What If Series: Mike Trout to Jupiter? 

In our What If Series we use Out of the Park Baseball 21 (OOTP) to play out scenarios that boggle our baseball minds. Situations that would make us wonder what could have been, but will never come to fruition.

Last week, we used OOTP to see how everyday Marlins starter Brian Anderson would fare in Jupiter. As one might expect, the Oklahoma native had a strong offensive season batting .343/.450/.607 with 30 home runs in 134 games. We decided to take our Anderson experiment a step further and see what damage three-time AL MVP Mike Trout would do if he played for the Hammerheads over the next three seasons.

The righty won Batter of the Month and Player of the Week twice during his inaugural season with the Hammerheads. To go along with his in-season accolades, he was also named the MVP, the Gold Glove Winner, the Silver Slugger Winner, and was elected to the All-Star Game in his first Florida State League season.

Here are his full stats for the 2020 season:

.372/.568/.784, 47 HR, 123 RBI, 155 H, 117 R, 175 BB, 12.0 WAR - 136 games

The eight-time MLB All-Star wasn’t too thrilled about staying in Jupiter for the 2021 season, but agreed with the manager that it was best for his long-term development. To no one’s surprise, the center fielder followed up his impressive 2020 season with a strong 2021 campaign. After starting the season battling a pinched nerve in his neck which kept him out of the lineup for a couple of weeks, he began to hit his stride to close out the season. Just like the 2020 season, he was awarded League MVP, the Gold Glove Award, and the Silver Slugger Award, but did miss out on the All-Star game this season.

Full 2021 stats:

.339/.528/.629, 23 HR, 72 RBI, 127 H, 96 R, 134 BB, 8.1 WAR - 121 games

After not making the All-Star game in 2021, Trout had something to prove in 2022. While the injury bug bit the Hammerheads, Trout stayed healthy throughout the season. He even had to make his professional pitching debut, but quickly learned he was better suited in center field. Trout made it a three-peat for FSL MVP, Gold Glove winner, and Silver Slugger winner in 2021, while making it back to the All-Star game.

Full 2022 stats:

.307/.453/.656, 45 HR, 118 RBI, 141 H, 109 R, 109 BB, 9.9 WAR - 133 games

1.0 IP, 9.0 ERA, 1 ER, 3 K

After three seasons, Trout fell in love with the community and decided to hang up his cleats once and for all. He is now commonly seen on the Abacoa Golf Course seeing if he can out-drive Tiger Woods… but that’s a simulation for another time.