Mike Trout Is The Best Player In Baseball

There. I said it. That was as long as I could hold it in. Mike Trout is the best player in baseball.

The day after being scratched from the lineup because of a jammed pinky finger, Trout returned to his MVP form going 2-5 with a game tying home run in the 5th inning. Trout launched a ball foul to the opposite field a few pitches before he hit a home run 391 feet that bounced out of the gate in left field of Progressive Field or whatever the Indians call their stadium.

Trout has 10 home runs on the year to go with his .340/.396/.552 line and AL leading 22 stolen bases. Not to mention, but I’m mentioning it anyway, the Angels gave baseball nearly a month head start on Trout by keeping him in Triple-A for most of April.

Do you want to argue for Joey Votto or David Wright or even Andrew McCutchen? I’ll listen. But not for long. Votto leads baseball with a 4.8 fWAR (Fangraphs wins above replacement) but Trout’s 4.4 fWAR is closing in and his defense (UZR) will only help. Wright is currently second in fWAR and first in Baseball Prospectus’s WARP. Trout is sixth over there with a 3.6 WARP (wins above replacement player) behind Wright’s 4.3 WARP. Again, Trout’s defense in center or, especially left, will close that gap.

Of course, Trout’s bat might do enough talking for him to not consider defensive metrics. With three home runs in his last six games, Trout is flashing more power than most people expected from him. At least at 20-years-old. Watch his Tuesday home run.

Buckle up guys, this is going to be a crazy ride. If he isn’t already the best player in baseball, and he is, Trout is going to have a run where he is the MVP of MLB. We are all watching something special.