As the league’s face for the past ten or so years, Mike Trout’s remarkable MLB career will be difficult to locate a downturn in. With three AL MVPs and nine Silver Slugger Awards on his CV, the 11-time All-Star will undoubtedly be inducted into Cooperstown among baseball’s greatest players when his career ends.

His postseason success is the one area of his career that remains unfulfilled. Again, though, baseball is a team sport, and a player can only achieve so much on their own.

When compared to other seasons, Trout’s poorest ones can be considered excellent. Seasons when he played less than 100 games, including his debut season in 2011, 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024, are not taken into consideration in order to be fair in the evaluation and have a sufficient sample size.

Mike Trout’s three worst seasons were ranked #3. Season of 2014

This may surprise some fans, but based on the metrics, Mike Trout had his third-worst season this year even though he was named the AL MVP. That year, he recorded his fifth-worst oWAR (8.8) and third-worst WAR (7.7). Most notably, with a -0.7 dWAR, he had his second-worst outfield defensive performance.

In addition, across 705 plate appearances, he only managed 83 walks and a career-high 184 strikeouts. He batted at the end of the year.287, including 36 home runs, 48 extra base hits, 16 stolen bases, 111 RBIs, and an MLB-high 115 runs scored.

It was in this year that Trout received a $144.5 million, six-year contract deal with the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels’ previous postseason qualification occurred during this season as well. But they fell short against the Kansas City Royals in the AL divisional series.

2. The 2017–18 campaign

Trout had his second-worst season ever in 2017 in terms of oWAR (7.2) and WAR (7.2). His 0.0 dWAR defensive rating was only slightly better than his 2014 and 2013 campaigns. Interestingly, he was an All-Star and came in fourth in the MVP voting, yet he was not awarded the Silver Slugger.

Trout sprained his left thumb throughout the season, missing 39 games before making his comeback on July 14. He only played 114 games that season. He led his club in walks (94), runs (92), home runs (33), stolen bases (22), and batting average (.306) despite missing a lot of time.

The Angels concluded the season with an 80-82 record, good for second place in the AL West. But they were not in the postseason.

1. The season of 2022

Shohei Ohtani had already supplanted Mike Trout as the Angels’ premier player by this point. It’s safe to assume that 2022 was his worst decline, as he had the lowest WAR (4.6) and oWAR (6.3) of any season taken into account. In 119 games, he hit.283/.369/.630 with 40 home runs and 80 RBIs.

He was diagnosed with costovertebral dysfunction, an uncommon form of back illness, and missed time in July and August. Nevertheless, he was selected as an All-Star, finished eighth in the MVP voting, and won Silver Slugger awards. With a final record of 73-89, the Angels were once again unable to secure a postseason berth.

Trout is hitting.220 on the season so far, with 10 home runs, 14 RBIs, and an.867 OPS.