Trouty mouth

Everyone else is talking about him so I guess it's our turn.  I'm talking about Mike Trout, aka Trouty Mouth.  If you don't already know who he is, then please, stop living under that rock.  This is your personal intervention.  That rock looks heavy and it can't be a comfortable sleep.  It had to be done.

Trouty Mouth is simply ridiculous.  He's currently hitting .355, which leads the AL.  In fact, the next closest is Joe Mauer with an average of .328.  That's a pretty big difference considering the kid out front is only 20 years old and was brought up from the minors at the end of April.  He was 4 for 6 yesterday with a long home run ("Cabrera Country" according to Rario).  He's ridiculous (did I already say that?). 

The good news?  Although he made Turner look like a high school pitcher (little league even), Ricky P did a great job of controlling him and held him to 1 hit in 4 at bats.  He's also struck out 4 times in the past two games.  So maybe, just maybe, he's a little streaky.  Or he's too free swinging.  Or he will get lots of strikeouts (like the AJacks of old).  Or maybe he will trip and fall down the stairs carrying boxes out of an apartment during a wildfire.  It could happen.  Either way, the Tigers (and the rest of the AL) have to find a way to control him.  Not only is he an effective hitter, but he energizes the whole team.  He's also a sick outfielder, with what I think was the best catch of the first half of the season.

The keys today for Dougie Fresh will be to keep him off balance and not let him get too comfortable in the batter's box.  Then, we can only hope he catches the flu the next two series that the Tigers meet the Angels.