Mike Trout needs his own thread

I read it exactly the same as you did ("Wow, is he ever going to catch flak here for being a little distracted...").

He's brought down his strikeouts close to where they were his first couple of years, so maybe last year was a blip.

2012 - 21.8%
2013 - 19.0%
2014 - 26.1%
2015 - 22.8%

Passed .300/.400/.600 last night.

Two more HR tonight.

I suspect Biggio may find his name on the internet a lot for the next 24 hours.

He was asked some questions on Twitter Friday as part of MLB's 'HOF Lounge,' including one from a person who asked which current player reminds him the most of himself. "Mike Trout. He's got a little more power, but the styles are similar as far as speed, power."

He really was a great player for four or five years...

damn

Just a slightly thicker neck, too!

Biggio's career-high SLG was less than .050 Trout's current career SLG.

Biggio's Similarity Score list:

Robin Yount (836) *
Derek Jeter (825)
Joe Morgan (779) *
Paul Molitor (778) *
Roberto Alomar (773) *
Cal Ripken (761) *
Johnny Damon (760)
Brooks Robinson (739) *
Lou Whitaker (739)
George Brett (735) *

Pretty fantastic list--eight inarguable HOF'ers, one guy (Whittaker) who most people feel should be in, and Damon, who was a fine player. Trout's way off--maybe sort of, if you ignore power, which would be ignoring a lot.

Actually, with 836 being the highest score, Biggio was relatively unique.

trout is on pace to surpass biggio's WAR before turning 28

another monster game tonight. 4-4 with 2 HR and a walk

Obviously, looked at overall, it's an absurd comparison. But in trying to figure out what Biggio might have been thinking, here's what I come up with. You've got to jump through a few hoops.

I assume he's thinking of himself during his prime--not his first few years as a catcher, and definitely not his last few barely hanging on. If you limit the comparison to Biggio's '94-98 prime, and compare his pro-rated numbers (per/162 games) to Trout's pro-rated over his career, there are a few similarities.

BA: .308 (B)/.306 (T)
OBP: .404 (B)/.396 (T)
Runs: 130 (B)/122 (T)
2B/3B: 41/5 (B)/36/7 (T)
BB: 80 (B)/87 (T)
SB/CS: 43/9 (B)/31/5 (T)

I'm sure he's thinking good contact, takes walks, extra-base power, steals bases, scores runs. You just have to conveniently ignore the huge HR difference (35-19), the era that Biggio played in, and all those other years when Biggio wasn't nearly as good. If he cherry-picked a different set of numbers, he could probably make a case that he was a lot like Harmon Killebrew.

I'm sure he's just thinking 'good hustle'.

6.8 WAR already, according to BBR

a sabr-inclined yankee fan just asked me 'is mike trout's career floor now mickey mantle?'

i said 'could be, but what if harper's better?'

they're both so young that picking one or the other seems foolish, but i'd lean trout

has a new skill, sort of?

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/mike-trout-los-angeles-angels-mvp-power-opposite-field-homer-al-west-080715

Mike Trout is younger than 23 of the 25 players on the Angels' Triple-A roster.

Looks like one Syracuse Chief is younger than Bryce Harper.

all AAA teams are full of olds though

that is true. tbh it points to the angels system totally sucking almost as much as trout being young and insane

no one has led the league in runs scores 4 straight years; he might. #CountingStats

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/so-you-want-an-edge-against-mike-trout/

this is pretty amazing. trout has seen about 270 first-pitch curves in his career, depending on whose count you go by. he's swung at one of them

^^^ especially lol because ok, you're ahead 0-1 after a taken first-pitch curve; for some reason he's now even better

yeah that makes NO sense lol

i still love this guy btw but it's kind of lame how he's turned into more or less a slugger who's average-to-slghtly-above-average at everything else

he's still #4 in WAR (#3 if you dont count greinke) behind goldschmidt and harper, but i m/l agree

wouldnt be surprised if donaldson passes him by that metric before season's end and def think donaldson is the AL MVP favorite

oh i mean he's more or less the best hitter in the league, so he makes up for it, but the baserunning and defense highlights are a lot rarer these days so he's just a little less fun to watch

yeah i havent gone out of my way to watch an angels game in a while, which i used to do for his sake the last 2 years all the time - last one i saw was the recent 15-3 thrashing by the blue jays in which he went 0 for 3 and made exactly one catch, not an especially great one

It's definitely making the Harper and Trout comparisons a lot less one-sided since they're basically the same-ish player these days.

Two HR in Aug/Sept! Also:

Aug: .218/.352/.337
Sept: .242/.395/.455

two bombs tonight, Angels about to move 2.5 games out from a WC berth. "Recency bias" might get him that MVP after all.

also "being really good"

very troutian TTO game tonight -- 1 K, 2 HR, 3 BB

https://vine.co/v/expH5iXrOWJ

niiiiice

Mike Trout has a Smart Bat

http://www.halosheaven.com/2016/2/29/11133690/mike-trouts-new-smart-bat-is-going-to-impact-baseball-in-a-big-way

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/bryce-harper-is-catching-up-to-mike-trout/

3 hits today, still just at .730 ops. this must be his worst april.

he'll be fine.

i'm sure he will.

http://m.mlb.com/video/v609809983/laacws-trouts-440foot-homer/?affiliateId=clubMEGAMENU

440 feet :O

bat starting to show some signs of life

I don't understand Trout's swing. It feels like it's always the exact same, like he can bend the direction of the pitch to this will and he will just launch it. Down and away, in the middle, up, he will just hit the same way. It's fascinating.

This must be a joke, right?

http://sportsmockery.com/2016/05/source-indicates-cubs-working-on-blockbuster-trade-for-former-mvp/

Not sure whether I should be taking the bait from sportsmockery.com.

given the angel's dire outlook for the next few seasons, there have been some calls for them to consider trading trout. that would be a pretty interesting deal

trout vs kershaw tonight btw

i have no idea about whether or not the cubs are involved, but in general i'd say it would be a bad move for them, taking lots of low-cost talent across many different positions or organizational levels and converting it into one juggernaut of a player. just seems like it raises the risk, whereas having talent everywhere (like the cubs do right now) lowers risk

It doesn't really seem like an Epstein move, especially bc the Cubs are doing great without Trout. I don't know the prospects mentioned in that article but Baez, Soler, and Schwarber would not be huge losses (as much as I love Schwarber).

also seems like a much bolder move than i would associate with arte moreno/the angels