Mike Trout, captain of Team USA during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, has long been considered one of the defining players of modern Major League Baseball.
For Shohei Ohtani, Trout was also the teammate who embodied the ideal offensive style he hoped to reach himself.
Trout is not simply a power hitter.
As a three-time MVP, he is pitched around constantly. Opposing teams are often willing to walk him rather than risk giving up extra-base hits.
Yet Trout rarely forces the issue.
Even under heavy pressure, he patiently lays off bad pitches, accepts walks when necessary, and still maintains a batting average around .300.
That combination — batting average, on-base percentage, and power — is what makes him extraordinary.
Across his first 14 MLB seasons, Trout posted:
- .299 batting average
- 980 walks
- .410 on-base percentage
- .991 OPS
Even though injuries affected some recent seasons, those numbers remain astonishing. Until 2022, Trout had recorded an OPS above 1.000 four separate times, and in nearly every other season he stayed above .900.
For Ohtani, this represented the ideal model of an elite hitter.
Because he is a feared home-run batter, pitchers naturally become more cautious against him. That means fewer hittable pitches and more difficult at-bats.
In that environment, Ohtani believes the ideal hitter is someone who:
- crushes mistakes for extra-base hits,
- refuses to chase bad pitches,
- takes walks when necessary,
- and consistently maintains a high OPS.
That is why Ohtani said Trout was “the style of player” he most wanted to emulate.
Not simply because Trout hit home runs, but because he mastered the balance between discipline, patience, and explosive power.
Source
This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.
Number 963, p.18