Countdown to Opening Day - 27: Trout is baseball's brightest star as 6-year deal begins

In this 30-day series, theScore's MLB editors will preview the 2015 season with an in-depth look at some of the significant numbers - statistical milestones, jersey numbers and general miscellanea - poised to pop up throughout the campaign. 

Paralyzed with disbelief, Chris Sale slouched and stared beyond the center-field wall at Angel Stadium, unable to comprehend what the kid with #27 emblazoned on his jersey had done to that pitch.

Sale, a perpetual Cy Young candidate, had a 5-1 lead when Mike Trout came to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning on that warm California evening last June. The lanky left-hander executed his pitch, too - an 86-mph slider that swept back over the outer third of the plate.

Sale, however, forgot one vital detail. Mike Trout is Mike Trout. 

Trout, the impossibly talented center fielder for the Los Angeles Angels, has spent the last four summers dismantling previous standards of excellence, distinguishing himself not only from his peers but even among the game's most enduring legends.

Selected 25th overall in the 2009 draft - his name called after the likes of Donavan Tate, Matt Hobgood and Bobby Borchering - Trout's incomprehensible excellence through his first four seasons evokes comparisons to icons like Ted Williams and Ty Cobb, but no player in history has ever provided as much value as him at such a young age.

It seems almost foolish, then, to draw upon the past in an attempt to project the results 2015 might yield, as Trout's accomplishments through age 22 have no historical precedent. Williams, of course, hit for more power during the nascent stages of his career and Cobb stole bases with greater frequency as an MLB neophyte, but nobody ever wielded a more uniformly exceptional set of skills than Trout.

(Courtesy: Fangraphs)

Among his contemporaries, meanwhile, Trout has no equal, leading the majors leagues in wins above replacement in each of the last three seasons by a considerable margin. There isn't a significant statistical category in which Trout doesn't rank among the game's elite since, and his 170 weighted runs created plus - an offensive metric that adjusts for league and park effects, where 100 is league average - trumps all other qualified hitters since 2012.

Though his ability to impact the game is unparalleled, Trout began in 2014 to evolve as a player. Regarded during his inaugural campaign as baseball's preeminent leadoff hitter, Trout aggressively shed his "top of the lineup" reputation last season, establishing himself unambiguously as a middle-of-the-order monster. His batted-ball profile changed markedly last season, as a significant increase in his fly-ball output resulted in greater power at the expense of contact.

Trout also appeared to impact the game less with his legs, swiping only 16 bases in 18 tries after compiling 82 stolen bases across the two seasons prior. His defense also came under scrutiny for the first time in 2014 as he dared to look human in center field, wherein he managed -9 defensive runs saved and struggled to make plays he might have earlier in his career.

The changes within Trout's game fueled "only" 7.8 wins above replacement in 2014, his fewest since becoming an everyday player (though still the top mark in the majors). Trout, however, is prepared to make the necessary adjustments at the plate - he privately vowed to cut down his strikeouts in 2015 - and is still projected for a league-best 8.7 WAR this season, according to Fangraphs' Steamer.

Trout may never again steal upward of 40 bases. He also may sacrifice some range in the outfield for the sake of self-preservation. But the very fact that a player with his offensive abilities continues to handle a premium defensive position (if not exceptionally then at least passably) cements his status as a generational talent reminiscent of Mickey Mantle and Ken Griffey Jr.

It may not be presumptuous to suggest Trout's best days are behind him - a scary thought for someone who has yet to turn 24 - but it will be interesting to see if the changes Trout endured in 2014 were an anomaly or part of a larger trend.

Whether he produces upward of 10 WAR this season, though, doesn't at all affect his status as the best player on the planet, and Trout will head into Opening Day eager to make good on the six-year, $144-million extension he received last March. 

And that's good news for baseball fans. And bad news for Chris Sale.