Is Mike Trout headed for a huge fall?

Could be. He's first in the league in runs and third in walks, so it's not like he hasn't had opportunities.

He's certainly showing more power and less speed this year, which is fine. I think anyone would agree that 40-20 is more valuable than 30-30.

 

There both nailin Upton? Now we have a real story

 

Wait, that wasn't Verlander? Doh'eth!

 

Someone suggested me to create a modern player who was better than Babe Ruth was in his time, we would need to take Albert Pujols and Andrew Jones and fuse them together, basically get an Andrew Jones to hit like an Albert Pujols. As a rookie, Trout looked like that. He was close to having the most runs saved per game ever by a centerfielder.

I think the stolen bases are overrated. Its nice to have them show up on paper, and yes if he runs a lot and uses his physical resources he can be worth 5-10 runs a year, but at what cost? Just having a slugger who doesn't lose runs on the bases and from double plays is good. But I will say this, as a rookie, he was probably the best fielder and baserunner in the league and possibly the best hitter (first in OPS+).

Pujols didn't crack a career 170 OPS+ until he was 28 also. But Pujols was a top fielder at first.

Trout also gets hurt by his home park. His career road average is .321. His career road average versus the league is 129% which would be the second highest relative batting average of all time I believe.

 

I'm aghast.

 

Yes. 80% is league average, 70-90% is the general range. It's actually more predictive of future K-rate than K-rate is.

Batting average is a function of both contact and power. A high-power guy will have a higher percentage of the balls he hits (both in play and out of the park) go for hits, so he can afford a bit more strikeouts.

 

I've watched almost every Angels game this season. When the stories of his strikeout rate first started, he then went on a .400 spree for about a month. He has been back to what is normal for him since then.
Watching the Baltimore series, I thought he and most of the others were taking too many pitches, especially first-pitch fastballs right down the middle, then struggling with the low-and-away sliders. But on the pregame show Sunday at Tampa, they said hitting coach Don Baylor addressed the issue and wanted them to be more aggressive. Sunday, they scored 5 in the first inning. Last night, 4 in the first inning.
As for Trout's SBs, that has been surprising for me. During spring training, when they were talking about the batting order, I said that if Trout hits second and Pujols third, Trout better lead the league in SBs or Pujols will lead the league in GIDPs. Didn't look up the numbers, but Pujols is pretty close.
All in all, kinda hard to criticize the Angels since they have the second-best record in baseball, one game behind the A's. They've been a dominant team, except for the two series with the Orioles, since mid-May.

 

There's going to be soooo much wailing and complaining when either the A's or Angels have to play in the WC game.

There's no perfect system. Every system is going to be unfair to somebody. I hope we don't have to hear another round of "Here's a way to fix that specific problem that ignores all the other problems it will cause!" proposed playoff systems because of it, but I know we will.

 

Heard an announcer during a recent game say that Pujols doesn't like Trout to run during his at bats, which is why the steals are down.

 

Kate looks like she could stand a salad or two.

 

No.

 

Damn, BYH. I know you haven't posted much in a while, but did you have to go on and on like that?