Mike Trout homers again to cap off historic series vs. Yankees: Why his resurgence looks sustainable

Trout has also made a slight adjustment at the plate. Specifically, he's using a little step back before unleashing his swing. This is not new. This is something Trout did earlier in his career when he was a perennial MVP candidate, though he'd gotten away from it in recent seasons. It's back now, though:

Here's another angle of Mike Trout's homer with his recent tweak in mechanics with a step back before his swing. pic.twitter.com/npHwvuWeY1

— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) April 14, 2026

The result has been much harder contact and also more contact in general. Going into Thursday's game, Trout was running a 93.5 mph average exit velocity and a 28.6% barrel rate in the early going. Those numbers are up from 90.9 mph and 15.8% last year, respectively, and well above the 89.1 mph and 8.1% league averages. I know we're oversaturated with exit velocity these days, but it is very important. Good things happen when you hit the ball hard.

Long one of the game's most disciplined hitters, Trout has upped his in-zone swing rate from 55.9% last year to 61.3% this year. He's also upped his in-zone contact rate from 82.0% last year to 93.0% this year. For reference, the MLB averages are 65.0% in-zone swings and 85.3% in-zone contact. Trout's swinging at more pitches in the zone now, he's making more contact with those swings, and he is punishing the baseball. That is an excellent recipe.

[Angels star Mike Trout homers again, achieves a Yankee Stadium first since 2013

Matt Snyder

All the under-the-hood numbers are exceptional. That has been the case throughout Trout's career, though things began to slip in the last 2-3 years. That's perfectly normal for a 34-year-old ballplayer. Decline comes for everyone. In Trout's case, he went from best in the league to merely above-average. Now that he's healthy, he's once again putting up numbers on par with his very best seasons. There's no fluke here. Trout's deserved his impressive results.

It is a long season. Thursday's win improved the Angels to 10-10, so they've had a respectable start. They have another 142 games to play and the difference between reaching the postseason and missing it for the 12th straight season could very well be keeping Trout on the field. When he's healthy, he's still an impact player. We saw it this week in New York.

The arrow is pointing way up right now. He's been great, and a healthy Trout changes the Angels' outlook significantly.