Skip to content
Phillies
Link copied to clipboard

Mike Trout is already the best player in baseball. And he's getting better

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

- Simon and Garfunkel

NEW YORK - Joltin' Joe was back in center field in the big city Friday night.

Or maybe it was Mickey Mantle.

Or Willie Mays.

What once might have been regarded as baseball blasphemy - favorably comparing a soft-spoken kid from South Jersey to some of the giants of the game - now has become widely accepted as gospel truth.

That's how good Millville's Mike Trout, the superstar centerfielder for the Los Angeles Angels, has been through his first five-plus full seasons in the major leagues.

But here's the thing: Baseball's best player appears to be getting better.

As he enters the long sweep of the prime of his career, it's no longer a question of whether the 25-year-old Trout - assuming he stays healthy - will someday stand alongside the likes of DiMaggio, Mantle, and Mays in the inner circle of the sport's immortals.

The more intriguing prospect now is whether he ultimately might pass them.

"Experience is the best teacher," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Trout's improvement. "You can talk about all the coaching you get and try to point guys in the right direction.

"Mike has been in the big leagues enough. He adapts. He adjusts. He's evolved and he's grown, just like any player would."

Trout's first five full seasons were first-ballot-Hall-of-Fame-caliber stuff: five All-Star Games, two American League Most Valuable Player awards, and three runner-up finishes.

Project Trout's first five seasons over the next 10 years and you have a guy with around 500 home runs, 1,500 RBIs, 2,800 hits, and 425 stolen bases by the age of 35.

But what if those five full seasons just turn out to be a base camp for Trout's true assault on the highest peaks of the sport?

What if Trout, who will turn 26 in August, is entering a new phase of his career in which he hits for a higher average and with more power, has a better on-base percentage, plays stronger defense, and runs the bases with more acumen than ever?

It's only mid-May. But Trout in 2017 has been an enhanced version of Trout from 2012 to 2016.

His slash line of .341/.451/.742 was off the charts, but it was his play-to-play, day-to-day brilliance that continues to make the biggest impression on his manager and teammates.

"To appreciate Mike it's not the sensational stuff but it's what he does on a daily basis," Scioscia said. "The way he plays defense, the way he runs the bases, and then combine that with what he does with the bat.

"What we see every day is a guy who isn't chasing numbers, a guy who is just playing the game. Watch the way he's in every play. Watch the way he's there for his teammates. How he hustles. The biggest lesson isn't Mike Trout's talent but the way he plays the game."

Entering Friday night's game against the Mets at Citi Field, Trout led the league in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, total bases, extra-base hits, adjusted OPS, times on base, intentional walks, offensive win percentage, and wins above replacement, according to baseball-reference.com.

He had reached base in 35 of 37 games. He was 8 for 9 in steal attempts. He had made one error.

He had hit home runs in five of the previous six games. With 13 home runs, he was on pace to hit 50 for the first time in his career.

"If I try to hit home runs I would get out all the time," Trout said of his power surge. "I'm just putting work in during BP, just barreling up baseballs, and they've been going out."

Sitting in the dugout before Friday night's game at Citi Field, Trout was his typical self: friendly and cooperative, but resistent to overanalysis of his game or his place in the sport.

Trout said "less is more for me" when it comes to thinking at the plate.

"The only thing in my mind is to barrel up the baseball," Trout said. "If it goes in the air, it goes in the air. If it goes on the ground, it goes on the ground."

Of possibly taking the mantle from retired Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter as the "face of baseball," Trout pledged his respect for Jeter but said: "I just try to be the best I can be. Just go out and play ball, play the game the right way."

Echoing his manager, Trout said experience has been the big difference in his game this season.

"Just the experience of seeing pitchers, being in the league, seeing guys over and over," Trout said. "You know what they have. And if you feel something [wrong] at the plate, you can fix it quicker. Experience helps you out big time."

Earlier in the week, Scioscia told the Los Angeles Times, "Even though it sounds strange, it looks like he's doing things easier."

Despite his near-universal acclaim as the game's greatest player, Trout doesn't operate under a bright spotlight. He prefers things that way, turning down interviews and endorsement opportunities, preferring the simple life.

"He's been that way since he came up as a 19-year-old," Scioscia said.

Part of the reason that Trout is less than a household name is that he plays for a mediocre team on the West Coast. The Angels have made the postseason just once in his career, and while his at-bats have increasingly become must-watch TV, most of the nation is in bed when he strides to the plate.

Trout said he still gets texts from "buddies" back home who swear they stayed up to watch him.

"Some of them say they stay up, but they probably check their computer in the morning," Trout said with a smile.

That's one reason it's a big deal when Trout and the Angels visit the East Coast, and especially New York.

He gets to visit his family and friends in Millville during the Angels' off day and to play games that start at a normal hour for the folks back home and to roam center field in the big city like Mays and Mantle and DiMaggio.

But he's not just chasing ghosts of greatness. He's gaining on them.

"When you get compared to all-time greats it makes you feel good," Trout said. "But you can't look too much into it."

panastasia@phillynews.com

@PhilAnastasia

www.philly.com/jerseysidesports