Angels News: Mike Trout Reveals Feelings Behind Shohei Ohtani Striking Him Out in WBC Championship

He was looking to dominate his star teammate!

The Los Angeles Angels are in the midst of one of their most productive and successful starts to a season in the past couple of years. They already cracked 40 wins and have won some big series including a big one over the Texas Rangers. Shohei Ohtani is putting together yet another AL MVP campaign and is on a hot streak at the plate as he's been able to bat .377 with nine homers this month.

His superstar teammate is finally starting to shake off his own rust in June and even though the Angels were still able to win four straight series during his struggles, they are a much bigger threat with him playing up to his usual par. 

Angels fans got an early glimpse at what to expect from both Ohtani and Trout during the 2023 WBC as both of them dominated en route to a championship matchup. In nine games, Trout was able to lead USA to greatness as he batted .350 with three homers.

However, The Unicorn was the one person that stopped Trout and Team USA from capturing their second gold medal. Ohtani was able to record a .435 batting average to go with a 1.86 ERA as he and Team Japan were the last men standing.

And we all remember how the tournament ended... Trout stepping up to the plate against Ohtani and getting struck out!

OHTANI STRIKES OUT TROUT TO WIN THE WBC FINAL 😲 #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/5pudorQph8

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 22, 2023

This was a super legendary moment that went down in the history books of baseball. Two of the biggest MLB stars ever that just so happen to be teammates were the deciding factors in a massive international championship and this was right before what could be their final season together in Anaheim.

Trout hasn't spoken too much about the game or final play in the months following but he finally shed some light on it in a recent appearance on Mookie Bett's own show 'On Base With Mookie Betts.'

Listening to Mike Trout talking to Mookie Betts about facing Shohei Ohtani in the WBC is peak baseball fan content. #GoHalos
pic.twitter.com/IZ3z4LQJcc

— Sportsbook Review (@SBRReview) June 21, 2023

The 31-year-old star revealed that he wanted to take Ohtani deep and that was the only thing on his mind.

"I missed some pitches I should've hit," said Trout. "I gotta go deep. That's what I was thinking, I'm going to be real with you.. I have to go deep here. It might've messed me up and took me out of my approach. That was the one thing on my mind."

(Via On Base With Mookie Betts)

Trout also revealed that that was the first time he ever faced Ohtani at the plate... but we're not too sure how true that is.

"I haven't faced him in live BP so I haven't seen him, I just see him from behind."

(Via On Base With Mookie Betts)

We certainly hope we have plenty more years of this duo ahead of us.