Once the unquestioned face of baseball, Mike Trout\u2019s steady slide in MLB Network\u2019s rankings reflects age, injuries, and a career at a crossroads<\/p>\n
As MLB Network is rolling out their top 100 players right now, Angels former superstar centerfielder Mike Trout has fallen to No. 81, the far and away lowest he\u2019s ranked since his debut. <\/p>\n
During most of the 2010\u2019s and as recently as heading into the 2021 season, MLB Network ranked Trout as the No. 1 player in all of baseball. Even when Trout lost that spot to then-teammate DH\/SP Shohei Ohtani heading into 2022, he was still No. 2.<\/p>\n
Since then, though, Trout has continued to fall in the rankings, as he ranked No. 3 going into 2023, No. 12 going into 2024, No. 39 going into 2025 and now No. 81.<\/p>\n
Despite Trout being the most healthy he\u2019s been in years, as he played in 130 games in 2025, the most since 2019 and only the second time in the 2020s he\u2019s played in at least 100 games, Trout had the worst year of his career.<\/p>\n
In his 130 games, Trout slashed .232\/.359\/.439 with 26 home runs, 64 RBIs, a .797 OPS, 121 OPS+ and a 1.8 fWAR. Those are all career lows for Trout in a season where he had played at least 100 games. Another career worst for Trout was in K% as he struck out 32% of the time, which was in the second percentile. <\/p>\n
These numbers are a far cry from what Trout used to put up, as from 2012-2019, Trout had won three MVPs, was MVP runner-up four times, and placed fourth once. During this span, he averaged 8.8 fWAR a season, 35 home runs, and 92 RBIs while slashing .308\/.422\/.587 with a 1.009 OPS and 178 OPS+.<\/p>\n
Only one player in MLB history has at least 70 career WAR through their age 27 season\u2026<\/p>\n
Mike Trout<\/p>\n
People forget how good he really waspic.twitter.com\/O2XRS0e2ob<\/a><\/p>\n