It can be tough being a fan of the Los Angeles Angels. Despite having two of the best baseball players in the history of the game, the team still has struggles.
Rarely, the Los Angeles Angels struggles belong to Mike Trout. But, he proved that he is still a human with his first error in two years.
When Trout makes an error, it’s newsworthy. Outfield errors are rare anyway and Trout’s latest one was against the Texas Rangers on Friday night. Hunter Pence hit a bloop single to center field. After the ball bounced, Trout didn’t field it well and the ball got away from him after it bounced off of his foot.
The fumble gave the Rangers what they needed to score two runs. Usually, teams are reluctant to run on Trout’s cannon of an arm, but with him chasing after the ball, both Shin-Soo Choo and Logan Forsythe were able to cross home in the seventh inning. Pence continued on to second base.
This error gave the Rangers the lead. Trout had an opportunity to redeem himself in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and Brian Goodwin on first, Trout struck out swinging to end the game. It just wasn’t his day.
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May hasn’t been a good month for the Los Angeles Angels. Justin Upton, Andrelton Simmons, and Matt Harvey are all on the Injured List. The team has a record below .500 and has struggled against AL West teams and the AL Central leaders, the Minnesota Twins. Even though it is still early in the season, the Angels .451 win-loss record puts them solidly out of any Wild Card race.
Trout’s last error was 262 games prior to May 24, 2019. Despite being error-free for so long, he has never won a Gold Glove Award. He did win the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year award in 2012. Trout usually makes highlight reels for his flying catches and powerful throws, but Gold Glove Awards have been given to other center fielders like Kevin Kiermaier, Jackie Bradley, Jr., and Byron Buxton.
The longest error-less streak by an outfielder belongs to Nick Markakis during his combined time with the Baltimore Orioles and the Atlanta Braves. His streak began on August 11, 2012, and ended on June 24, 2015.