The Year of the Trout

Read Devon Young writes that Mike Trout is listed at 4.9 rWAR at Baseball Reference. With the Angels now having played 54 games, 1/3 of the season, Trout is on an historic pace:

I know this is a big “if”, but If he stays healthy & keeps playing close to this pace, he could have a 12 rWAR season. According to b-Ref, there have only been five 12+ rWAR seasons by position players, & none in the past 50 years —

14.1 – Babe Ruth (1923)

12.9 – Babe Ruth (1921)

12.5 – Carl Yastrzemski (1967)

12.4 – Babe Ruth (1927)

12.1 – Rogers Hornsby (1924)

There have been 33 pitchers to post 12+ rWAR (1871-2017), but, most of that was from the 1800’s & early 1900’s, when it was a very different game. In the past 100 years (1918-current), there’ve been only 3 pitchers to pull it off —

12.2 – Dwight Gooden (1985)

12.1 – Steve Carlton (1972)

12.0 – Pete Alexander (1920)

Trout has a shot at surpassing Babe Ruth’s 1923 season. Note, too, that Mookie Betts is at 4.1 rWAR, so he has a shot at 12 rWAR as well.

from baseballmusings.com https://ift.tt/2kwbfkk