Its May 3rd and Mike Tyler Glasnow Jersey Trout is batting .413.He also has seven homers, a .515 on-base percentage and 1.290 OPS, with 2.0 bWAR and 259 OPS+.What Im seeing right now is pretty darn good, Angels manager Joe Maddon told reporters on a recent pregame Zoom call.MORE: Even a sore elbow he was hit on a pitch by Houstons Christian Javier on April 22 proved to be nothing more than a hiccup. He mi sed a couple of games, but has hit .458 in the six games since hes returned to the lineup.This is, by most measurements, his best start to a season. Those numbers we referenced are all career bests to start a season, with the exception of the home runs. Trout had 11 homers through May 2 in 2018, but only a .433 on-base percentage and 1.084 OPS.So, two questions pop to mind. Trout struggled a bit in the shortened 2020 season; his on-base percentage fell under .400 for the first time since 2014 and he posted the lowest OPS+ of his career (164).Yes, every word of that sentence is ridiculous. His down season still resulted in a fifth-place finish in the AL MVP race.Youre talking about somebody in a different galaxy. Even when hes going badly, its still really good, Maddon said. The standards for him are so high, its very difficult to maintain them constantly. Just by the conversation that surrounds him that were all aware of, I think the Andrew Kittredge Jersey right word maybe is pre sure. He feels this pre sure to at least be that, Wilson Ramos Jersey and hes always tried to do more. Hes got this high standard to live up to and he does.The key so far this year, Trout told reporters via Zoom, is timing.It all starts with getting that foot down, he said. When its not down, I dont recognize pitches, the chase rate goes up. Being on time and recognizing the pitch is big. A month does not a season make, of course. Hes played 23 games, which is a crazy-small sample size. And yet, weve learned to expect greatne s from Trout in his career. If he retired tomorrow, he would be a first-ballot Hall of Fame choice.Still, Trout is not going to hit .400. Well, hes almost certainly not going to hit .400. Hes only topped .315 twice, and that was way back in his rookie Emilio Pagan Jersey year of 2012 (.326) and in 2013 (.323). He hasnt even finished at .300 since 2018. To hit .400 would be a huge jump.Trout obviously isnt the first person to finish April with a batting average north of .400. Since 1961, when baseball expanded its season to 162 games, a total of 72 players have finished April with at least 75 plate appearances and an average of .400 or better.You already know how many of those 72 finished at .400 or better: Zero. No hitter has topped .400 for an entire season since Ted Williams batted .406 in 1941.Barry Bonds tops that list of 72; he was batting .472 with 10 homers and a .696 not a typo on-base percentage at the end of April 2004. He finished at .362, 45 and .609.A few other end-of-April notables Larry Walker was at .456 in 1997, when he finished at .366 Tony Gwynn had an average north of .400 at the end of April three times (1984, 1996 & 1999). Bonds, Rod Carew, Paul ONeill and Jose De Leon Jersey Pete Rose all finished April with an average of .400 or better twice in their careers. Pete OBrien did it twice, too, in back-to-back years! He was batting .433 at the end of April 1988, and he finished at .272; he was batting .400 in 1989 and finished at .260.Again, its a small sample size, but Trout is crushing the baseball so far this year.Here are a few StatCast numbers, from BaseballSavant.com, which tracks numbers starting from 2015: His hard-hit percentage is 58.9 percent. His barrel percentage is 19.6. His average exit velocity is 93.8. All three of those totals are StatCast-era bests for him. And remember, he won two AL MVP awards and finished second two other times in that era.Could he top 50 homers for the first time? Set a career high for doubles? Crack the 11-bWAR club? Those things are Jalen Beeks Jersey all po sible in his Age 29 season.Hes got everything going on right now, Maddon said.
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