HOUSTON -- After swatting a combined 89 home runs this season, Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels and Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers have been named the recipients of this year's Hank Aaron Award, MLB announced Wednesday.
The award was established in 1999 to honor the outstanding offensive performers in each league.
Trout, 27, hit a career-high 45 home runs, despite missing most of the last month of the season because of a foot injury. He batted .291 with a .438 on-base percentage, drove in 104 runs and scored 110. He's a leading candidate to win his third AL MVP award.
He took to Twitter on Wednesday to thank his teammates, coaches, family and fans and to apologize for not being in attendance to accept the award from Aaron and commissioner Rob Manfred prior to Game 2 of the World Series.
To receive an award with the name Hank Aaron on it is truly special to me... #THANKYOU https://t.co/UxpRpg709B pic.twitter.com/mo7pCSXaWl
— Mike Trout (@MikeTrout) October 23, 2019
Yelich, 27, missed the stretch run for the Brewers after suffering a fractured kneecap on a foul tip.
"I'm honored and appreciative for everybody who voted for me, who deemed me worthy enough, even though I didn't see it to the finish line, coming a couple of weeks short," Yelich said. "It's an honor. It was a tough way to go out."
After winning the NL MVP award in 2018, Yelich improved his numbers across the board, hitting a career-best 44 homers and winning his second straight batting title with a .329 average. He finished with 97 RBIs, scored 100 runs and stole a career-high 30 bases.
He said his recovery from the injury is "on track" and will be fully ready by spring training.
"It's all good," Yelich said. "... Have a few more weeks of rehab, then it's back to normal. All the bad scenarios and all that, it'll be like it never happened when spring training starts, which is cool. Got very lucky in that respect."
Yelich also was honored to win an award named after Aaron, the Hall of Famer who hit 755 career home runs and whose number is retired by both the Brewers and the Atlanta Braves.
"You obviously know who Hank Aaron is if you play baseball at any level, but especially being on the Brewers," Yelich said. "He's definitely on baseball's Mount Rushmore. One of the best to ever do it. Just to spend time with him and be able to talk to him, it's pretty special. It's something I don't take for granted."