Trout wins 4th straight Silver Slugger
ANAHEIM -- Four seasons in the Major Leagues, four Silver Slugger Awards for Mike Trout.
The Angels' superstar center fielder picked up his latest on Thursday, on the strength of a 2015 season that saw him mash a career-high 41 home runs while sporting an American League-best .991 OPS.
• Vote for Trout in 2015 Esurance MLB Awards
• Complete awards coverage
Trout joins Mike Piazza as the only players to win the Louisville Silver Slugger Award -- presented to the top offensive player at each position in each league since 1980 -- in each of their first four full seasons in the big leagues. Trout, who turned 24 on Aug. 7, is the youngest player to win the award four times. Vladimir Guerrero is the only other Angels player to capture the award four times.
Trout added a .299 batting average, .402 on-base percentage, .590 slugging percentage, 90 RBIs, 32 doubles, six triples, 92 walks, 104 runs scored and an AL-leading 9.0 FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement. He finished in the top 10 in the AL in slugging (first), on-base percentage (second), runs (third), walks (third), home runs (tied for third) and batting average (ninth).
Trout won the AL Most Valuable Player Award unanimously in 2014 and is a finalist for the award this offseason. He became the first player to be named MVP of the All-Star Game in back-to-back years this past July and joined Mickey Mantle, Al Kaline and Ken Griffey Jr. as the only AL outfielders with four All-Star Game selections before the age of 24. And soon, he may join Yogi Berra as the only AL players to finish within the top two in AL MVP voting in four consecutive years.
Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays, the presumed favorite for AL MVP this year, won the Silver Slugger Award at third base. Fellow AL winners included Yankees catcher Brian McCann, Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts, Mariners outfielder Nelson Cruz, Tigers outfielder J.D. Martinez and Royals designated hitter Kendrys Morales, Trout's ex-teammate in Southern California.
The award was voted on by current managers and coaches who were restricted from selecting players on their own teams.