He Was MLB’s Best Player, Then He Disappeared

Thanks for watching! Mike Trout was the face of Baseball for YEARS. But has recently been faced with injury, being overshadowed by Shohei Ohtani, and a decline in his MLB Performance. But.. why?
Purely Baseball Twitter / purelybaseball1
#mlb #documentary
Title: He Was MLB’s Best Player, Then He Disappeared
By: Purely Baseball

[@Henkely1405]

He was the first to get to 10 home runs this year. Trout still is a crazy talent just always hurt

[@masonmalaguti3463]

True but was also hitting 220 and striking out alot

[@Henkely1405]

@@masonmalaguti3463 Good point He had 27 strike outs but that only equates to less then 1 per game. He had 16 walks and 14 RBI's 10 of them from his homeruns which ment no one else was getting on base for those. He had 6 stolen bases as well. This is a total of 109 ABs, These are not bad numbers for the first month and 2nd place in home runs was 7 at the time

[@masonmalaguti3463]

@@Henkely1405 I agree his only issue was batting average and ofc his health. I don't know if he's ever gonna bounce back from injury tho which sucks to see as he's only 32

[@user-mn9wc5ru5w]

Mike Trout is washed up

[@masonmalaguti3463]

@@user-mn9wc5ru5w health wise yea

[@CharmCityGamer]

I can tell you what's off. The Angels med staff. They are fucking KILLING this man! Forget team loyalty Mike, ditch this sinking ship! Thanks PB!

[@PurelyBaseballYT]

Of course np! Also yes completely agree

[@CharmCityGamer]

@@PurelyBaseballYT Glad ya do.

[@kelvanince4626]

You make quite a lot of exaggerated points. And using Stephen A Smith as a source for information isn't exactly solid.

[@PurelyBaseballYT]

@@kelvanince4626 Always looking to improve, so i’d like feedback on what specifically was exaggerated, if you don’t mind?

[@TristanMoreno-gt7po]

Perfect just Perfect ur doin great dude Love ya!

[@kelvanince4626]

@@PurelyBaseballYT In the interest of time, I'll limit it to a few of them: "He quickly became a disappointing example of what could have been in only a few years" - Trout is one of the best ever. Even if he never plays again, that won't change. What are you referring to with this 'could have been' statement? The best ever? That's subjective. And some already have him there anyway. Regardless, he was the best modern day players and I think everyone knows exactly what we are missing rather than what we could be missing, as you suggest. - His injuries haven't happened quickly. They have happened slowly over the past four years or so. They were gradual. Not sudden. - Trouts case is not a disappointing one from a 'what could have been' point of view personally towards him. He has already achieved a lot. "Overshadowed by Ohtani, performance-wise" - This is not true at all. When both have been on the field and healthy both have played excellently. In fact, during the seasons when both have played a large number of games, Trouts stats are better than Ohtani's. - When Trout is healthy he is either still the best or right up there. But he certainly isn't overshadowed. By anyone. Looking at his stats, like WAR for example, he is the one overshadowing most of the best players ever. - Because Ohtani is hitting a lot of home runs this year doesn't make Trout bad. In fact, Trout had more home runs before he got injured. I sense way too much recency bias with that statement. "Shell of his former self" - Also not true. His problems have been injury related. Not performance related. When he is on the field, he is playing well. "Nobody seems to understand why or how this happened so quickly" - I disagree with this point as well. I think everyone knows. He has had bad and consistent injuries. And they have been over time. They haven't come quickly. You also make references to Trouts lack of World series, playoff appearances, etc... as a negative towards him. Its a team sport. He has been loyal to a bad team. Not his fault they can't sort it out. I will stop here. I'm not trying to be a hater. I actually like a lot of your videos. The White Sox one you did in-particular was great. I just disagree with a lot of what you said here.

[@marcusmcgraw3519]

@@PurelyBaseballYT Nothing you said was exaggerated. This guy is taking your points too literally because he cant argue them without putting his personal bias into it. Obviously you meant that "what could have been" was referring to him being on a franchise capable of reaching postseason success. Everything else is a reach by him as well, aside from the one point about injuries being the reason he's appeared to decline so quickly

[@kelvanince4626]

@@marcusmcgraw3519 Perosnal bias? I'm not even an Angels fan pal.

[@mostly_baseball]

Trout NEEEDS to pull a harper and move to 1B or be a DH forever, and limit his baserunning. Because whenever he comes back, he's always amazing, this man is never in a slump, just look at the beginning of this year, he was on a MVP pace, his bat is so much more important than his glove right now, and the angels don't see that

[@1TightMinute]

He hurts himself stealing second a lot so maybe just not do that also.

[@airtioteclint]

Never in a slump you say? I remember watching him in 2023 season just hoping he could get a hit. Whenever h e wasn't on the IL that is.

[@thinkforyourself5672]

Super sad watching Trout continually not play. One of the greatest baseball talents of all time. Wonder what could have been

[@bengolfs1]

The real kicker is that, while Trout is making $35 million sitting on the bench, he's complaining that the team isn't spending money on top talent. Does anyone see the irony of this argument? Anyone? Maybe Trout can re-structure his own contract to free up some of that wasted money.

[@JG54206]

In my opinion it has to do with how he plays the game. He doesn’t understand the concept of backing off a little bit to stay healthy. He plays at maximum effort all the time. On top of that, he has a degenerative back condition that can cause an injury at any time.

[@johneddy908]

And ONE person is to blame for Trout's decline - Arte Moreno.

[@1000percent]

Nobody was there to help trout protect him. They shouldve make him only slide feet first no matter what. Its not worth it unless its october ball

[@DanielJonesToChina]

Angels ruined a generational talent

[@PurelyBaseballYT]

Clown organization

[@therealjaystone2344]

Glad he gave the advice to Ohtani leaving the organization

[@marcusmcgraw3519]

@@therealjaystone2344 too bad they couldnt trade him on the way out too. They would have gotten some really nice pieces for Trout. That window is now closing

[@owensmith1269]

The injuries weren't caused by the angles. They ARE a terrible organisation but that doesn't cause Mike to be chronically hurt.

[@nomercyinc6783]

trout CHOSE to be there. over and over again. we cant blame the angels when its his fault entirely. anaheim aint la

[@cameroneverhart6443]

I think we're going to see this more moving forward in almost all sports. In order to get on top you need to develop faster and accumulate more reps amongst your peers. This eventually leads literal children to push their bodies more and more so they make it to the "bigs" (in whatever sport you can think of). Once there, their hard work shines because they're young and in great shape, BUT all of that hard work at such a young age also lessens their total time in the league due to body failure. And what with all games moving 50x faster than just a decade ago (look at SP average fastball speed). This is all obviously my opinion but you can see it in Trout, coming on the scene at 19 years old!

[@K37-h1z]

Miguel Cabrera won the triple crown? First since Yaz in 67. Ya think he may have won mvp for a reason

[@SirTylerGolf]

That's amazing and all but he quite literally did not have the most valuable season

[@user-mn9wc5ru5w]

​@@SirTylerGolfwhy even vote on the MVP anymore if everyone seems to think it should just be based off of the bWAR leaderboard

[@SirTylerGolf]

@@user-mn9wc5ru5w that's a totally valid question, but you don't even need to look at war to figure out 2012, Miggy has a very marginal edge at the plate in 2012, but Trout had 49 steals while only getting caught 5 times, while playing a very good center field. If you're looking at value then 2012 wasn't close

[@Chris12987]

I despise when guys like SAS give athletes a hard time for injuries. As a Met fan I sympathize with Trout. David Wright went through the same stuff it sucked.

[@owensmith1269]

Are the injuries from TOO much steroids or not ENOUGH steroids????

[@enoso2447]

Not enough brain cells in your head

[@TheEarthGerm]

Nobody wants to bring up the elephant in the room. His size at such a young age when he came up was alarming, he already looked like 30 year old man, now the freakish type injuries and way his body is breaking down. My guess, he was on the juice at a very young age.

[@GeraldM_inNC]

Too much weightlifting!

[@nomercyinc6783]

yeah. he stupidly wasted his career in anaheim. not los angeles. fuckin anaheim. theres no way to make anaheim los angeles being in an entirely different fuckin county

[@RodmanTackleAdvisor]

I was a touring musician back in the 00s. I always considered Anaheim to be a part of LA until I actually got to Cali. It's not in LA at all. It's like a sister city. He wasted his prime in a desert wasteland 25 minutes away from Chavez Ravine. Yup.

[@mnoorist8223]

he makes 40 million/ year. he'll be fine

[@henrywallacesghost5883]

It's called getting old and being injured alot. Baseball is a sport based off confidence and timing.

[@telephonic]

CF ruins elite sluggers, happened to Griffey as well, just injured a lot.

[@gabelgy8361]

That’s why DH has the most Stacked hitters like David Ortiz, Edgar Martinez, Ohtani, Giancarlo Stanton,

[@Silent_E749]

From a lifelong angels fan, Arte Moreno is a joke and the biggest problem with this organization. When Disney owned the team they were successful especially with the WS ring in 2002 and the success from there until around 2015. Moreno bought this team in 2003, promptly changed the name and rode off of Disney’s success for as long as he could. Now we have a team that is tanking and every year Arte just keeps cutting back. Don’t let Arte fool you Mike, HE DOESNT CARE ABOUT WINNING! Just coming up with stupid promos to get people to the stadium so they will spend money there and Arte can keep lining his pockets at the cost of the real fans. All he cares about is money and himself!

[@jpesicka492]

Very obtuse to say he is wasting his career in Anaheim. He chose to be here, and he’s not even playing currently due to injury which has nothing to do with him being on the Angels. We won before in 2002 and we will win again. Let’s not live in a world where the best players all have to go to the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers or Cardinals to win. There is a lot of parody in baseball and nowhere better to live/play than in Anaheim IMO. It has been lean at times but Trout is a HoF’er and will finish his career strong. Baseball players are never judged based on championships this is 100% a team sport no one player carries a baseball team to success it’s actually ridiculous to think otherwise. Here’s the other thing, I know Trout is a good man and baseball is just a game, he just happens to be one of the best to ever play it.

[@Iverson8811]

great EP. I hope Trout eventually wakes up and requests trade.

[@PurelyBaseballYT]

@@Iverson8811 would be awesome

[@patrickbateman580]

Trying to make an mvp casefor Trout in 2012 vs the first triple crown winner in 45 years is ridiculous.

[@cherryredcola]

lifelong angels fan here. it's been brutal watching arte moreno club MTs career to death like a baby seal. the fish rots from the head in anaheim, and it's agonizing to watch my goat struggle through the ineptitude. normally i don't watch this type of video because it gets me upset, but this was a grounded honest look at the situation. keep up the good work, i enjoy your videos a lot

[@83Mike17]

S T E R O I D S

[@GeraldM_inNC]

Stanton yes, not Trout. There's a set of injuries typical of steroid abusers and Stanton has all of them. Trout's body is fragile. Could be too much weightlifting.

[@greenbrixworkshop7971]

You should do a video on the shortstop strategy like the padres. Only drafting shortstops and changing there positions.

[@PurelyBaseballYT]

I’m extremely interested in that topic actually 👀 i’ll research it

[@greenbrixworkshop7971]

@@PurelyBaseballYT thanks I think it would be interesting your thoughts as I am a padres fan!

[@stevenwalker4923]

Trout is going to end up like Griffey Jr. A lot of what could have beens if he stayed healthy.

[@bengolfs1]

Mike Trout was NEVER the best player in the league. That is a myth. He was never the best player on his OWN TEAM. Just another overpaid athlete.

[@1TightMinute]

I feel like if he just stop stealing bases, he’d probably be much better off.

[@bjr0467]

Might be the steroids

[@nomercyinc6783]

players without rings or even playoff success arent goats

[@trevor8307]

Not for baseball (Bonds, Ted Williams, Griffey).

[@3-0Greenlight]

😤

[@Bnguyen276]

Mike is about the money, he won’t leave as long as he keeps getting paid. No one will pay him nearly as much because he’s damaged goods rn.

[@thomasmason6631]

I’m a Red Sox’s fan but I miss when the angles were good it was fun I hate the astros I’m so tired of them being in the ALCS it’s been like 7 or 8 years in a row for them they haven’t won them all but still I’m sick of that stupid orange color scheme so please Angles owner sell the team to someone who cares

[@Eee-i4o]

The Astros are inevitable they'll be contending for another World Series title again this season and constantly curb stomp your team keep hating and being jealous Astros strive in that shit

[@fromulus]

Mike Trout is like Jacob deGrom. Both could've been the greatest of all time at their respective positions, both have the stuff to do it, they just can't stay out on the field enough to do it.

[@Jose_Hunters_EWF_Remixes]

Nonsense comparison From the time of his first major league appearance in 2014 until his injury in 2021, that is, 7 full seasons and 1 partial JdG made 198 starts and 1261 IPs which are both *MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES* in the same time period Don't forget his far superior 157 ERA+, also better than everyone else As for what happened to him starting in 2021, we heard much idiotic unfounded speculation Also, the New York Mets were also stupidly cryptic about the nature of his injury The final jury on JdG is somewhat dependent on what happens in 2025 Trout came up in 2011, played 40 games, then played 139 games in 2012 winning the AL ROY Award I do not know if he was injured either year From 2013 to 2016, he missed only 16 out of 648 games played, certainly durable, but not the most in MLB From 2017 to 2024, Trout played in 707 out of 1194 games, roughly 59% The latter of which can only be called *fragile* To summarize, for 8 years, JdG was both the *most* durable AND the best pitcher in MLB For only 4 years, Trout was among the most durable non-pitchers in MLB

[@justvibing2497]

His very overrated. The war stat useless stat of all time made goat..Two his nowhere near ken, arod, barry and max tallking nonesense

[@GeraldM_inNC]

I couldn't agree more about WAR

[@refusetolose05]

In his last 162 games played he's hit .270, 45 hr, and 83 rbi 💩

[@GeraldM_inNC]

Was that over the course of 4 years?

[@refusetolose05]

@GeraldM_inNC 3, but you should get the point. When he's on the field, he is still top tier.

[@refusetolose05]

@@GeraldM_inNC Most people with 45 hr seasons have way more RBI.

[@GeraldM_inNC]

@refusetolose05 Until he breaks down again. Chipper Jones was like that too.

[@stpaulimdog]

@@refusetolose05 Yea but RBI with the Angels are hard to come by when no one gets on base

[@redavis6581]

He came up early and played very hard for many years. He's aged three three years ahead of his current 33. Mike's body is close to 36 at this point. Should DH and convert to 1B in 2025 👌

[@zcorpalpha2462]

I always felt Mike Trout should have played for the New York Mets 🥃

[@DNCDxMrchoc0]

Hell no

[@thesjlawshow759]

Trout is not the problem, the Angels are. He’s older now anyway. I feel this is very VERY harsh! Trout is one of the best players of the past decade. He will be a HOFer. He has had bad luck too but it just is like that.

[@RobJaeger]

Torn meniscus is the only wear and tear injury the man has had. Everything else was accidental. If he switches to DH he will be a HR monster.

[@snorlaxthepokemon3275]

Hope Trout joins the Dodgers and wins a World Series before he retires. He deserves that on his Hall of Fame resume.

[@PurelyBaseballYT]

@@snorlaxthepokemon3275 I’d love to see it. Man that team would be unstoppable

[@DoGuov]

When Angels found out that Mike Trout was the real deal, that front office should have went all in and put the best squad together so the Angels could be a threat. The Angels went to the playoff ONCE before Shohei got there and went out early. And then when the Angels found out that Shohei was the real deal, they should have also went all in to put a great team together to do some damage in the postseason. And a team roster with Mike Trout AND Shohei Ohtani never even scratched the postseason ONCE is so stupid lol. Arte Moreno and that front office should be ashamed and ridiculed so bad for their baseball decisions.

[@CGYSAiyan]

He’s hurt…

[@jimboscooter432]

Idk why Giancarlo Stanton gets so much hate for being injured a lot when hes been more productive then Trout the last 5 years and Trout has been even more injured prone but seems to get a free pass from the fans and media

[@Roy_270]

Cause by July the Angels are irrelevant. If they were in a pennant race every year and he kept getting hurt I think he’d take a lot of heat.

[@GeraldM_inNC]

It's because some of us suspect Stanton of having been a big time steroid abuser when he was young. Look at his chronic medical issues: all typical of steroid abusers. Not Trout! Every one of his injuries is something different.

[@sergeynazaro1768]

You’re crazy

[@sergeynazaro1768]

Stanton is no where near Trout. Even using the last 4 years as an outlook

[@marcusmcgraw3519]

The Angels missed their best chance to ship out Trout and get some much needed help for the future. Now they are back to being the biggest black hole in baseball. I dont expect to care about them for at least another decade, and it sure feels like their title was handed to them

[@Brhoward31]

That thumb injury ruined 2 seasons for me, imagine 162

[@bengolfs1]

And anyone who keeps using the "The Angels never spent money on players who will support Trout" is full of baloney. Arte has spent and wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on signing players up he thought would support Trout. Unfortunately, they turned out to be just as bad as Trout--I'm talking about Albert Pujols and Anthony Rendon specifically, but plenty of others. Money does not grow on trees.

[@trevor8307]

The thing about Trout is that when he’s injured, he always takes longer than anticipated to return. Whose fault is that? Well, I’m not really sure. I just know that as a fan of Trout, it’s VERY frustrating. If he could grind it like Beltre his career would be very different.

[@Roy_270]

After a decade and a few hundred million dollars. Would you be in such a rush to get back to a team that’s well below 500 and be out there playing in the dog days of summer?

[@trevor8307]

@@Roy_270 Yes, absolutely. Especially with a losing franchise the fans paid for and deserve my services.

[@Iridescence93]

I mean it's like saying Gehrig was bad because Ruth was more popular. He'll still get first ballot HoF. He can't win a ring all by himself

[@Wo1fLarsen]

One thing to remember, the average mlb career is 5.5 years.

[@SlugCult718]

It's not like all his injuries was terrible news for the Angels. Because they didn't even win when he was healthy. They even had Ohtani and STILL couldn't win. So what's the difference now? There is no difference. It's a waste of talent. I'd rather be a pretty good player on a world series team and compete every year than be the greatest player ever never even play in the world series let alone win one.

[@jeffreyjacobs390]

TEN YEARS OF GREATEST PLAYER IS BIG. THE TEAM HE WAS ON WAS WHY THE W.S. WIN NEVER CAME .... many players get hurt as they age .... The other great player WENT TO THE DODGERS - so he sold out before he lamed out. GBjj

[@javiersalazar713]

He stayed with the angels that’s what’s wrong with him. He doesn’t care about winning, he wanted that big bag. If he says he cares about winning that’s 100% a lie, so congrats you got your paycheck. Good thing you probably have a nice house to watch the postseason comfortably in.

[@commiehunter733]

The Angels medical staffare terrible

[@HPSmugscraft]

He's the white Ken Griffey Jr. Has talent for the ages, but can't stay healthy and golden-handcuffed to a garbage team.

[@NarkoHamponTV]

Aaron Judge the Face of Baseball ⚾️ 💯

[@GeraldM_inNC]

Bobby Witt?

[@Lazy-kv4kb]

incorrect judge is too old

[@Eee-i4o]

Not when your playoff batting average is under 200 and you're a known choker when the light's come on I'll take Jordan Alvarez any time over that juiced loser

[@NarkoHamponTV]

@@Eee-i4o like it or not 💯

[@JorgeRodriguez-tu6iv]

Cuz he realize he sign with the angels trust I want them to do good I'm a dodger fan I don't hate on the angels at all

[@piggy8761]

Trout will always be a legend and a what if But he chose to stick with the worst organization in the league. Two UNICORN players and they never made the playoffs. Never had pitching. Never had depth. Injuries and terrible albatross contracts like rendon.

[@rileyfreeman7122]

Yankees should of got him in 2019 trade deadline

[@PurelyBaseballYT]

@@rileyfreeman7122 that would’ve been sick

[@ImSleepy509]

every year for now on expect trout to play a max of 80 games a year dude is just injury prone now

[@nomercyinc6783]

@11:15 thats not arte moreno

[@PurelyBaseballYT]

i noticed that, this vid was one of my first not edited by me, + had an exporting problem, or else would’ve been fixed in review. wont be like that next time

[@CharlesMontgomery-gt9yz]

Should of left I feel bad like he just has so many setbacks he would be playing rn

[@Raijin_Fps]

Bro actually d rose

[@GeorgeYoung-co3rr]

Just like JR. Griffey. Firstv10 Years great the best. Last 10 years not. Good. Trout same thing. Dom matting the same

[@nomercyinc6783]

its twenty not twenny

[@AtomicPunk51]

Out like a Trout 😂

[@PurelyBaseballYT]

😂😂😂

[@GeraldM_inNC]

His body is made of Silly Putty.

[@alivensyde5484]

the steroid use finally caught up to him

[@rolandotavarez255]

MT gassed out

[@enshk79]

He’s still a legend. Ohtani never outshined him. Didn’t Trout hit a homer in 7 straight games last year? It was a privilege to see them play together. Whenever Ohtani did something spectacular, all we had to do was turn around and see Trout do something spectacular too. Trout always did something to remind us all that he’s as special as Shohei!! I loved seeing them be teammates and friends. Two living legends that we got to see play together. So special.

[@yyynbbggsage7398]

Ohtani will get 50/50 while trout never plays another full season

[@Lazy-kv4kb]

rare dope addict condition

[@FastDuDeJiunn]

imo its simple. teams dont care about you. stop watching these sports. stop feeding these billionaire people who dont value anyone. not even their own families. there is no good pro sport or at least no good major league sport. they are all just giant money pits for citys. they do more harm than good. anyone that actually takes the time to lookup the true $ cost of these giant stadiums to citys......and see what it really truely does to the city would say the same thing... now if they keep it in a much more reasonable budget. smaller stadium sizes. 20-maybe stretch it to 30k.... and build a little city around said stadium. so businesses can feed of it as well. and the team..... not the city pays for said stadium. i could see it work. be good for all invovled. but instead they get citys to cover huge amount of the cost........ so citizens pay to build the staidum? and pay to watch the sport??????? lol wtf???? uhm no...

[@Jettvikings]

Mike is the GOAT

[@zcorpalpha2462]

Trout needs to retire

[@rdkk7658]

😢

[@nomercyinc6783]

you say years way too fucking often

[@PurelyBaseballYT]

cry

[@nomercyinc6783]

@@PurelyBaseballYT make better videos. individuals dont win shit on their own and arent special to the sport. or any sport. talented but always hurt isnt a fucking superstar. superstars win rings. players dont.

[@ChairmanMeow1]

Hes had every type of injury too. Both freak ones, AND core injuries that wont completely heal. You cant blame the LA training dept for it all, Trout has to be doing something wrong himself. No one gets injured this much just playing baseball. Someone, somewhere, is doing something really wrong.

[@GeraldM_inNC]

Too much weightlifting?

[@godspeed0000]

DHを独占した大谷がトラウトを壊した

[@PurelyBaseballYT]

獣

[@Nova_Nora5]

This guys think he is cool 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@JohnNoir8911]

Never liked him so who cares

[@Nova_Nora5]

Heyyyy!!! Have you watch the Astros lately? What happened? You’re not gonna make another video about us? Awww don’t tell me you gave up us? 😂😂😂 come on do another one please! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 sorry what you said “AKA Done” wait what? Only 3 teams have come back in history? What? What you said? 😂 your channel is 💩 😘