Kenley Jansen has had the opportunity to play alongside talented teammates throughout his 16-year career, but arguably none have left an impression on him quite like Mookie Betts and Mike Trout.
Despite only being teammates on the Los Angeles Dodgers for two seasons, Betts established a strong reputation in Jansen’s mind in that short amount of time. The same goes for Trout, with Jansen being in his first season on the Los Angeles Angels in 2025.
Betts and Trout already had established reputations as great players prior to becoming teammates with Jansen, but the chance to watch them work up close and personal was another thing entirely and he can’t help but compare the two.
During a recent appearance on “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast, Jansen remarked how similar the two players are in his eyes:
“How gifted he (Trout) is, he’s so gifted, man. You can see it in many ways. It sucks he keeps getting hurt. When he’s on, this guy can do everything well. It’s a second Mookie I’m watching. It’s very similar. These two guys are very gifted. Like I said, you call those generational talents. You won’t see talent like that for generations. Easily you could put those two guys up as the greatest who have ever played. Same thing with Shohei.”
Prior to the start of this season, Betts spoke about Trout’s ability when healthy and the impact he can have on a game. He believed that Trout could accomplish great things in 2025, health permitting.
Trout did unfortunately miss almost the entire month of May due to a left knee contusion, but he was activated right before June and still has a chance to finish out the rest of the season without incident.
Trout has been a bit slow out of the gates this season, but it hasn’t been all bad. The 33-year-old has 10 home runs this season and his .810 on-base plus slugging percentage would be among the top-25 in the American League if he qualified.
Mookie Betts vs. Mike Trout
Betts and Trout simultaneously called the AL home for six seasons and were often at odds in the MVP race. Trout won his first MVP Award in 2014, which was the same year that Betts debuted in the Majors with the Boston Red Sox.
Betts enjoyed an excellent 2016 campaign in just his second full season in MLB, but finished second to Trout in MVP voting. The former Red Sox outfielder finally got the better of his competitor in 2018, receiving 28 of 30 first place votes.
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