The Emergence of Mike Trout

          Mike Trout is my favourite baseball player, period. He is the type of player that comes around once in a generation, the true five-tool player. He has it all going for him: he can hit, he can hit for power, he can throw, he can field and he can run. When you think about it, there is not much else a baseball player can do, and for Mike Trout, the 21-year old from Millville, New Jersey is the one player that I would want to build my team around for the next 15 years.

          This may sound like a lot to expect out of from a man who has only had 5 months of big league experience, but his potential and his talent is undeniable and something that got him AL Rookie of the Year, 2^nd in AL MVP Voting, League Leader in steals and a few homerun-robbing catches thrown into the mix as well. Even if he is due for a bit of a regress in his sophomore season, as long as he doesn’t completely fall off a cliff and have a dreaded sophomore slump, he should be in the MVP discussion again, at the mere age of 21, which is something truly remarkable.

          Looking deeper into his stats, there was not one thing that was lacking from his game, you could argue that fellow current MLB’er Albert Pujols had just as good of a rookie season as Trout, with this slash line,

Albert Pujols: 161 GP/ 112 R / 194 H/ 47 2B,/ 69 BB/  37 HR/ 130 RBI/ .329 BA,/ .403 OBP/ .610 SLG/ 1.013 OPS

Mike Trout: 139 GP/ 129 R/ 182 H/ 27 2B/ 8 3B/ 30 HR/ 83 RBI/ .326 BA/ .399 OBP/ .564 SLG/ .963 OPS

          Those are some pretty amazing rookie numbers, but when you look at Mike Trout’s line (with missing 30 games) there are some clear advantages to Trout (SB, R, 3B) but there are others that are not listed that are equally as important such as WAR (Wins Above Replacement) Defensive UZR among others. Pujols is a very good defender now, but in his rookie year was very adequate defensively and was purley an offensive minded player with very little to offer speed- wise and on defense. The likelihood that both of these players go to the HOF (check out my article on that also on mlbrandomfandom.com) is very high and we just need to watch these guys play baseball. It also can’t hurt that they wear the same uniform everyday also.

          I remember watching Bryce Harper go 1^st overall to the Washington Nationals in the 2012 MLB Draft, but watched 24 other teams pass on Mike Trout before he was selected 26^th overall by the LA Angels of Anaheim. Seeing as both Harper and Trout are in all likelihood going to be the two faces of MLB in 5 years, imagining what both are going to be able to do in 5 years is a downright scary thought for anyone facing the Nats or Halos.

          To conclude, Mike Trout is going to be a legend. He had a legendary start to his career, won some hardware and got lots or PR attention, but the best is yet to come for this 21-year old superstar.

Nicholas Bell