The Misleading Batting Average
There is a certain number that still makes people pause when you look at a stat line: a batting average. So, when Mike Trout is sitting at .234 through 22 games, it feels natural to assume that something is wrong. Not this time.
A Different Story Behind the Stats
Mike Trout’s stats tell a different story. Just take a minute and look at his other stats. The Los Angeles Angels slugger is getting on base 42.2% of the time. That is an elite number. The pitchers are not beating him; they are walking him. He has 23 walks to this point. Just let that soak in for a second. He has more walks than he has strikeouts (19), and that is not a number you just throw around in regard to a power hitter who has seven bombs to his name through the month of April.
This is not a hitter who is flailing in search of timing, or one who is chasing bad pitches out of the zone. This is someone in complete control of every at bat. He is seeing the ball well and leaving anything that is even slightly off the edge alone, and in the process, he is making the pitchers uneasy. When he does get to the zone, he does damage in a hurry, and the seven home runs and .558 slugging prove it.
Plate Discipline and Walks
That also explains why his average looks weak. When you are walking as much as Mike Trout is, you are not swinging at pitches borderline with the strike zone just to get the ball into play. There are hitters who will concede some discipline in pursuit of a few extra hits, but he is not one of those hitters. Instead, he is embracing his control, and by virtue of not trying to force the issue when he gets his pitch, he is not putting the ball in play as much, but he is not doing it with bad results when he does.
Intentional Walks Are on the Rise
There is also another element in all this that people tend to forget: the pitchers. These guys know who Trout is, and the fact that he already has three intentional walks tells you that the league is playing this with a specific respect for him. They would rather walk him to first than let him have a shot at ending the game on one swing. Expect his intentional walk count to rise throughout the season.
Can Mike Trout Sustain These Numbers?
Early in his career, Trout’s power always came in big booms with tape-measure home runs and highlight-reel swings where everything just seemed to click for him. But there has also been a control factor in all of this. He is controlling the pace of the game rather than the pace controlling him. And this is the reason that we should be paying attention to him more than ever.
If his batting average starts creeping back up to a more normal level, this stuff starts to look even bigger. He already possesses an on-base percentage that a lot of players do not see over the course of an entire season. He clearly has a level of plate discipline that not a lot of premier hitters can bring to the table.
So, yes, .234 is a pretty jarring number. It just needs the proper context, and once you actually look at everything else, it stops being a concern altogether.
Additional Reads
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