Published: 2014-05-14 21:39:32
Bryce Harper is out for months, Jose Fernandez is down for the remainder of the season, and now Mike Trout is slumping. Is this proof we can’t have nice things? Evidence of the dreaded Sports Illustrated cover jinx? One way or another, just as Trout is basking in the limelight of a homecoming with the Angels’ trip to Philadelphia -- the closest team to his Millville, New Jersey roots -- he’s in the midst of the roughest stretch of his brief major league career.
Trout has excelled with such regularity -- at the plate, on the basepaths and in the field -- while putting up superhuman numbers over the past two years that it comes as a shock to see the 22-year-old phenom struggle. Fresh off signing a six-year, $144.5 million extension in late March, he homered off Felix Hernandez in his first plate appearance of the 2014 season and finished April with six dingers and a .321/.403/.596 line, a performance approximating the .324/.416/.560 he hit over the previous two years.
My Two Cents
Forget the Sports Illustrated Jinx - the Moreno jinx has to be discussed. Anyone that Arte Moreno pays "big" money to goes straight into the dumper. First Pujols, who prior to Moreno was one of the top 5 hitters of all-time. Then Josh Hamilton signs a huge deal and he goes south! Finally, one of the most exciting players to the the major leagues in decades - Mike Trout signs his $144.5 million deal and he is below the Mendoza line @ .140, obp of .235 and a slugging % of .302 (OUCH!!) since May. For the record, it's arguable that the prospective Moreno Jinx happened during contract negotiations b/c for the year, Trout is hitting .270 avg, obp of .354 and a slugging % of .513. Not Trout like numbers. So the Moreno Jinx - baseball's most generous owner since Big George Steinbrenner - is something to seriously think about!!
Bryce Harper is out for months, Jose Fernandez is down for the remainder of the season, and now Mike Trout is slumping. Is this proof we can’t have nice things? Evidence of the dreaded Sports Illustrated cover jinx? One way or another, just as Trout is basking in the limelight of a homecoming with the Angels’ trip to Philadelphia — the closest team to his Millville, New Jersey roots — he’s in the midst of the roughest stretch of his brief major league career.
Trout has excelled with such regularity — at the plate, on the basepaths and in the field — while putting up superhuman numbers over the past two years that it comes as a shock to see the 22-year-old phenom struggle. Fresh off signing a six-year, $144.5 million extension in late March, he homered off Felix Hernandez in his first plate appearance of the 2014 season and finished April with six dingers and a .321/.403/.596 line, a performance approximating the .324/.416/.560 he hit over the previous two years.
My Two Cents
Forget the Sports Illustrated Jinx - the Moreno jinx has to be discussed. Anyone that Arte Moreno pays "big" money to goes straight into the dumper. First Pujols, who prior to Moreno was one of the top 5 hitters of all-time. Then Josh Hamilton signs a huge deal and he goes south! Finally, one of the most exciting players to the the major leagues in decades - Mike Trout signs his $144.5 million deal and he is below the Mendoza line @ .140, obp of .235 and a slugging % of .302 (OUCH!!) since May. For the record, it's arguable that the prospective Moreno Jinx happened during contract negotiations b/c for the year, Trout is hitting .270 avg, obp of .354 and a slugging % of .513. Not Trout like numbers. So the Moreno Jinx - baseball's most generous owner since Big George Steinbrenner - is something to seriously think about!!
