Mike Trout Has Luis Garcia's Number

If you polled all of Major League Baseball’s pitchers and asked them which hitter is the toughest to face, there’s a good chance that Mike Trout’s name comes up more than anyone else in baseball. 

If you asked Houston Astros starter Luis Garcia, I’m pretty positive that he’d pick Trout before you could finish the question.

Garcia will toe the rubber for the Astros against Trout and the Los Angeles Angels on Monday, but he definitely isn’t looking forward to when Trout steps into the box. Trout launched his first homer of the 2021 season off of Garcia, and he will look to help the Angels, who are +140 underdogs on WynnBET to win on Monday, begin their climb out of the basement in the AL West.

WynnBET has also set Trout's player prop for total bases at 1.5 with the under (-130) being favored to the over (+100). Both Trout's singles and doubles props are set at 0.5. Trout hasn't hit a double since April 30, but to hit a single he is -220 to go under the 0.5 projection and +160 to hit the over.

Trout has four career plate appearances against Garcia and has yet to make an out, but he also hasn't gotten the opportunity to swing the bat. Garcia walked him twice during the 2020 season and once during the 2021 season. The other? That towering home run in the Angels’ fifth game of the season. Any hit or total bases props become tricky, as Garcia has shown a propensity to issue free passes when facing Trout.

Over his last nine games, Trout has seven hits including one triple. He's gone over 1.5 total bases three times in that stretch, but he's also walked in six of those games. The three-time MVP has been on tear to start this season, hitting .376 with eight homers and 18 runs batted in. Trout has already picked up 38 hits through the Angels’ first 33 games. 

Garcia hasn't been bad this season despite an 0-3 record. He has a 3.28 earned run average and hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in a game this season. He’s made two appearances (one start) against the Angels this season. The start was his first of the year, but he was chased after just 3.1 innings. Essentially the Trout homer ended his night. 

Maybe Garcia will finally find a way to get Trout to make an out, but we’re not betting on it. Expect the eight-time All-Star to find his way on base against a guy he sees the ball very well against. We like Trout to get a hit as well, since he didn't pick one up last game and has only gone hitless in back-to-back games one time this season.