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Alden Gonzalez
TEMPE, Ariz. — Mike Trout arrived at spring training on Sunday and took part in a meeting with the Los Angeles Angels‘ coaches, during which they determined the three-time MVP would move from center field to right field in an effort to preserve his body and keep him healthy.
Trout, 33, is seemingly on board.
“I knew it was coming,” Trout said before the team’s first full-squad workout Monday. “I just wanna be on the field.”
Trout has spent his first 14 years as a dynamic center fielder, never winning a Gold Glove but continually turning in spectacular, highlight-reel catches while establishing himself as one of the sport’s most dangerous offensive players. Injuries, however, have limited him to 266 of a potential 648 games over the last four seasons.
Along the way, there was a calf strain that kept him out for the final four and a half months in 2021; back spasms that limited him to 119 games in 2022; a fractured bone in his wrist that sidelined him for almost the entirety of the last three months in 2023; and a torn meniscus in his knee that popped up in late April of 2024 and kept him out the rest of the season.
Trout was told he might still see some time in center field and will mix in some starts at designated hitter to get off his feet, but right field will be his primary position moving forward. The switch leaves the left-handed-hitting Mickey Moniak and the right-handed-hitting Jo Adell as the team’s center fielders.
“It’s gonna be fun,” Trout said of his new position. “I’ll enjoy it. Like I told them, I’m gonna go out there and just be as comfortable as I can. If I need to get early work, just to work on some things, get more comfortable, I’ll do that.”
Trout made some corner-outfield starts during his first three seasons in the majors — mostly in left field — because the Angels employed a superior defender in Peter Bourjos. But Trout has played exclusively center field over the last 11 seasons. Only 121 of his 12,410 1/3 career innings in the outfield have come in right field.
He hopes to soon seek advice from Torii Hunter, who won nine Gold Gloves in center field before also transitioning to right field in his age-33 season in 2009.
“I don’t think it’s gonna be a crazy transition,” Trout said. “If it can save my legs a little bit, I’ll do it.”
Trout said he is fully recovered from the left knee issues that robbed him of another season last year, reporting that his body feels “lighter” and “faster.” He vowed to continue to be aggressive on the bases when the situation calls for it but hopes right field will limit the “crazy plays” that might make him more susceptible to injuries.
“My focus was just getting me back,” Trout said. “That’s the biggest thing. The last few years have been tough.”
Trout was undoubtedly the best player in the game throughout the 2010s, slashing .308/.422/.587 with 286 home runs and 196 stolen bases while finishing within the top two in American League MVP voting in seven of eight seasons. He compiled 70.5 FanGraphs wins above replacement during that stretch from 2012 to 2019, by far the most in the majors. His offensive numbers have remained good since — Trout has a .958 OPS since 2020 — but a litany of injuries have sapped his availability.
When MLB Network released its ranking of the sport’s 100 best players, Trout ranked 39th.
“Yeah, I saw that,” Trout said with a grin. “They’re going off the last couple years. I haven’t been out there, so — that’s their ranking. I know where I stand.”