Rare is the prospect that comes into the league with sky high expectations and actually lives up said expectations almost immediately. Well, add Mike Trout to that list of rarities because he just blew up.
Earlier tonight, Mike Trout, arguably the top prospect in baseball coming into this season, crushed two home runs in the same game. Oh, did, I mention that he is only 20 years old? And barely so, having turned 20 just 23 days ago. That makes Trout the youngest player in Angel history to hit two homers in one game. The homers were also his fourth and fifth of the season, and he has just 65 at-bats. Impressed yet? No, OK, how about him posting 1.480 OPS with four homers, a double and seven RBIs in 22 at-bats since being recalled on August 19th. That gives him an overall slash line of .246/.306/.523, so he obviously has a little bit of work left to do, but it seems pretty clear that he is adapting to the big leagues in a big hurry.
Despite what his power surge tonight suggests, hitting lots of homers was one of the few tools that experts believed Trout would take a few more years to fully develop. His blazing speed, raw athleticism and superb plate discipline have been MLB-ready, arguably since he was drafted, but the power still “needed to come in,” as they say. Memo to prospect gurus, it is in (that’s what she said… sorry). And feel free to copy Mike Scioscia on that same memo because Trout has only been getting sporadic starts the last two weeks even with his scorching hot bat. Given the Angels’ season-long struggle to score runs, turning Trout into an everyday player could be just the spark they need to get their lineup rolling and maybe even finally close the gap on the Rangers in the AL West. And if Scioscia doesn’t find a way to get more at-bats for Trout, we at least have what could be an amazing 2012 from the kid to look forward to.
This grand display is not without some irony, however. On the very same night that Trout made a major statement that he is not only big league ready, but maybe even ready to be an impact player in the bigs, the Angels actually announced earlier in the day that Mike would be playing for their Arizona Fall League team, a grand showcase for top prospects. One has to think that Trout’s name will be dropped from the roster awfully quick since Trout has taken it upon himself to showcase his talent in the majors.
