For the fourth straight season, Mike Trout is an All-Star. For the third straight season, Mike Trout is starting the All-Star game. For the first time, there is an Angels player on the starting roster with him, albeit by default, in Albert Pujols. For the second straight season, there is speculation and wonder as to whether Mike Trout is going to participate in the “sponsored by a company” Home Run Derby “presented by another company.” And, boy, do I wish the speculation would stop. I don’t want to see Trout in the derby, not even a little bit. And I have a letter here that I may or may not be able to get to him thanks to my association with MJ Lloyd and his outstanding restraining orders keeping him at least 100 yards away from Mike Trout. Maybe it is time to come up with an inconspicuous pseudonym.
Dearest Mike Trout,
First off, I would like to congratulate you on another successful first half of baseball. Some may have become numb to your greatness, but I have not. Everyday my first order of business is to check the WAR rankings to see where you fall on the list, just to make sure that you are at or near the top. In case you haven’t checked, you are first in the AL on Baseball-Reference, and third in the AL on Fangraphs. I’m sure the Fangraphs ranking is a typo, though. We all know where you will be by the end of the season.
But I am not writing you just to tell you how wonderful of a season you are having, I am writing you to express my concern over the possibility that you may be included in this year’s Home Run Derby. Although it is a fun competition for fans to watch, it is a bit more enjoyable when we are watching and are not concerned about our favorite (and the team’s best) player trying too hard to hit a baseball a country mile.
We worry about silly things like injuries similar to the one that Yoenis Cespedes dealt with after he won the 2013 Home Run Derby. It wasn’t a major injury, but any kind of wrist injury can be a big deal for hitters. I don’t want you to get hurt, Mike. Maybe it’s because I am a parent now, and I worry too much as it is about health and boo-boos. Skinned knees have me running for hydrogen peroxide and a Spongebob Squarepants band-aid. When you are not on the field, I would wrap you in bubble wrap if security would let me get away with it, but I can’t protect you at the Derby.
We worry about performance as well. Home run derbies have a way with screwing with hitters’ swings. It doesn’t always happen, but it doesn’t happen often enough that it raises concerns. Bobby Abreu shattered records in 2005 when he won the Home Run Derby, then he proceeded to stop hitting dingers after that. Garret Anderson had 22 home runs at the All-Star break in 2003, and then he hit only seven more the rest of the season. Mark Trumbo was hitting .306/.358/.608 when he went into the 2012 contest. He hit .227/.271/.359 the rest of the way. Like I said, some hitters don’t feel the aftereffects of the Derby, but is it really worth the risk when there is history of players falling off the proverbial cliff afterwards?
As fans, Mike, we care about your performance, and we care about you being in the spotlight. You deserve to be seen by every baseball fan everywhere. But, we are a little more concerned with the Angels catching the Astros. It feels careless to risk injury or a slump just to say that you can hit a baseball into the upper deck at Great American Ballpark. If you tell us that you can, we’ll believe you, we promise, you don’t have to try and prove it. Please, Mike, don’t take part in this year’s Home Run Derby, or any other for that matter. The risks outweigh the reward of winning. We just want you to stay safe, Mike, and steer clear of boo-boos. That is why I have enclosed several band-aids with this letter as well.
Sincerely yours,
Mike Hllywa
There, now that that is settled, how do we get Calros Correa into this year’s Home Run Derby? That guy could stand to cool off a little bit.
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