Mike Trout surely does not want to leave the Bronx. The Angels beat the Yankees on Thursday afternoon (LA 11, NY 4) to earn a split of the four-game series at Yankee Stadium. Trout homered again Thursday and went deep in all four games of the series. He joined George Bell (1990), Darrell Evans (1985), and Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx (1933) as the only players in history to hit five home runs in a regular-season series against the Yankees.

“There’s been a lot of great players that played here. It’s awesome,” Trout said following Thursday’s win.

All told, Trout went 6 for 16 (.375) with five home runs and three walks in the four-game set against the Yankees, and he’s up to 13 homers in 34 career games at Yankee Stadium. That’s a 62 homers per 162 games pace. Trout went into this week’s series hitting .208/.400/.377 and left hitting .246/.416/.594. Even this early in the season, it’s really hard to add 233 points to your OPS in one series, but Trout did it in the Bronx this week.

This series was a flashback to Trout’s prime, when he was the game’s best player and an all-around force. But a series of injuries limited him to 396 of 810 possible games from 2021-25, and ushered in his decline. Even when healthy last season, Trout authored a .232/.359/.439 batting line while spending most of his time at DH. A great season for most players, that is, but a far cry from what Trout was at his peak from 2012-22.

While one historically great season does not a resurgence make, there are signs Trout is maybe not all the way back to his peak, but bouncing back from a few down seasons. First and foremost, he’s healthy right now. The legs and body are healthy and that is the single most important thing for any player. Trout moved back to center field this year because he believed it would help keep him on the field. The super early returns are promising.

Trout has also made a slight adjustment at the plate. Specifically, he’s using a little step back before unleashing his swing. This is not new. This is something Trout did earlier in his career when he was a perennial MVP candidate, though he’d gotten away from it in recent seasons. It’s back now, though:

The result has been much harder contact and also more contact in general. Going into Thursday’s game, Trout was running a 93.5 mph average exit velocity and a 28.6% barrel rate in the early going. Those numbers are up from 90.9 mph and 15.8% last year, respectively, and well above the 89.1 mph and 8.1% league averages. I know we’re oversaturated with exit velocity these days, but it is very important. Good things happen when you hit the ball hard.

Long one of the game’s most disciplined hitters, Trout has upped his in-zone swing rate from 55.9% last year to 61.3% this year. He’s also upped his in-zone contact rate from 82.0% last year to 93.0% this year. For reference, the MLB averages are 65.0% in-zone swings and 85.3% in-zone contact. Trout’s swinging at more pitches in the zone now, he’s making more contact with those swings, and he is punishing the baseball. That is an excellent recipe.

Angels star Mike Trout homers again, achieves a Yankee Stadium first since 2013

Matt Snyder

All the under-the-hood numbers are exceptional. That has been the case throughout Trout’s career, though things began to slip in the last 2-3 years. That’s perfectly normal for a 34-year-old ballplayer. Decline comes for everyone. In Trout’s case, he went from best in the league to merely above-average. Now that he’s healthy, he’s once again putting up numbers on par with his very best seasons. There’s no fluke here. Trout’s deserved his impressive results.

It is a long season. Thursday’s win improved the Angels to 10-10, so they’ve had a respectable start. They have another 142 games to play and the difference between reaching the postseason and missing it for the 12th straight season could very well be keeping Trout on the field. When he’s healthy, he’s still an impact player. We saw it this week in New York. 

The arrow is pointing way up right now. He’s been great, and a healthy Trout changes the Angels’ outlook significantly.