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The Los Angeles Angels knew Mike Trout had the potential to become a special player. They used their compensation pick during the 2009 draft to gamble on the slugger in the first round.
Debuting in 2011, Trout got a taste of big-league action as he hit .220/.281/.390 with six doubles, five home runs and 16 RBIs in 40 games.
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After the season, Trout played in the Arizona Fall League but was feeling the effects of the regular season. LA's GM at the time, Jerry Dipoto, sent his assistant, Scott Servais, to watch the slugger. This was Servais's first time seeing Trout, and Dipoto had enormous expectations for him via Sports Illustrated.
"Scott, don't worry. This guy is going to be the next big thing in our sport," said Dipoto.
Dipoto had a strong feeling that Trout would become the face of the sport, and he was not wrong. The following season, the slugger felt comfortable at the plate and showed the world what he could do.
Through 139 regular-season games, Trout hit .326/.399/.564 with 30 home runs and 83 runs batted in and led the league AL with 49 stolen bases. That was good enough to be named an All-Star and AL's Rookie of the Year.
Mike Trout became a nightmare for Scott Servais and Jerry Dipoto following their move to Seattle
In 2015, Jerry Dipoto resigned from his position with the Angels and joined the Seattle Mariners. He brought Scott Servais as his manager but quickly saw a problem.
Whenever they would face Mike Trout, he would dismantle them. It was like the slugger circled the Seattle series on his calendar and prepared all season for it.
Servais then took it upon himself to figure out how to beat Trout. He met with the team's scout to complete a scouting report, and he found one part of Trout's game that had a hole in it.
"Trout slugs about .900 in almost every area of the strike zone. But there's a little box, up and away, where he slugs only about .400" said the scout.
Servais told his pitching staff how they would attack the slugger. Having an entire pitching staff game plan around one hitter shows how dominant Trout was early in his career.
