Angels News: MLB Writer Predicts Mike Trout Will Be Home-Run Leader

Could Mike be the home run king in 2023?

Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout is still at the top of his game. He just led Team USA to the WBC championship game and is still widely regarded as one of the best baseball players. 

He's a 10-time All-Star, three-time MVP, nine-time silver slugger, and a two-time All-Star MVP. We all know what else is missing from his resume, and that's not his fault, but what else can he possibly do that he controls? It's hard to find one, but the Athletics MLB senior writer Eno Sarris believes Trout could have a historic 2023 season. 

In Sarris' column on Friday, he made 10 bold predictions, one of them being that Mike will set a new career high in home runs and lead the league in dingers. 

Two reasons. First, the numbers. Barrel rate is more predictive of future power than any other single power stat — probably because it’s actually launch angle and exit velocity wrapped into one stat, meaning it’s not really one stat, but that’s a digression — and Trout just keeps Barreling more balls as his career goes on.

But the second half of this is soft science, about motivation and where Trout is in his career. He has a teammate in Shohei Ohtani that looks like he’s the best player of all time, and who is in the last year of his contract. The Angels have made the postseason once with Trout on the team. Now he’s coming off a WBC run that he told Ken Rosenthal was “unbelievably fun” and “the funnest experience I’ve had on a baseball field.” He’s extremely motivated to win for two reasons: the obvious, annual need to win. And also, the need to convince Ohtani to stay.

Trout's career-high in home runs is 45, which he set in 2019. He played in 134 games and had 600 plate appearances that season. It'll be tough to top that since he would need to stay healthy and play in some meaningful baseball down the stretch. 

This season feels like a do-or-die for the Halos, as the big heavy could of Shohei Ohtani's pending free agency is hanging over Orange County. The Angels be in the hunt for the playoffs, and if that requires Trout to hit close to 50 dingers, then so be it. 

The 31-year-old has shown no signs of slowing down and will be ready to play competitive baseball throughout the year.