In a season full of struggling moments and career-lows over 120-plus games played, Mike Trout finally achieved something that was due to happen for many years. After multiple seasons in a row with injuries that impacted how many games he played and even ended some of those seasons for him, Trout achieved something that only 58 ballplayers in the biggest baseball league in the world have done. He hit his long-awaited 400th home run of his illustrious career on Sat, Sept 20, 2025 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. It occurred in the top of the 8th inning against right-handed reliever Jaden Hill and the ball traveled deep into the left-center field stands for a distance of 485 feet, the fourth-longest homer of Trout’s career. The mile-high altitude might have robbed Trout twice in the series-opening game at Coors Field, but the third time was the charm as a 98 mph sinker was caught by a lucky fan in the stands who got to play catch with that same ball(or a different one) with Trout postgame. An incredible night indeed as the Los Angeles Angels also managed to win the game 3-0, with solo home runs happening off the bats of Taylor Ward and Nolan Schanuel along with Trout’s blast. Kyle Hendricks pitched seven solid innings in only surrendering three hits and getting five strikeouts against the Rockies, who lost their franchise-worst 113th game of the season.

Trout had dealt with different injuries over the past several seasons that kept him from tallying up his home run total to a higher mark, including a foot nerve injury in 2019 when he hit a career-high 45 home runs and would have likely broken Troy Glaus’ Angels franchise mark in homers hit in a single season if he hadn’t gotten hurt with a few weeks left in that season. A shortened 60-game season in 2020 didn’t help matters for Trout either, but he still managed to hit his 300th career home run in an empty Angel Stadium that thankfully had Tim Salmon physically there as Trout became the all-time franchise leader in big flies. Trout only had 25 home runs combined from the 2020 and 2021 regular seasons, as he suffered a devastating oblique injury while slowly rounding the base paths at the Big A on May 17, 2021 and that ended his season. A back injury had him miss some games in 2022, but he was able to close out the season and hit 40 home runs. So, Trout was 50 homers away from the 400-HR mark when 2023 began and a lot of people would think that early in the 2024 season could be a reasonable date for him to reach that milestone if he stayed healthy. Unfortunately, Mike suffered a broken hamate bone on July 3, 2023 in San Diego that effectively ended his season, even though he did try to come back to no avail. After 18 home runs hit with a half-season’s worth of games played in 2023, Trout was 32 home runs away entering 2024, pushing his potential time frame of reaching 400 to later on in that season. But a meniscus tear in late April of that season ended the year so early for Trout, who managed to smash 10 balls over outfield barriers before his season ended. With Trout’s injuries, the Angels’ record declined and they continued having disappointing seasons that had them miss the playoffs in a streak that has extended to a decade-plus now.

For this 2025 season, Trout was asked to give up his duties playing in center field in order to keep himself more available in the lineup. He was slated to play right field part-time and be the designated hitter in some games as well. But a tweak to the same knee that knocked him out the previous season was aggravated on April 30 and Trout was out for a month on the injured list. After his return, Trout has not played a single game out in the field and has been the DH in every game he has appeared in. His power numbers have been low as the DH, reflecting his career stats in that position but he still managed to provide clutch hits from time to time in hitting singles, doubles and occasional home runs. In the post-All Star Break period, it seemed that Trout would reach 400 home runs sooner rather than later, being only five blasts away with 17 homers. But he would go into a home run drought in only hitting 3 home runs over a 46-game stretch. The team also suffered in their record declining post-trade deadline and finally having the injury bug catch up to some of their key players. But on Fri, Sept 12, Trout hit a solo home run against the Seattle Mariners to hit his 399th career home run, tying him with Andres Galarraga and Al Kaline for 59th on the all-time home run list. It seemed that Trout was likely to get his 400th home run on this 10-game road trip that the Halos were on. He almost achieved it in Seattle and Milwaukee, but it would have to wait until a three-game series in downtown Denver against the Rockies, who play at one of the most homer-friendly ballparks in the nation due to the high elevation that Coors Field is located on. In his fourth at-bat of the Saturday evening game, after walking, reaching on a catcher’s interference call and striking out, Trout blasted a 3-1 pitch to finally achieve this record at a National League ballpark where he had hit five home runs prior to this game.

The teammates and coaching staff of the Angels were overjoyed at Trout’s milestone, serenading their star player and giving him all the love. A few hundred Halos fans in attendance also cheered Trout, who would have had to do a curtain call if he had achieved this feat in Anaheim. After five long seasons of pain, missed games and declining offensive power numbers, Mike Trout had finally reached the 400 peak of home runs, joining Dave Winfield and Vladimir Guerrero as Angels players who have achieved that career mark while wearing the halo on their cap. The next guy on the all-time home run list for Trout to pass by is Duke Snider, who hit 407 career blasts in his amazing career mostly played with the Dodgers in Brooklyn/Los Angeles. That will have to wait for next season as more names await to be passed by Trout and that list of those he could pass on his path to 500 home runs includes Mark Texiera, Alfonso Soriano, Mike Piazza, Cal Ripken Jr, Carlos Beltrán, Paul Konerko, Jason Giambi, Vladimir Guerrero, Carl Yastrzemski, Nelson Cruz, Chipper Jones, Stan Musial, Adrian Beltré and Lou Gehrig. And if he stays healthy enough and rediscovers some of his powerful form as he inches closer to his late-30s, Trout could feasibly surpass the all-time great outfielder that he has been compared with the most in Mickey Mantle, who had his own injury-rattled career as he finished with 521 home runs as a legendary slugger for the New York Yankees.

In spite of a long-waiting period, Mike Trout finally got to achieve this mark and the Angels can now officially celebrate it. In fact, the public relations/promotions department for the organization has been waiting so long that they can now give away a special item that they had ready for some fans to take home with them. On Wed, Sept 24, the Angels will be giving away a Mike Trout 400th Home Run Poster to the first 25,000 fans who arrive through the gates at the Big A. There could be at least one other promotion related to Trout’s most recent achievement that could be coming out next season on a Friday night game when the Halos usually give out promotional items to fans attending a game. So, with the season winding down and a six-game homestand left, Trout barely succeeded in hitting his 400th career home run and that is a relief for everyone. A well-deserved achievement that definitely has the baseball world praising the best player of his generation(based on when he began his MLB career) and with five seasons left on his “lifetime” contract with the Angels, more accomplishments from number 27 in red and white might be on the way in those years to come. That’s something to look forward to regarding an Angels team that simply can’t string together a full season of successful baseball in this current time period. Perhaps that could change as well in due time. For now, everybody is happy about Trout’s 400th home run, including the Rockies fans in attendance at Coors Field that got to see some history by an opposing player who still commands respect and an aura of greatness rarely seen around most superstars in the game’s long history.