In hitting his 300th career homer on Saturday, Mike Trout not only became the Los Angeles Angels all time home run leader, but joined an elite fraternity.
The inevitable occurred on Saturday. Mike Trout took Brandon Bielak deep to right center in the first game of their double header, hitting his 300th career home run. In doing so, Trout became the Los Angeles Angels‘ all time home run leader, passing Tim Salmon.
That was not the only history that Trout would make on that swing. He also became just the seventh outfielder in MLB history to reach the 300 home run plateau through their age 28 season.
The number of OF to hit these career marks through their age-28 season, all-time:
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) September 6, 2020
50 HR: 469
100 HR: 193
150 HR: 73
200 HR: 35
250 HR: 14
300 HR: 7@MikeTrout joined an exclusive list on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/vCW4GC2YD3
The other players on the list are an interesting collection of all time greats and players who fell off dramatically. Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr., Mickey Mantle, and Mel Ott are the top three. Giancarlo Stanton, the only other active player on this list, is fourth. The fraternity is then concluded with Juan Gonzalez and Andruw Jones.
It is possible that Trout will move up to third on the list, passing Ott’s 308 home runs. Had there been a full season, he could have given Mantle’s mark of 338 home runs a serious challenge as well.
This list just illustrates how consistently good Trout has been. Thus far in his career, he has posted a .305/.418/.584 batting line with his 300 homers and 257 doubles. He leads all active players in slugging and OPS by a considerable margin. If Trout was to retire at the end of the season, he would be a Hall of Fame caliber player.
Likewise, it is not a surprise that Trout is atop so many of the Angels’ all time categories. He leads the franchise in homers, WAR, on base percentage, and slugging. Trout is third in batting average, runs scored, and total bases. He also ranks second in steals, fourth in RBI, fifth in doubles, and sixth in hits. With a 12 year extension in hand, he is likely to climb up those leaderboards as well.
Mike Trout set a Los Angeles Angels team record with his home run on Saturday. And with that blast, he also made MLB history, joining a short list of outfielders to have 300 career homers through their age 28 season.