That means that he hasn't even reached his statistical peak seasons yet (based on historical averages and norms, those are ages 27 and 28). Meanwhile, the Big Hurt's first 8 were his age 22-29 seasons. That makes a huge impact when weighing the two; age-wise Trout was already providing enormous value (finishing second in MVP voting) while Thomas was playing at Auburn. And again, this is not to put Thomas down in any way, the guy was an insane hitter, it just shows how ridiculous Trout has been.