What is Mike Trout's strikeout rate? Breaking down Team USA captain's swinging success after epic WBC duel with Shohei Ohtani

Mike Trout's strikeout rate came into question after he failed to get the best of Shohei Ohtani during the final at-bat of the World Baseball Classic. The USA captain swung and missed two 100 mph fastballs from his MLB teammate before flailing at a perfect slider just off the plate.

In the wake of that, Chris Russo, an MLB analyst, decried the celebration around the at-bat. Trout is considered the best hitter in baseball and Ohtani is an electric pitcher. Plus, the teammates' angle made it even more interesting.

Nevertheless, Russo believed that the moment wasn't worthy of interest:

“Did you see the headlines today? ‘Epic At-Bat,’ an ‘Incredible Moment.’ Why? I mean, Trout does nothing but strikeout."

So what is Mike Trout's strikeout rate? Does he do anything but strike out?

---

How often does Mike Trout strike out?

For his career, Mike Trout's strikeout rate is 22%. Less than a quarter of his at-bats end with a strikeout. Generally speaking, that is right at the "below average" mark per Fangraphs.

What is Trout's strikeout rate?

However, it is far from the poor or awful metrics that Fangraphs defined (25% and 27.5%, respectively). Strikeout rates are always high in the modern game. For comparison, Ohtani has a 26.9% strikeout rate.

Last year, Patrick Wisdom led baseball with a 34.3% strikeout rate - far worse than Trout's 2022 metric of 27.9%. In fact, he ranked 105th out of players with at least 100 plate appearances.

Additionally, Trout was fifth in baseball with a stunning 176 wRC+, which is a metric that defines how many runs he creates alone. Clearly, he does a lot more than strike out and the battle against Ohtani was more than legendary.

Given the magnitude of their showdown at the WBC, it's a pity we won't be able to see more of the same this MLB season.