Mike Trout has reached the halfway point of his fourth full year in the Major Leagues and we have enough numbers to gauge how he might finish the year.  2014 brought Mike his first American League MVP award and so far he appears on track to be in the running for back-to-back awards.

Mike has also earned his fourth straight All-Star Game Selection and his third straight starting honor. He’ll get to start the game with his teammate Albert Pujols.

Let’s look at Trout’s projected numbers compared to his 2014 MVP numbers.

A few things to note:
Runs:  Trout led the league in runs last year and appears to be outpacing that number. Run Mike, RUN!

RBI:  This appears to be one of the most significant drops in Trout’s numbers. He’s projected to drive in over 20 fewer runs.  This highlights the deficiency in the RBI stat. Trout’s numbers are in general consistent with last year’s. But his teammates’ batting stats are much lower. This gives Trout fewer opportunities to collect RBI.

Strikeouts: Trout’s strikeout rate is still high, but down by at least 20 whiffs. This in turn is raising his batting average and his overall batting numbers.

Stolen Bases & Caught Stealing: Trout’s steal efficiency is dropping. He’s attempting to steal more frequently that 2014 but creating more outs in doing so.  Early in his career Trout had the highest Stolen Base Efficiency Rate. As he ages and concentrates on power this appears to no longer be the case. We’ll probably see him steal less and it’s possible he doesn’t even match last year’s stolen base numbers.

WAR (Wins Above Replacement):  Trout is leading American League players with a WAR of 4.9.  This puts him on pace to finish with a 9.8 WAR, topping his 2014 by almost 2 fulls wins. That alone should earn him the 2015 MVP unless someone else REALLY steps up and out performs him.

Keep up the great work Mike! It’s always a pleasure to watch you work.