Mike Trout has experienced the worst single month of his playing career in August of 2015. The Angels offense has always been somewhat tied to Albert Pujols and Mike Trout. As both of them have hit a major slump the Angels have plummeted in the standings from first place to third. They currently are completely out of the playoff picture and have dropped back down to a losing record.

Trout’s numbers for August 2015
[table]Runs|HR|RBI|SB|Avg
6|2|9|0|.216[/table]

It’s hard not to wonder if a wrist injury sustained on July 26 is not to blame. After sitting out 4 games, all medical reports said that Mike was healthy and able to play. But the results on the field have left many curious about his ability to bat.

Based on information from Trout and manager Mike Scioscia the injury is having no impact and will make no excuses for his slump.

Angels Mike Trout said he looked at some video and diagnosed an issue with his swing (flying open) and felt better tonight.

— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) August 27, 2015

The analyst at Baseball Tonight on ESPN speculated that the injury from a month ago threw off his mechanics and he’s been unable to put everything back together again.

Trout appeared to be a shoe-in for his second MVP award but as he has floundered through August and as the Angels have fallen out of playoff contention that dream seems to be slipping away into the hands of Josh Donaldson. If Trout and the Angels are somehow able to recover in September the hope for a playoff chase may come back into focus, but there is little time to spare.