Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Mike and Mickey...and Hank and Barry and Willie

Spring Training opened yesterday, and rather than doing an extensive analysis of the Pirates, I thought that I would delay such ramblings and instead talk about a subject that has been niggling in the back of my mind for awhile.  It concerns Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout, already a two time Most Valuable Player.


At some point during this off season, someone, probably on the MLB Network, probably after he was named the AL MVP  for the second time in his career, said that he is "this generation's Mickey Mantle." 



High praise for Mr. Trout, so I decided to do one of my famous spread sheets to compare the two of them at comparable stages in their careers, and this is what it looks like.


Mike Trout Mickey Mantle
Seasons
6
6
Games
811
808
BA
0.306
0.308
HR
168
173
HR/162 games
34
35
RBI
497
575
RBI/162 games
99
115
Hits
917
907
Hits/162 games
183
181
Runs
600
642
Runs/162 games
120
129

Through six seasons, Trout and Mantle are practically the same player.  The Mick outpaces Trout in both Runs Scored and Runs Batted In, which may be a function of the other players on their respective teams.  Otherwise, those "Trout Is Mantle" comparisons are not far off.

Then, I decided to throw in a couple of other players into the mix to see how Trout compares to them.  You might recognize them:




So, here is the expanded chart:


Mike Trout Hank Aaron Barry Bonds Mickey Mantle Willie Mays
Seasons
6
6
6
6
6
Games
811
886
871
808
762
BA
0.306
0.323
0.269
0.308
0.311
HR
168
179
142
173
128
HR/162 games
34
33
26
35
27
RBI
497
617
563
575
509
RBI/162 games
99
113
84
115
108
Hits
917
1,137
837
907
903
Hits/162 games
183
209
156
181
192
Runs
600
612
563
642
531
Runs/162 games
120
112
105
129
113

I will only draw a couple of conclusions from these comparisons.
  1. Trout certainly holds his own when compared to these four great players.  No doubt that in Trout, we are seeing a guy who can become one of the all time great players by the time his career is done.
  2. Please don't bother pointing out that Bonds' numbers were rolled up in his Pre-Balco Era.  We all get it.
  3. Perhaps the most striking aspect of this little chart are the stats of Hank Aaron.  When discussions of "who was the greatest ball player ever?" take place, I don't think that Aaron's name gets mentioned nearly often enough.
Okay, time to put the calculator away and start getting into Bucco Spring Training.  Time to worry about just which Ivan Nova shows up for the Pirates in 2017.

No comments:

Post a Comment