This Bananas Mike Trout Stat Shows Yet Again We Are Not Properly Appreciating One of the Greats

I go back and forth on what I think about Mike Trout. In general, I think he's one of the greatest baseball players of all-time and it's a damn shame he's playing on a team where nobody ever sees him, particularly when he's only played three Postseason games in his career. However, I do think sometimes he gets a bit of the "so underrated he's overrated" vibe from the media.

But then I see stats like this and it brings me right back around to the opinion that it is criminal how we'll look back on his career in 20 years and wonder why the hell he wasn't the most celebrated athlete of his generation. This season, Trout is slashing .294/.385/.647 — a 1.032 OPS — when he falls behind 0-2. The Major League average slash line in that scenario this season is .167/.204/.264.

A 1.032 OPS for the season would rank fifth in Major League Baseball this year — right behind Trout's 1.042. And that's what he's doing when he gives the pitcher the biggest advantage possible. All the guy does is rake year after year, no matter what trash squad the Angels put around him.

Trout is right in the running for his fourth MVP award in a season where the second-rate team in Los Angeles is going to miss the Postseason yet again. We need to get him on a team that can maximize his talents before it's too late.