Youth baseball coach critiques Mike Trout’s swing — then the slugger chimes in

Offering his baseball advice to what he assumed was a player in need, Ryan Wargel gave his thoughts on Twitter to how a batter could fix his swing.

“Pitching machine swing,” said Wargel, who coaches the Evansville Devils 17U travel team in Evansville, Indiana. “Works great when you’re 8, not so much against any velocity. Work with him on keeping his hands inside the line and keeping shoulders level. Balance is key.”

Sound advice from Wargel, who the Evansville Courier & Press reported has been a coach for 28 years. There was only one problem — the player in the video was Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout, who has 310 home runs over his Hall of Fame-worthy 11 seasons in the big leagues.

Trout was the subject of a tongue-in-cheek tweet by Matt Lisle, a former Chicago White Sox hitting coach who asked his followers for tips on the swing of his friend.

Wargel was given an opportunity to notice his error when a commenter asked him if he’s “for real.” The coach doubled down, offering more of an opinion to what he thought was a pedestrian swing.

“I am,” he replied back. “That swing gives you one point of contract through the zone. Personally I’ll take the high average line-drive hitters over a .150 avg every once in a while HR all day. Line drives turn into backspin HRs, uppercut swings are outs.”

Commenters informed Wargel he was speaking out Trout, a nine-time All Star who has won three American League Most Valuable Player awards.

“You realize that’s @MikeTrout right?” said a fellow coach.

“Did not.......” Wargel replied along with a facepalm gif.

It’s likely he was unaware it was the Angels slugger shown in the video — Trout was in street clothes and there was a screen partially blocking the view.

But instead of deleting his embarrassing tweets, Wargel is taking it in stride and laughing off his mistake.

“Everybody makes mistakes, and I’m not gonna pretend mine didn’t happen,” he said. “And who knows, maybe everybody roasting me will take the time to check out my players and see how hard they work.”

Trout even had some fun with Wargel, replying to the youth coach with three thinking emojis.

Wargel said he stands by his philosophy for younger players, though Trout seems to be doing just fine as one of the best baseball players in the world.

It was all in playful fun, as Trout tweeted at Wargel and offered the coach some baseball gear for his squad.

And if Trout ever finds himself in southwestern Indiana, he has an invitation from Wargel, who declared he is now a “lifetime fan” of the Angels center fielder.

“I feel like I owe him at least a good home-cooked meal and his drink of choice,” the coach said. “Plus it’d be phenomenal for my guys to hear what it takes to make it from one of the best in the game.”