Mike Trout Getting Advice On Position Change From Angels Legend Who Did It Before
Mike Trout Getting Advice On Position Change From Angels Legend Who Did It Before
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When the Los Angeles Angels and Mike Trout agreed he would move from center field to right field, he knew he wanted to reach out to a former teammate.
Trout was just breaking into the league when Torii Hunter was on his way out. Hunter went through the same position change late in his career and the two have spoken at length about it.
“Man, we chat all the time, and Trout always asks questions,” Hunter said. “He asked so many questions [as a youngster], and still, to this day, a guy who's a superstar Hall of Famer in the future and this guy still asks questions. That ought to let you know who he is.”
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Hunter became a mentor for Trout in 2012, and one of the main reasons he's at camp is to help him with the transition. The two are working on technique, and Hunter is full of advice.
Hunter believes the transition will benefit Trout, 33, just as it extended his own career. Hunter, who played 19 seasons with the Twins, Angels, and Tigers, stayed productive until his retirement at 40.
“It hurts for a minute, because it's your dream,” Hunter said. “But at the same time, I knew where I was in my career. And when I got to right field, man, my body felt great, and my numbers were better average-wise, I stayed on the field, I played 37, 38, 39 even 40 playing in right field, and I was able to go out and put up some good numbers for an older guy. A wiser guy.”
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In addition to helping Trout, Hunter is getting an opportunity to coach which is something he is considering doing in the future.
“I definitely would be interested in doing that,” Hunter said. “I saw Albert Pujols is [managing] the Dominican [team] in 2026 [in the World Baseball Classic], and that's the start of something that you try to get that exercise to see if you really want to do it.
"I did the Futures Game in [2018] and man, it was like the best feeling in the world to do that. Pete Alonso, I had all these young guys that were there, and you see them in the big leagues now, you're like, ‘Wow.’ That was a great experience for me to coach that Futures Game and I think that kind of got the juices flowing.”
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