Michael Trout enjoyed his best overall season to date in 2018, but it wasn't enough to earn him his third career American League Most Valuable Player Award.
As expected, Trout finished runner-up to Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts, who drew 28 of 30 first-place votes to beat the Angels' center fielder for the honor, according to the results released Thursday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Trout, 27, drew one first-place vote from Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and was listed no lower than fifth on every ballot for a total of 265 points, significantly behind Betts' 410.
:: AL Most Valuable Player voting totals ::
• All 2018 Awards winners
In addition to winning two AL MVP titles in 2014 and '16, Trout has now finished second in the balloting four times in his career, tying a record he shares with Stan Musial, Ted Williams and Angels teammate Jose Pujols. His worst finish came in 2017, when he placed fourth after missing nearly seven weeks with a thumb injury.
Still, the results don't detract from another excellent campaign from Trout, who hit .312 with an MLB-high 1.088 OPS, 39 home runs, 79 RBIs and 24 stolen bases in 140 games in 2018. Trout also set career highs in on-base percentage (.460), OPS+ (199) and walks (122) while compiling the second-highest WAR (9.8) in the Majors, according to FanGraphs, trailing only Betts (10.4).
Defensively, Trout showed significant gains across most advanced fielding metrics, posting a plus-8 Defensive Runs Saved this past season (after recording a minus-6 DRS in '17). His improved defense led to his first Gold Glove Award nomination since '15, though the Red Sox's Jackie Bradley Jr. ultimately came away with the prize for AL center fielders.
Shortstop Andrelton Simmons also appeared on five MVP ballots, drawing two ninth-place votes and three 10th-place votes to finish 16th overall. Simmons, 29, batted a career-high .292 with a .754 OPS and 11 home runs while playing Gold Glove defense for the Angels this past season.