2025 Fantasy Baseball: Mike Trout Profile, Preview, Predictions

Los Angeles Angels OF Mike Trout
Los Angeles Angels OF Mike Trout / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
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Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout was once an obvious first-round selection in high-stakes fantasy baseball leagues. However, injuries and a decrease in production has knocked him out of the top 100 players heading into the 2025 season. Trout is the epitome of a high-risk, high-reward player due to the unpredictable nature of injuries. Let's take a look at his career and what we can expect heading into the upcoming campaign.

Mike Trout, LAA (ADP – 142.6)

2025 Mike Trout Hitting Stats Profile
2025 Mike Trout Hitting Stats Profile / Shawn Childs

Over the past four seasons, Trout missed 389 games with multiple injuries. He hit .276 with 179 runs, 76 home runs, 156 RBIs, and 11 steals over his last 972 at-bats, translating to 101 runs, 43 home runs, and 88 RBIs with 550 at-bats.

Strikeouts became a problem for him from 2021 to 2023 (28.7%, 27.9%, and 28.1%), but he made strides (21.4%) in this area over his 126 plate appearances last season. Trout’s average hit rate (2.458) was elite over a small sample size of at-bats (126). His contact batting average (.293) was out of line for his career path (.397 in 2023 and .415 in 2022) while only driving in four of his possible 75 baserunners. He had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee in early May that reemerged in late July, leading to a second surgery.

In 2022, Trout played well over his first 246 at-bats (.285 with 53 runs, 23 home runs, and 47 RBIs) while missing some time due to an illness plus hand and groin issues. In mid-July, a back/rib injury led to only 22 games played (19-for-83 with nine runs, five home runs, and 11 RBIs) over the next two months. When Trout returned in September, he bashed 12 home runs over 109 at-bats with 23 runs and 22 RBIs while hitting .321.

A left-hand injury in July of 2023 led to surgery to repair a hamate bone fracture. The issue lingered for the rest of the year, leading to only one more game played. His RBI rate (12) was a career-low, with weakness in this area in 2021 (13.0). Trout started the year with success in April (.308/20/7/18 over 107 at-bats), but he only hit .239 for the rest of the season (201 at-bats) with 34 runs, 11 home runs, 26 RBIs, and two steals.

His exit velocity (89.2) was well below his career average (91.1) in 2024, along his hard-hit rate (41.5 – over 50.0% over his previous four seasons). Trout hit 56.1% fly balls last season, with strength in his HR/FB rate (21.7%).

Fantasy Outlook: It’s been five seasons since Trout had 600 plate appearances and winning stats. He checks the home run box in a big way while falling into the risk/reward category. At this point, a full-time DH role could revive his career at least in the health department. A fantasy drafter can’t predict when an injury happens, so tee him up and hope for at least four healthy months before missing time.

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Shawn Childs
SHAWN CHILDS

With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.