a little perspective on Mike Trout

[Loneranger]

We've heard all the talk about Kris Bryant and all he will supposedly bring. I have no doubts he will be good and I wish him the best as his career begins , barely has begun actually. Mike Trout is 6 months older than Kris Bryant - just a reminder of where exactly we stand here and how much distance there is between Trout and the rest of humanity.

 

[moxie]

Wow. I had no idea. Trout is really something special.

 

[HammerDown]

Trout is a walking pharmacy.

 

[moxie]

Trout is a walking pharmacy.

Wish he'd fill my prescription... he's hot as fuck!

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

I have no doubts he [Bryant] will be good

Really? There've been guys with his minor league stats that haven't set the world on fire.

I'm not saying he'll be a bust, but I certainly wouldn't say that there's "no doubt" that he won't be. Folks jerk off to these prospects far more and far harder than they should. For every Mike Trout, there's a hundred Matt Wieterses.

 

[Loneranger]

Really? There've been guys with his minor league stats that haven't set the world on fire.

I'm not saying he'll be a bust, but I certainly wouldn't say that there's "no doubt" that he won't be. Folks jerk off to these prospects far more and far harder than they should. For every Mike Trout, there's a hundred Matt Wieterses.

don't get me wrong , I'm not here to tout Bryant or any other prospect. I said that simply to avoid an argument with Cubs fans etc. My point was to simply illustrate how far ahead Mike Trout is from the rest of the field. There have been a million Kris Bryant's over the yrs who have never done shit once they made the show. There's tons of them . more misses than hits and I wouldn't be surprised if he was another one. No one surprises me - look back just a little while ago at Brandon Wood. Can ya get any better in minor league baseball than him and NOT make it? Bryant could be another one , time will tell.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Mike Trout is 6 months older than Kris Bryant - just a reminder of where exactly we stand here and how much distance there is between Trout and the rest of humanity.

Excellent point. Trout has been other-worldly for any age, let alone his early 20's.

I think this type of perspective is also good to consider when looking at Harper. I'm not comparing Harper to Trout - so far, it's been no comparison -- but Harper's almost a year younger than Bryant and already has about twice as many MLB PAs than Bryant has in the minors.

 

[Howie115]

I'm not saying he'll be a bust, but I certainly wouldn't say that there's "no doubt" that he won't be. Folks jerk off to these prospects far more and far harder than they should. For every Mike Trout, there's a hundred Matt Wieterses.

Precisely what I told folks in Detroit about Nick Castellanos when he came up to the bigs as a 21-year old and didn't set the world on fire. I implored the naysayers to have patience, and specifically stated, "not every 21-year old is going to be Mike Trout and make an impact right away."

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

I said that simply to avoid an argument with Cubs fans etc

Oh. Gotcha. I'll try to drum up an argument with Cubs fans:

Dear Cubs fans,

Please understand that a very real possibility exists that Kris Bryant will never amount to a squirt of piss in the major leagues.

Sincerely,

Slinkton B Redfoot

 

[Indrid Cold]

Excellent point. Trout has been other-worldly for any age, let alone his early 20's.

I think this type of perspective is also good to consider when looking at Harper. I'm not comparing Harper to Trout - so far, it's been no comparison -- but Harper's almost a year younger than Bryant and already has about twice as many MLB PAs than Bryant has in the minors.

SH wouldn't let me log in and you beat me to it!
Harper is 9 months younger than Bryant and is, as we all know, an abject failure because he has only been a somewhat above average major league hitter as a 19 to 21 year old. So, Bryant has no fucking chance, cut the fucker now.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

My point was to simply illustrate how far ahead Mike Trout is from the rest of the field

100% agree.

Before he turned 23 he had almost 1,900 MLB PA's and this slash line: .305/.395/.549/.945/166. That's fucking ridiculous.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Precisely what I told folks in Detroit about Nick Castellanos when he came up to the bigs as a 21-year old and didn't set the world on fire. I implored the naysayers to have patience, and specifically stated, "not every 21-year old is going to be Mike Trout and make an impact right away."

Awww. Nick Castellanos. Bless your heart. We're talking about top prospects here, though.

 

[Indrid Cold]

Oh. Gotcha. I'll try to drum up an argument with Cubs fans:

Dear Cubs fans,

Please understand that a very real possibility exists that Kris Bryant will never amount to a squirt of piss in the major leagues.

Sincerely,

Slinkton B Redfoot

There's also always guys who shine brightly as youngsters and then dim considerably...Cesar Cedeno is a great example. He looked like Willie Mays for a while, hit with good power in the nasty old Astrodome.
Of course, he killed somebody "by accident" in the offseason, so that may have been a slight factor in his decline.

That said, being a good ML player in your early 20s is a good indicator that you're going to have a nice career. And I still see Harper as a likely 500 HR guy if he stops running into walls and hurting himself in other ways constantly.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

he [Harper] has only been a somewhat above average major league hitter

I understand and fully agree with your point, but would disagree with someone who suggests that he's only been somewhat above average with the bat. 122 OPS+ is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[Indrid Cold]

100% agree.

Before he turned 23 he had almost 1,900 MLB PA's and this slash line: .305/.395/.549/.945/166. That's fucking ridiculous.

If you're not excited about what Trout could do in his career, you're either not much of a fan or you just hate the Angels too much.
I'm going to be really bummed if it turns out that he was just really good at squeezing past the testing on roids.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Trout is a walking pharmacy.

As are probably 70% of all professional athletes, MLB included.

 

[Indrid Cold]

I understand and fully agree with your point, but would disagree with someone who suggests that he's only been somewhat above average with the bat. 122 OPS+ is nothing to sneeze at.

Good point..the 111 last year was a bummer after progressing from 118 to 133 the previous two years, but he also seemed to have the worst lingering health problems then. The concussion from the wall incident didn't seem to keep him down too long...he was hitting like Babe Ruth Sr before that.

 

[HammerDown]

As are probably 70% of all professional athletes, MLB included.

"Until they fail a drug test, they are all clean." - @ImSmartherThanYou

 

[tnerb57]

Trout is a walking pharmacy.

Holy crap now Oxnardkingsfan has passed? He's from my hometown!

 

[tnerb57]

I understand and fully agree with your point, but would disagree with someone who suggests that he's only been somewhat above average with the bat. 122 OPS+ is nothing to sneeze at.

My less-than educated opinion on Harper is that he allows his emotion to take his head out of the game to a degree.