Mike Trout Project Prospect Report

Full Article can be found on Project Prospect

Angels prospect Mike Trout has every chance to develop into a five-tool major league outfielder. The speed, defense, arm strength, ability to hit for average and ability to get on base are already in place. His power is very projectable and should develop naturally with age.

I was able to see Trout a couple of times while he was playing in the Midwest League. Based on video I had seen of him in the past and what I saw from him with my own eyes, here is a recap of his progress, present tools and future projection.

Projection

Many young speedsters are slender with a ton of room to build muscle. While Trout still has room to grow and strength to gain, he’s already well put together with broad shoulders and strong legs. His slugging tailed off at High-A, but he showed plenty of power for an up-the-middle defender in Low-A.

There is a wide range of what Trout’s ultimate power ceiling is. The range goes up to 25-plus home runs per season and no lower than 15. Given his strong base, broad shoulders, strong legs and wrists, Trout should have no problem driving the ball at every level.

His approach at the plate has been nothing short of fantastic given his age and levels of advancement. Even with some struggles at High-A, Trout still managed an 11.6% walk rate while continuing to limit his swings and misses and strikeouts. A .388 on-base percentage for an 18/19-year-old in High-A makes a loud statement about the type of hitter Trout is.

From the games that I saw in person, he rarely chased a bad pitch, especially early in the count as he waited for a pitch to drive. He was very good with two-strikes, shortening up his approach. Even on the one strikeout I saw he managed to make contact, fouling a high fastball straight back into the catcher’s mitt. This type of plate discipline and contact skill translates fantastically to the major league level and should give Trout a serious shot to be a perennial .300-plus hitter with a .380-.410 OBP.

The Angels found themselves a gem in Mike Trout. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him represent that organization in all-star games annually. He could see the big leagues as soon as the end of 2011 and has a serious chance to turn into a regular in 2012.