ANAHEIM — There are now 59 members of baseball’s 400 Home Run Club. Of those, only 44 are in the Hall of Fame, and with most of those who aren’t the reason is obvious. They were part of the PED discussion that inflamed passions for most of the last three decades: Barry Bonds (762), Alex Rodriguez (696), Sammy Sosa (609), Mark McGwire (583) and the like.
But even with those who didn’t and don’t carry a whiff of such suspicion, entry into the hallowed halls of Cooperstown is no sure thing after hitting No. 400. Rodriguez is still on the outside looking in, as are Manny Ramirez (555), Carlos Beltran (435) and Andruw Jones (434) from last year’s BBWAA balloting. Carlos Delgado (473), Adam Dunn (462), Dave Kingman (442) and Paul Konerko (439) will have to depend on one of the veterans’ committees – and maybe some papal lobbying from White Sox fan Pope Leo XIV would boost Konerko’s case.
So where does this leave Angels star Mike Trout, who cracked his 400th last week in Colorado?
In this precinct, among those who have watched his entire career, Trout would seem just as much of a first ballot no-doubter as the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw. Beyond 400 home runs, Trout has won three league MVP trophies, appeared in 11 All-Star Games (and was MVP in two of those), won nine Silver Slugger awards and, going into Wednesday’s game with Kansas City, has amassed a career WAR of 86.9, leading the American League in that category five straight seasons (2012-16, his first full seasons in the big leagues) and the majors in four of those five.
Through his first nine seasons, Trout’s Baseball Reference statistical summary was filled with boldface black numbers, representing league-leading numbers: Six seasons leading in OPS+, four in on-base percentage, three in slugging percentage, four in runs scored, one in RBIs, one in total bases, one in steals, three in walks, one in total bases, three in intentional walks.
But …
Kershaw’s case is bolstered by playing for a team that, for the last 13 seasons, has been part of the October conversation. He has had his issues in the postseason, of course, but he has had the advantage of playing for good teams and playing in important games, all of which can burnish a player’s national profile.
From that standpoint, Trout’s Cooperstown resumé is cloudier.
You can make the case that the last truly significant game the Angels played in was Oct. 5, 2014, an 8-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals that completed a three-game sweep of the AL Division Series and triggered a run in which the Royals reached the seventh game of the 2014 World Series before losing to the San Francisco Giants, and then beat the New York Mets to win it all the next year.
The MLB postseason that begins next week will be the 11th straight in which the Angels have not been involved. As their season careens to a close this week, with a 70-87 record going into Wednesday night, a last-place finish assured and the only record within reach being that for strikeouts in a season by the offense, contention seems as far away as it’s ever been.
And if Trout has been a subject of national conversation, it has been from those voices – mostly based in the Eastern time zone – who were suggesting that for his own good, and the good of the game, and a dozen other rationalizations, Trout should be playing anywhere but Anaheim (but particularly New York, Philadelphia, etc.). And never mind that Trout has five years and $177.25 million left on the 12-year deal he signed with the Angels in March of 2019.
He has spent the back end of his career tormented by injuries: Torn thumb ligament (2017), calf strain (2021), back inflammation (’22), broken hamate in his left hand (’23), torn meniscus in his left knee (’24). From 2021 through ’24 he played, respectively, 36, 119, 82 and 29 games.
He missed 26 games early this season because of a bone bruise in his left knee, and since returning in late May he’s been primarily a DH.
The bright side? After a season of struggle at the plate (.227 average, 22 homers, 59 RBIs, 175 strikeouts, 113 OPS+ and 1.0 WAR), which Trout attributed to some mechanical flaws with his head movement that limited his ability to detect what was coming, he said Tuesday night that he feels like he’s unlocked some things that provide some optimism going into 2026.
“I think if I can get back to where I felt (physically) this last week and a half, two weeks for a full season, it’ll be a different story,” he said.
That might have been part of what made No. 400 as special as it was. It had been a grind to get there – 37 games and 130 at-bats between No. 398, on Aug. 6 against Tampa Bay’s Shane Baz, and No. 400, Saturday night in Colorado against Jaden Hill. His numbers in that span: 26 for 130 (.200), 18 runs scored, eight RBIs.
“The hard thing for me is I was getting great results in the cage, where it felt really good,” Trout said Tuesday night. “And then in the game, it was just like everything sped up and I’ve never dealt with that. And it was tough for me to go to the box knowing, trying to help the team win and compete.
“And that’s … why you saw, like, frustration and all the relief and the the thing building up to 398, 399, you know, because it was a grind for me and (I’ve) never been through anything like this.”
And if he can get that magic back, and stay healthy for a prolonged period – no guarantee for a guy who is 34, but not impossible – he might indeed be getting into Cooperstown on that first ballot.
jalexander@scng.com