“I told him, ‘I needed this, I needed to play in this atmosphere, I needed to experience it and be in the moment,’” Trout said before Sunday night’s Freeway Series exhibition opener against the Dodgers in Chavez Ravine. “It just made me think how bad we want to get back to the playoffs.”
The WBC did not end the way Trout hoped it would, the three-time American League most valuable player losing an epic battle against Angels two-way teammate Shohei Ohtani, who struck out Trout swinging to close out Japan’s 3-2 championship-game win.
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But if there was one thing Trout’s WBC experience reinforced, it was his desire to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2014, when the Angels were swept in a three-game division series by Kansas City. The Trout-led Angels have endured seven straight losing seasons, even with Ohtani for the last five of them.
“Anything less than the playoffs,” Trout said, “is a disappointment.”
The WBC gave Trout and several Angels teammates — Ohtani, pitcher Patrick Sandoval and reliever José Quijada, to name a few — a taste of what an October atmosphere would be like.
“It was probably the coolest experience I’ve ever had on a baseball field,” Trout said. “That’s the atmosphere, as a baseball fan or as a competitor, that you want to play in. You want to be in that moment. It was just a special few days.”
Even if the highly-anticipated ending was a little rough for Trout, who swung through a pair of triple-digit fastballs before whiffing on Ohtani’s full-count, 87-mph slider off the plate. Only 24 times in 6,174 career plate appearances has Trout swung through three strikes, according to Codify Baseball.
“It was a fun at-bat,” Trout said. “I had one thing on my mind, trying to barrel up a ball. Obviously, with Shohei, he’s got all his pitches, and everything’s moving every which way. And you know, he didn’t throw me a splitter that whole at-bat. It was in the back of my mind, and then he threw me a nasty 3-and-2 slider.”
Trout and Ohtani came face to face for the first time since their showdown in the visiting clubhouse in Dodger Stadium on Sunday afternoon. There was no trash talk. Or awkward silence.
Angels teammates Shohei Ohtani, left, and Mike Trout jog back to dugout against the Detroit Tigers in September.
(Ringo H.W. Chiu / Associated Press)
“I gave him a hug,” Trout said. “It was good. I’m happy he’s my teammate. He’s a special talent. He’s got great stuff.”
The Angels have boosted their lineup and bolstered their depth with the additions of Hunter Renfroe, Brandon Drury and Gio Urshela, and corner infielders Anthony Rendon and Jared Walsh are healthy. They added All-Star left-hander Tyler Anderson to the rotation and potential closer Carlos Estévez to the bullpen. And they still have two of the best players in baseball in Ohtani and Trout.
“I’ve been asked the question all the time, is this the year?” Nevin said. “I think any time you have a roster like ours and you have expectations within our room like we do, every day is a sense of urgency. If we don’t, then I think you’re doing your teammates, the fans, the organization, an injustice.”