MLB Power Rankings: Top 25 players in the game today

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ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 02: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels reacts to his solo homerun for a 1-1 tie with the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning at Angel Stadium on May 2, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

1. Mike Trout

Watching Mike Trout must be what it was like for older generations to watch Mickey Mantle in his prime, before the knee injuries and cheap beer robbed him of his physical gifts. At 26, the Los Angeles Angels center fielder has already won two MVP awards and should probably have at least three more of them.

Honestly, the only reason not to vote Trout for MVP every year that he is in his prime is simply fatigue, and he might actually not have peaked yet. Missing over a month last year cost him a shot at hitting 50 homers.

Trout is so good, he literally broke MLB’s vaunted Statcast.

Here’s Trout’s HR. There is no official Statcast estimate because he broke statcast. But it did leave the bat at 116.8 mph, which is just about as hard as you can hit a ball. https://t.co/YxsxioaJrj
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) May 3, 2018

That fluke thumb injury cost Trout his third MVP last year, but he still picked up enough plate appearances to qualify for the MLB lead with a 1.071 OPS, a new career high. The five-time Silver Slugger also led the American League in on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

Trout is the top five-tool player in the league, though his defense does probably lag behind his other tools, but not by much. He is the active MLB leader in slugging percentage, and the five closest statistical comparisons for him through his age-25 season are Frank Robinson, Ken Griffey, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron and Miguel Cabrera. That’s good, right?

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