Mike Trout may well hit 20 home runs in his last 20 games of 2022 at the rate he's been going. The Los Angeles Angels shouldn't need to be told to enjoy it while it lasts.
Instead, what they may really need to hear is that these next 20 games should also be Trout's last in an Angels uniform.
Trout himself has much to show for his 12 years with the Angels. The 31-year-old is a surefire future Hall of Famer whose credentials include 10 All-Star selections, three American League MVPs, a pair of contracts totaling over $500 million and enough statistical accolades to fill his own section on Baseball Reference's Stathead tool.
In that, one of the top entries would be Trout's recent home run barrage between Sep. 4 and 12. Though he fell short of tying the all-time record of eight games in a row, homering in seven straight games is still darned impressive.
Of course, the problem here is not how much Trout has to show for his time with the Angels, but how little the team has to show for it. His dozen years in Anaheim have coincided with just one playoff appearance and, as of now, seven losing seasons. At 61-81, the Angels need just one more loss to make it eight.
Per his announcement in August, Angels owner Arte Moreno has apparently determined that this problem need not be his anymore. He's looking to sell the team, which naturally puts many aspects of its future up in the air.
The Trout aspect, however, need not be a conundrum. The Angels should try to sell high on him in a trade this winter, for their sake and especially for his.
The Injuries Are Only Hurting Trout's Playing Time
As superhuman as Trout has looked for the bulk of his Angels tenure, the injuries he's sustained in the last six seasons give it away that he's merely an exceptional human.
There was the thumb surgery in 2017 and the foot surgery in 2019, followed by a calf strain that cost him all but 36 games in 2021. He more recently missed over a month of this season with a rib injury that the Angels found out was actually part of a rare back condition.
Yet it ought to be a part of Trout's legend that none of these injuries have been evident when he's been able to play. He's hit at .298/.429/.630 with a 185 OPS+ since 2017, with 162-game averages of 50 home runs and 17 stolen bases.
What he's doing this year is especially remarkable, as his 35 home runs rank second to Aaron Judge's 57 among American Leaguers even though he's taken only 420 plate appearances.