argue?
“They threw everything on the table. What’s best for me in terms of body, keep me on the field,” Trout said. “I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m going to go to the right field. I’ll try it and see where it goes.”
Former Angels manager Joe Maddon broached the idea of mass moving out of the central field two years ago, but he remained in the central until now.
“I knew it was coming,” Trout said. “I’ve just gotten used to it…I’m trying to save my feet and go outside and run the ball to the right.”
Trout knows it will certainly be a different play field, but he plans to talk to Hunter, a special assistant to the Angels organization, and gathers his thoughts when he comes to camp. .
“There are a lot of people who have moved to the right field that I was going to talk about,” Trout said. “Look at the difference, get out there and be comfortable in the spring.”
Trout hit 10 home runs in 14 RBI in the first 29 games last year to steal six bases, but in late April he tore Meniscus in his left knee and suffered the same injury as attempting to rehabilitate a minor. I was owed.
It was the latest injury and plagued season after playing with broken hands in 36 games in 2021, 36 games due to calf injuries, 119 games in 2022 and 82 games in 2023.
He says he “feels like he is,” and comes to camplight and doesn’t play differently than he has in the past.
“I’m not going to limit myself,” Trout said. “I can still play the game hard, and that’s the only way I know how to play, but it only limits the overall beatdown and wear and tears.
“That’s the biggest thing. The last few years have been tough.”
There is less ground to cover in the right field, and more games as DH could lead to more games from the trainer’s room.
“I think you’re trying to limit crazy plays and I think moving to the right field would help a bit,” Trout said. “Centre field, you’re running the gap from the gap. I think mixing in DH is just like that, it’s like that, it’s like a sea howie. You need a break. That’s the wash, the front office, the coach. It is open communication with.
Trout still has six years and $212 million contract left, so he certainly won’t go anywhere. He remains the face of the franchise and has a complete non-trade clause. He resembles the perennial MVP candidate who hit 0.308 with a 1.009 OPS again, and if he averages 35 Homer and 92 RBIs per year from 2012 to 2019, he can fly Angels into competition. They have only been in the postseason once in their Trout career.
Without anything else, Monster Year can debate whether it’s better for the angels to trade him, and help them use their savings to return to Al West’s powers.
That’s another day’s discussion.
For now, Mass has returned in his new position and has been fired to prove that many people are wrong.
“Yeah,” he said.
X: Follow NightEngale at @BignyEngale