Los Angeles Angels stalwart and star Mike Trout has become the first hitter to reach 10 home runs for the 2024 MLB season. Trout's 10th blast came in Wednesday's eventual 6-5 loss to the visiting Orioles. Here's a look at No. 10:
Mike Trout is the first Major Leaguer this season to hit 10 home runs. 💥 pic.twitter.com/jeceqUx7Y9
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2024
That homer, which came at the expense of a Dean Kremer fastball, left the bat at an impressive 114.5 mph and traveled 417 feet. As Sarah Langs notes, Trout now joins Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson as the only two players since 1900 to twice rack up at least 10 homers and five steals in their teams' first 25 games of a season. Eight of Trout's 10 homers this season have been of the solo variety, however, and he has only 13 RBI for the 10-15 Halos.
Wednesday's performance now gives Trout, who's batted leadoff the last two games, a slash line of 237 AVG/.321 OBP/.598 SLG for the season. That's not Peak Trout, but it's a step forward from what he did in 2023. It's easy to look at Trout's 2023 top-line outputs and find signs of decline, but in this, his age-32 campaign he's putting such fears to rest, at least in the early going. His quality-of-contact indicators remain elite, and this season he's making contact at peak levels. Trout's also running the lowest ground-ball percentage of his career, which is helping him leverage all that power he has.
The Angels have struggled so far in 2024, and that's in keeping with almost the entirety of Trout's career. As ever, though, the future Hall of Famer is doing his part and then some.
