{"id":581711,"date":"2026-02-19T21:03:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T21:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/581711\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T21:03:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T21:03:37","slug":"a-return-to-center-field-could-be-the-plan-for-mike-trout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/581711\/","title":{"rendered":"A return to center field could be the plan for Mike Trout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mike Trout<\/a> says he would prefer to return to center field for the Angels<\/a>, and the star slugger says he will skip the World Baseball Classic because of insurance issues.<\/p>\n

The 11-time All-Star who been plagued by injuries since 2021 says his familiar position isn\u2019t as physically demanding as the corner outfield spots, contrary to traditional thinking.<\/p>\n

Trout played his most games since 2019 last season, finishing at 130<\/a>. The three-time American League MVP started 22 of his first 29 games in right field before a knee injury sidelined him for a month. The 34-year-old was exclusively a designated hitter when he returned in late May.<\/p>\n

Trout had 26 home runs but hit just .232, by far the worst average of his career when he had at least 400 at-bats.<\/p>\n

He spent time in left field early in his career but was a center fielder for 11 consecutive seasons before the switch to right. Injuries limited Trout to 111 games the previous two years.<\/p>\n

Trout said conversations with first-year manager Kurt Suzuki have included the idea of a return to center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m at my best when I\u2019m in center,\u201d Trout told reporters at the club\u2019s spring training facility Monday. \u201cIf I have to go to the corner, I\u2019ll go to the corner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trout said a return to center will be good for his health.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in center, it was less on my body than the corners,\u201d Trout said. \u201cTo be honest, in right field I felt I was running a lot. Talking to some other outfielders and they\u2019re saying that they feel the same way sometimes, center is less on your legs. I just feel … confident in center.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trout, who played in his only WBC three years ago, had said he was interested in playing again before insurance issues arose.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disappointing,\u201d Trout said. \u201cI wanted to run it back with all the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Promising young Boston outfielder Roman Anthony has been named as a Team USA injury replacement for Arizona\u2019s Corbin Carroll, who has a broken bone in his right hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mike Trout says he would prefer to return to center field for the Angels, and the star slugger…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2390],"tags":[291,5,5765,8636,1416,16629,2588,76099,3386,76098,1165,446,3223,774,56,3224,3222,603,4,76097,11061,3607,1757,4597,1319],"class_list":["post-581711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-angels","tag-angels","tag-baseball","tag-career","tag-center-field","tag-center-fielder","tag-conversation","tag-corner","tag-first-year-manager-kurt-suzuki","tag-injury","tag-insurance-issue","tag-la","tag-la-angels","tag-laangels","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesangels","tag-mike-trout","tag-mlb","tag-most-game","tag-plan","tag-return","tag-right-field","tag-switch","tag-year"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116099324652736181","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}