Mike Trout plans on returning to center field for Angels

TEMPE, Ariz. — Mike Trout’s position switch might’ve only lasted a year.

After a season that began with him transitioning to right field and ended with him spending a lot of time at designated hitter, Trout is planning to return to his original position of center field this season.

First-year Los Angeles Angels manager Kurt Suzuki told Trout over the offseason that he’d like to see him back in center, at least in part because the team does not have a better candidate for the position at the moment, and Trout happily obliged.

“I just feel comfortable out there,” Trout said. “I feel like I’m at my best when I’m in center.”

After a four-year stretch in which he appeared in only 41% of his team’s games and suffered a litany of injuries — to his calf, back, hamate bone and, most recently, knee — Trout and the Angels agreed he would move to right field in 2025 and make more starts at DH to keep him healthy.

He started 22 of the Angels’ first 29 games right field, then spent close to a month on the injured list with a flare-up of his surgically repaired left knee and spent the rest of the year at DH.

The question now is whether Trout’s body can hold up to the rigors of center field again.

“Honestly, I felt like when I was in center, it was less on my body than the corners,” Trout said. “To be honest, right field, I felt like I was running a lot. But it’s just like a preference thing. Talking to some other outfielders and they’re saying that they feel the same way sometimes; center is less on your legs.”

Trout shed about five pounds over the offseason in an effort to place less stress on his legs and will spend the next five weeks getting re-acclimated to center field at the Angels’ complex in Tempe, Arizona.

He would have preferred a temporary absence.

Three years ago, Trout captained a Team USA team that reached the finals of the World Baseball Classic before losing a nailbiter to Japan. He played a big part in recruiting the players who made up that roster; their success became a big reason why the U.S. will now field its best team for this year’s version of the international tournament.

Trout wanted to compete again this year, but he — like so many other players — could not get his contract insured because of his history of injuries.

“It was disappointing,” Trout said. “I wanted to run it back with all the guys.”

Instead, Trout will focus his energy once again trying to prove himself as one of the game’s elite players. Now 34, Trout was by far the game’s most dominant force from 2012 to 2020, putting up a 1.008 OPS, accumulating 297 home runs and 197 stolen bases, winning three MVPs and leading all players — by a wide margin — with 72.6 FanGraphs wins above replacement.

The next four years were compromised by injury. The following one, 2025, saw Trout regress offensively, slashing .232/.359/.439 with 26 homers and 64 RBIs. Before hitting his 400th career home run on Sept. 20, Trout navigated a 36-game stretch in which he homered only once. But Trout finished the season strong, going 9-for-29 with five home runs over his last nine games.

He’s hoping it carries over.

“I know what I’m capable of doing,” Trout said. “I feel great. We’ll see what happens.”