By Adam Jude
The Seattle Times
No, Mike Trout said, he did not sign the richest contract in baseball history so he could assure himself some 50 plate appearances in Seattle each season.
But the games against the Mariners are a nice little bonus.
“I love hitting here,” the Angels’ star center fielder said Monday afternoon before his first game at rebranded T-Mobile Park. “I see the ball good. There’s not one thing that stands out, but I just love the ballpark. I love the city. Seattle is great. It’s one of my favorite road cities. The people are so nice and the stadium is great.”
Trout, 27, has tormented Mariners pitchers in his career, and he’s been especially tough on them in Seattle. In 69 career games at then-Safeco Field, he hit .331 with a 1.086 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, and his 20 home runs here are more than he’s hit at any other ballpark outside of Anaheim.
He was even better in Seattle last season, hitting .514 with five homers and a 1.776 OPS in 43 plate appearances.
A two-time American League MVP, Trout is the best player of this generation, and he’s joining the discussion as the best player in history. Through his age-26 season, he totaled 64 wins above replacement — more than any player in baseball history at the same age.
And, yes, Mariners fans — you get to enjoy (is that the right word?) Trout for another 12 years in the AL West.
Last month, Trout signed a contract extension with the Angels worth $426.5 million. It does not include any opt-out clauses and ought to keep him with the Angels through 2030.
“Just relieved and obviously happy to be here,” Trout said Monday. “It was a big decision for me and my family, and just excited that everything’s over with and I can just go out there and play.”
So how do you get Trout out?
“How do you? You don’t,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “You try to limit the damage. I think it’s really, really important to get the guys ahead of him out.”
Trout has had tremendous success against Felix Hernandez, posting a 1.178 OPS in 93 career plate appearances against the Mariners’ right-hander. Trout has more home runs (eight) against Hernandez than he does against any other pitcher, but he also has struck out more times (27) against him than anyone else.
“It’s tough with Felix,” Trout said before the game. “You think you’ve got him figured out and you don’t. He can throw all his pitches for strikes at all times. He’ll mix it up one at-bat, and it’s a grind. Obviously, I got him a couple times, but he’s gotten me a few times too.”
Servais and the Mariners thought they had the answer — or at least something close to an answer — before a series in June last season when they decided to pitch Trout up and away with fastballs.
It didn’t work. Trout homered twice in one game in Seattle on June 11, including a 459-foot blast off the batter’s-eye beyond the wall in center field. The pitch he clobbered was a fastball up and away.
Now what?
“He’s not leaving the division,” Servais said. “Mike’s a fantastic player, there’s no question. He’s an even better person. I had the opportunity to be around him when he was a younger player over in Anaheim. I was there when we did the first deal with Mike. I remember sitting in a room, and the first deal we did was an aggressive deal (signed in 2014 and worth $144.5 million). But we certainly felt he was worthy of it, and I remember making a comment that this guy is going to make more money than anyone in the history of baseball. I think we were right.
“Again, he’s in the prime of his career. He’s a really good player. He’s smart. You’ve just got to try to limit the damage around him and give yourself the best chance to win the ballgame. That’s the focus.”
