Trout in familiar spot atop WAR charts

ARLINGTON — Baseball’s 2016 season is more than a quarter old. And while Trevor Story, Bryce Harper and David Ortiz have traded places grabbing the national attention over the first seven weeks, Mike Trout is the one who once again leads position players in Wins Above Replacement, per FanGraphs.

It is a rite of spring.

“I really believe that every year, every game, every day, he is looking to be better,” Angels bench coach Dino Ebel said. “There’s never a day, for me, that goes by and he’s like, ‘Hey, I’m Mike Trout. I’m just showing up and playing tonight.’ No. It’s, ‘I have to do something today to help my team win; I have to get better in this category.’ That’s who he is. That’s what I’m seeing.”

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Trout’s 3.1 fWAR on Tuesday trailed only Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, with a score of 3.8. Trout is on pace for an 11.2 mark that would represent a career high.

The 24-year-old center fielder began the season with five hits in his first 27 at-bats, and has since posted a 1.048 OPS over a 37-game stretch. He began Tuesday’s game with a .325 batting average, sporting an American League-best .413 on-base percentage and slugging .568.

He’s on pace for 36 home runs, 112 RBIs and 18 stolen bases, and he sports an otherworldly 1.067 OPS on 0-2 counts — nearly three times greater than the Major League average in those situations.

“I’m just …

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