Mike Trout Has Change Of Heart About World Baseball Classic

Mike Trout, like so many baseball players, doesn’t like to get out of his routine.

That is why the Los Angeles Angels center fielder has never participated in the All-Star Home Run Derby or the World Baseball Classic.

Trout believes he would change his swing if he tried to intentionally hit home runs in the derby. He has also been reluctant to leave his team in the middle of spring training to play in the WBC, fearing it would leave him unprepared for the start of the regular season.

Trout’s stance on those events has long disappointed Major League Baseball. Commissioner Rob Manfred even called Trout out for not doing more to promote the sport in 2017 while speaking with reporters at the All-Star Game in Miami.

However, Trout has had a change of heart this year. The three-time American League Most Valuable Player will serve as the captain for the United States in the WBC.

Trout considered playing for Team USA in the last WBC in 2017 – the 2021 version was not held because of the pandemic – but decided against it. The USA won the event for the first time that year and Trout admittedly had regrets as he watched the championship game on television.

“It looked like they were having so much fun, making the plays and winning,” Trout said during a recent conference call. “That’s what I regretted. I should have been out there.”

Trout will be out there this time when the United States begins pool play on March 11 by facing Great Britain at Chase Field in Phoenix. The Americans will be part of a pool group that includes Canada, Colombia and Mexico.

The title game is set for March 21 at loanDepot Park in Miami and Trout makes it clear he believes the Americans will be there.

“That’s the whole reason I signed up, trying to win this thing,” Trout said. “There is nothing else. Anything else is a failure.”

Since the WBC was first played in 2006, some players have cited injury risk as the primary reason for not participating.

Trout missed nearly five weeks last season when he was on the injured list from July 12-Aug. 19 with upper back and ribcage problems. He made a strong return to the active roster by hitting .308 with 16 home runs in 40 games to end the season.

Overall, Trout had a .283 batting average and 40 homers in 119 games in 2022 and the 31-year-old said there have been no residual effects from the IL stint.

“The back’s been a non-issue for the past four months,” he said. “I felt a little bit when I came back during the season last year and then I’ve been on top of it pretty well and just keeping the same routine in the weight room, just a warmup and making sure all the back muscles around it is strong.”

Trout could potentially be matched up in the WBC with Japan’s Shohei Ohtani, the two-way sensation who is his teammate with the Angels.

“I get a front-row seat every time he pitches,” Trout said. “It’s pretty nasty. Every person I talk to that faces him says they don’t want to be in the box. It’s going to be interesting. He’s one of my good friends, so it’s going to be fun.”