Trout hopeful 400th homer can elevate his 2026 season

ANAHEIM -- After having a few days to reflect on reaching his major milestone with his 400th career homer in Colorado on Saturday, Angels superstar Mike Trout displayed a sense of relief and a clear vision to elevate his game to his previous level next year.

Trout, a three-time AL MVP and 11-time All-Star, acknowledged it was a grind to reach that mark, as career homer No. 398 came on Aug. 6, No. 399 came on Sept. 11 and No. 400 finally came on Saturday with a 486-foot shot at Coors Field.

“There was a lot of buildup and there was a lot of buildup to 399, too,” Trout said with a laugh. “It was definitely a good moment for me to get it. It was one of the things on my list coming into the season in terms of milestones to accomplish.”

Trout, 34, seemed to be at ease as he reflected on the season, speaking for 17 minutes with reporters before Tuesday’s 8-4 loss in the series opener against the Royals. One of the main reasons is because Trout said he finally believes he’s found the right mechanical adjustments over the last few weeks to get back to his former MVP-level.

He hasn’t looked like himself this season, batting .227/.356/.412 with 22 homers, 14 doubles and 59 RBIs in 126 games after going 0-for-3 with a walk and a 111.7 mph lineout on Tuesday. He’s struck out in a career-worst 32.1 percent of his plate appearances, which is much higher than his career average of 23.1 percent. He said a flaw in his mechanics kept him from seeing the ball clearly, but emphasized it has nothing to do with his vision. It’s more than when he falls back while swinging, he can only keep one eye on the ball instead of two.

“It’s definitely a confidence booster after just battling the whole year,” Trout said. “The biggest thing was just seeing the baseball. Whether it was my head that was moving, in the past, I could recognize pitches and I wouldn't chase. Obviously, the strikeouts are way up. That's just because of me not seeing the ball. There's a lot of at-bats this year where I went up there, I know what they're going to throw me, and I just couldn't pull the trigger.”

Trout said things have started to feel more normal at the plate in recent weeks, and he believes he can carry it over into next year. He said there were other times during the season that he felt good, but that it was always temporary, but this time it feels like the swing changes are more permanent and repeatable. He also said he plans to try to tone down his leg kick with two strikes.

“Before it was like just a band-aid to make it work,” Trout said. “I think this is more of a solution this time. So to be able to confidently know what I'm doing, and to be able to get to a spot and start early and be on time every single time. I think it's something to build on in the offseason.”

He’s also dealt with a nagging bone bruise in his twice-surgically repaired left knee that he sustained on April 30 before returning on May 30. He said he’s hopeful it’ll heal more over the offseason, but indicated it might be something he’ll have to always manage because it’s easy for the bones in his knee to collide after the two meniscus surgeries.

Trout was relegated to only designated hitter duty after suffering the injury, but wants to return to right field next year, a position he switched to in Spring Training to try to stay healthy.

“I’m definitely going to go in this offseason trying to strengthen that knee and get the lower half back to normal,” Trout said. “I definitely want to be out there as much as I can next year.”

And while it was a tough year for Trout, it was also another difficult one for the Angels, who are finishing up their 10th straight losing season. They haven’t been to the postseason since 2014, which is the longest active drought in the Majors. But Trout said he saw enough from the club’s young core to be encouraged and also put the onus on himself because of his down year by his standards.

“We saw some signs of good stretches, but we just gotta put a full season together,” Trout said. “I think that’s the key. For me, if I can get back to where I felt these last two weeks for a full season, it would be different.”