Mike Trout homers on his birthday for second straight year (Video)

So there is like an unwritten rule here at LBS, and it states that when Mike Trout does something awesome, we must post about it. Well, I choose to post about it. Because the Los Angeles Angels have been so embarrassingly bad this season, Trout highlights are pretty much all I have.

Trout took Texas Rangers starter Alexi Ogando deep to left center on a 2-1 off-speed pitch in the first inning of Wednesday’s 10-3 loss. It was just a ridiculous blast from Trout to give the Angels a 2-0 lead, which they eventually blew, of course. It also came on Trout’s 22nd birthday, meaning Trout has homered on his birthday two years in a row.

The dinger marked Trout’s 20th of the season, and it gave him 70 RBIs on the year.

Believe it or not, Trout is actually having a better season than his incredible rookie campaign last year. He’s up to a .333 batting average, .424 on-base percentage, and .580 slugging percentage, all of which top his numbers from last year. Though he’s 10 homers shy of where he was last year, he already has the same amount of triples and more doubles.

The AL MVP will likely come down to Trout and Miguel Cabrera, and Cabrera will win for the second year in a row, but Trout’s special season should not be overlooked. As Fangraphs wrote on Wednesday, Trout actually has a higher wRC+ (weighted runs created) than any other player in history through his age 21 season.

And since we can, here’s video of Trout homering on nearly an identical swing/pitch on his 21st birthday:

Another player who has had success on his birthday is former slugger Derrek Lee. As our friend Tim Burke pointed out, Lee homered on his birthday four years in a row from 2003-2006. That’s a nice mark for Trout to try chasing.