Mike Trout became the 59th member of the 400 Club on Saturday with a solo blast off Jaden Hill in the Los Angeles Angels’ 3-0 win over the Colorado Rockies.
The three-time American League MVP crushed an outside middle sinker from Hill into the center-field seats at Coors Field in the eighth inning. He joins Giancarlo Stanton as the only active MLB players with 400 career home runs. Stanton currently has 450 home runs. Trout moved past Andres Galarraga and Al Kaline for No. 59 on baseball’s all-time home run list.
Trout reaches the 400-home run milestone on the heels of a career-long drought that saw him go homer-less for 28 games — from Aug. 6 to Sept. 11, when he hit No. 399.
Naturally, the fan who caught the ball had a price to relinquish his new collector’s item. It was a lot more wholesome than usual.
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This is the second statistical milestone the 34-year-old Trout has reached this season. In July, he became the ninth active player to record 1,000 career RBI when he hit a 443-foot home run, the 497th of his career.
Trout also hit his 200th career home run at Angel Stadium on Aug. 6, becoming the 27th player in MLB history to have hit at least 200 homers in one stadium. He is also the only player who has hit 200 home runs and stolen 100 bases in one ballpark.
“To think about it, it’s just how fast it’s going,” Trout said earlier this season. “Just trying to enjoy every minute of it. The milestones are awesome. I’m looking forward to hopefully getting them.”
Trout, a three-time AL MVP and 11-time All-Star, might’ve reached 400 career home runs sooner, but injuries have kept him off the field on a regular basis in recent years. Since 2020, he has played more than 82 games in a season only once.
He began his MLB career in 2013 and hit 250 home runs over his first seven seasons with the Angels.
This season, Trout has been regular presence as a designated hitter, rather than in the outfield. A bone bruise on his surgically repaired left knee in May forced him to miss 26 games.
“I’m just happy to be in the lineup, contributing,” Trout said last month. “Years past, it’s just come to the ballpark, not be able to at least hit. That’s been frustrating. That’s been tough.”
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