It had been over one month and 125 plate appearances since the last time Mike Trout homered. Spanning from Aug. 6 to Sep. 11, it was the longest home run drought of Trout’s career, and it finally came to an end on Thursday in the Los Angeles Angels loss to the Seattle Mariners.
Trout has been swinging the bat much better over the last two weeks, but the drought carried on as he sat just two away from reaching 400 career home runs. A milestone like that is something that can be both a source of excitement, and get into a batter’s head.
The Angels star admitted that — in the early part of the 125-appearance home run drought — the 400 homers milestone was weighing on him, via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“I was thinking about it for a little bit in the beginning,” Trout said. “But now I’m just trying to put good swings on the ball. I know it’s going to come. I’m not trying to go up there and try to hit a home run. My whole career is just putting good swings on balls and they’ve gone over the fence.”
Towards the end, it was the drought itself — not 400 homers — that was a constant thought in the back of his head.
“It definitely was,” Trout said. “Every time I come into the clubhouse, I see it on the ticker at the bottom of the screen with the drought. But the last week or so, I’ve been feeling better.”
Baseball is a mental game as much as it is physical. And Trout — who has recognized that many times over the course of his illustrious career — got perhaps his best example of it over the last month.
Now, as he sits just one homer away from entering the 400 club, he needs to ensure that he stays on top of the mental side of the game.
Angels upcoming schedule
The Angels are no longer in playoff contention, but would still like to have a strong finish to their season. They continue a four-game weekend set against the Mariners on Friday at 7:10 p.m. PT on Apple TV, Saturday at 6:40 p.m. PT and Sunday at 1:10 p.m. PT.
They then move through a long road trip with three games against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, all at 4:40 p.m. PT. Finally, they finish the road trip in Denver with three games against the Coloradro Rockies on Friday and Saturday at 5:10 p.m. PT and Sunday at 12:10 p.m. PT.
