Angels' Mike Trout Made Adjustment That Has Already Paid Instant Dividends

The Los Angeles Angels are 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot in the American League.

The young core of the Halos is largely responsible, but one of the pillars of the team has been providing elite offense for over a decade. Mike Trout started the season off to a slow start, but in the 27 games since returning from about a month of missed action, he has continued to dazzle at the batter's box with a .290 average and 13 RBIs.

After striking out on Saturday against the Washington Nationals, and not hitting a home run in nine days, he knew that something was off. The three-time MVP took to the advice of coaches and game film to adjust the issue.

“It’s just my posture,” Trout said to the the Orange County Register's Jeff Fletcher. “When I get a closed shoulder and it’s turned, my swing gets long. We saw it in my first at-bat and I tried to make an adjustment. Less is more for me at the plate. In my first at-bat, I missed a heater over the middle I usually hit.

“Just felt really long. And, we looked at some video during the game and made an adjustment.”

Trout later launched a seventh inning home run that not only tied the game, but sparked a mammoth six-run frame to trounce the Nationals, 8-2 on Saturday.

“Never gets old,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “He’s capable of changing the game every time he’s in it, and every time he’s at the plate. Not surprising. He’s been grinding. It’s huge to have his presence, both obviously what he brings offensively, but just in the dugout, around the guys. It’s awesome.”

Montgomery and the youthful Angels aren't the only ones benefiting from the dinger as the future Hall of Famer continued to speak on breaking a home run drought, and doing so a night after a tough loss.

“It felt good,” Trout said. “I finally got one down that I could hit. We had a tough one last night and we’ve been playing well. So to provide a little spark there felt good.”