NEW YORK — When Kurt Suzuki was hired as Angels manager this offseason, Mike Trout braced for their first—and in some ways, most important—conversation.
It lasted about 30 seconds.
“What position do you want to play?” Suzuki asked.
“Center field,” Trout said.
“O.K.,” Suzuki said.
“Really?” Trout said.
“Yeah!” Suzuki said. “You’re frickin’ Mike Trout!”
Six months later, sitting in the dugout as Trout takes batting practice at Yankee Stadium, Suzuki smiles. “I’m not saying he needs the reminder,” the manager says. “But sometimes in this game, you can take a hit a little bit, cause it’s a hard game, and you need a reminder sometimes: I am a three-time MVP. I am Mike Trout. You see it: Watch his BP, watch him run. He’s still got it!”
If Trout—or the sport—needed a reminder, the first three weeks of the season have provided one. Trout entered play Thursday ranked ninth among position players in Baseball Reference’s calculation of WAR. He socked five home runs in four games against the Yankees—becoming the first ever opposing player to homer on four consecutive days at either Yankee Stadium—including two game-tying dingers and two more that gave his team the lead. He is barreling up the ball more than anyone else in baseball.
446-FOOT BLAST
— MLB (@MLB) April 16, 2026
Mike Trout homers in a FOURTH straight game 😤 pic.twitter.com/Fcu8eLLvav
After the first, electrifying decade of his career, in which it sometimes felt as if he made history every day, the past few years have offered a meditation on mortality. He missed 382 of a possible 648 games from 2021 through ’24 amid injuries to his right calf, his back, his left hamate bone and his left meniscus. He went from an automatic All-Star to a frequent flyer on the injured list. His story became one of unfulfilled potential.
But somehow, at 34, he is playing like he hasn’t in years. He has tweaked his swing, stepping back just before his forward move. He has slimmed down. But his favorite change is that he is back to playing center field.
The Angels had increased his days at designated hitter in recent years, and after years of discussing the change internally—sometimes to Trout’s consternation—they moved him to right field last season in an attempt to keep him healthy. But Trout hates DHing—he stews over his at-bats without anything to distract him—and he felt that playing right was actually harder on him than playing center. Center field is more physically taxing, but he found right more mentally exhausting, because nothing was automatic.
“Being new to the position, it takes time to get to that comfort zone,” Trout says. He always felt like he was thinking instead of just reacting. He prefers center, he says, because, “If I’m not getting any hits, I try to take some hits away from other guys.”
Besides, as Suzuki says, he’s frickin’ Mike Trout. He’s a center fielder. He made 11 All-Star Games in center field. He won three MVP awards in center field. He became the best player in the sport in center field. Did he lose some of his identity in right? He thinks for a minute. “There’s something there,” he acknowledges.
And as for the injury risk of roaming those big center fields, the Angels hope it’s overstated. “If you’re mentally relaxed, maybe your body stays healthy?” Suzuki muses. “I don’t know, but it might have something to do with the stress, right?”
Trout and Suzuki have agreed that Trout will be honest with himself and with the staff about how his body feels. “I told him, ‘Mike, you need a day, you come tell me,’” says the manager. “If not, you’re gonna be in center field, hitting second for the Halos.”
So far, Trout and the Angels are thrilled with the arrangement.
“It’s really good for the sport,” Suzuki says. “It’s Mike Trout. If he’s on the field performing, it’s really good for everybody.” He grins. “Except the other team.”
More MLB from Sports Illustrated
- Angels Great Garret Anderson Dies at 53
- Padres Sell to Chelsea Owner José E. Feliciano for MLB-Record $3.9 Billion
- When Is the Last Time Each MLB Team Threw a No-Hitter: Surprising Droughts and Forgotten Names
- SI:AM | A Power Surge in New York
- Aaron Boone Accuses Umpires of Being Overly Sensitive After Yet Another Ejection
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mike Trout Is Back Where He Belongs, and It Shows.
