Has Trout passed Pujols already in Anaheim?

Phenom is leading team in second half of season, not megamillionaire free agent

Stephen Dunn / Getty Images

Mike Trout, not more celebrated teammate Albert Pujols, is mentioned in MVP discussions this season.

By BILL PLUNKETT

The Orange County Register

updated 5:27 p.m. ET July 12, 2012

It was bound to happen eventually.

When the Angels signed Albert Pujols to a 10-year contract last winter, it was probably with the knowledge that their top prospect, Mike Trout, would surpass Pujols at some point during that decade-long deal and become the most important player on the team.

Less than three months into their shared history together, that time might have come already.

It was Trout who went to the All-Star Game this week, not Pujols. It was Pujols whose miserable five-week start to his first season with the Angels helped drag the team deep into offensive dysfunction. It was Trout who sparked their rebound, leading them back into contention at the All-Star break.

And it will be Trout's continued dynamism in the second half that might prove most essential as the Angels try to return to the playoffs after a two-year absence.

"He's one piece," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said, unwilling to elevate the importance of any player ? even one as preternaturally precocious as the 20-year-old Trout. "On the offensive side, there's been a lot of things (that brought the Angels back to life) and Mike is a big piece of that, with what he's doing at the top of our lineup and being a catalyst for us."

A big piece, indeed. Despite spotting the rest of the American League April as a head start, Trout leads the league in batting (.341), and stolen bases (26), is fifth in on-base percentage (.397), fourth in OPS (.959) and sixth in runs scored (57). At that pace, Trout will score 125 runs this season ? the Angels haven't had a player score that many runs since Vladimir Guerrero (124) during his MVP season in 2004.

Those letters ? MVP ? have become increasingly attached to Trout's name as his impact has become obvious. In fact, one online betting site (Bovada) installed Trout as the 2-to-1 odds-on favorite at the All-Star break to win the American League's MVP award this season. Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton (who seemed to have the award won ? not to mention the Triple Crown ? back in May) is now 4-to-1.

Pujols is not among the nine American League players listed.

"Coming to the ballpark, the only things on my mind are competing, having fun and winning games," Trout said, able to wield a clich? as easily as he steals bases.

Winning games is something the Angels have done a whole lot more often since he arrived from Triple-A and that has become a key part of the Trout narrative -- the Angels were 6-14 when he was promoted from Salt Lake and have gone 42-24 since his arrival, the best record in baseball over that time.

Inside the numbers, Trout's impact is obvious. When he gets a hit, the Angels are 31-17 (a .646 winning percentage). When he gets more than one hit, they are 20-9 (.690). When he scores a run, they are 27-9 (.750). When Trout is in the starting lineup but doesn't score a run, they are 12-13.

Pujols has a similar set of numbers in his favor ? the Angels are 23-9 (.719) when he drives in a run, 24-29 when he doesn't. But he didn't start driving in runs until Trout started getting on base in front of him. Pujols had just four RBIs when Trout made his season debut April 28. Eighteen of Pujols' 46 RBIs since May 6 have been runs scored by Trout.

"Not too many people are more important than him," Angels outfielder Torii Hunter said recently, looking around the clubhouse and offering only Ernesto Frieri's value to the Angels' bullpen as comparable to Trout's overall importance.

"You go around the league and there's not many guys with that kind of impact. It's great to have a guy like that at the top of the lineup. We haven't had that leadoff guy to spark the offense since Figgy (Chone Figgins) left."

Asked directly if Trout has become more important to the Angels' second-half fortunes than Pujols, Hunter stays quiet for a brief moment before answering in the affirmative.

"He (Trout) might be the Most Valuable Player in the league," Hunter said. "I definitely think this kid is special. He's a five-tool player. There aren't many of those ? (Pirates outfielder) Andrew McCutchen, maybe a couple other guys and you've got this kid. ... Albert ? he's going to the Hall of Fame. But he's never been a five-tool player."

Isn't it worrisome then that the Angels will head into the second half looking to run down the two-time defending AL champion Texas Rangers in the AL West or at the very least hold onto one of the two wild-card playoff spots with their fate resting so heavily on the continued brilliance of a player whose major-league experience is not much more than a half-season (104 games) and whose 21st birthday is still weeks away?

"I don't care how old he is as long as he keeps doing good," Angels right-hander Jered Weaver said. "He's advanced well beyond his years."

"No, that's actually a blessing," Hunter said of Trout's youth and inexperience with playoff-race pressure. "He's still at that age where he has all the energy in the world and can eat anything he wants.

"I'm not worried. He's doing great things. ... He's not coming up with a bunch of rookies. There are plenty of veterans in here. We can take the pressure off him. Albert can take the pressure off him. We can talk to the media. We can deal with the pressure. He doesn't have to. He's playing the game like a kid, having fun the way you're supposed to. He's like a kid in a candy store. I always tell him, 'Don't lose that. Don't make it a business yet.'"

Trout has gone hitless in consecutive games just three times since his promotion (including his first two games after arriving) and never more than two consecutive games. The closest he has come to 'slumping' was a 2-for-21 stretch in four games against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks in mid-June. The Angels split those four games but the offense clearly missed his catalytic properties, managing a total of only eight runs.

Scioscia acknowledges "you could go back, probably 50 years and count the guys on one hand that came up at such a young age and had this much of an impact on their team." Counting on so much from a player so young feels much less precarious when watching Trout perform on a daily basis across the past two months.

"We don't have a crystal ball," Scioscia said. "But Mike Trout has the talent to put up the kinds of numbers he's putting up. This isn't a fluke. ... I'm sure there are going to be rough patches. He's already had a couple, minor rough patches in the first half. There are going to be things every player has to deal with. Things are going to hit every player.

"As far as his production numbers, he's not playing over his head. He's just a young player who's playing to his potential."

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/48162366/ns/sports-baseball/

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