BENEFIT TROUT
2-time MVP tries to stay grounded amid ‘face of the game’ chatter
Terry Collins thought he had a plan to contain the hottest hitter in the majors.
Mike Trout had homered five times in his previous five games heading into Friday night, and with Albert Pujols out of the Angels’ lineup with a hamstring injury, the slugger had little help behind him.
Still, Collins wanted to attack Trout — for the most part.
“He’s dangerous,” Collins said. “He’s certainly one guy [where] obviously there are times in the game when you can’t let him beat you.”
In Friday’s 3-0 win, Trout didn’t beat the Mets in his first game at Citi Field since leading off the 2013 All-Star Game against Matt Harvey.
Asked before the game if he would pitch around Trout, Collins said: “I would say probably not.” His reasoning? “I have possibly one of the best pitchers in the game going,” the manager said of Jacob deGrom. “I think I’ll let him pitch to him until we don’t need to pitch to him. I’m not a big advocate of putting guys on base. … I don’t think Jacob deGrom is that easy to hit.”
Trout, seemingly on his way to contending for his third AL MVP award in the last four years, made his presence felt, despite the Angels not scoring, with two singles and an intentional walk.
“Even though Mike’s doing as good as he is … if Mike Trout is hotter than [Washington’s] Ryan Zimmerman was two weeks ago, I’ve got to see it,’’ Collins said. “Because I never saw anything like that. We’ll just pick our spots.”
Trout had a pair of singles and after Kole Calhoun advanced to second on a wild pitch with two outs in the sixth, Collins opted to have deGrom walk Trout — despite a 3-2 count.
It all paid off for the Mets, who snapped a seven-game losing streak with the victory. And now Trout is Zack Wheeler’s problem for Saturday.
Before the game, Trout brushed off his recent torrid stretch — even for him — at the plate.
“[With] this latest home-run surge, I’m getting pitches I can hit and not missing them,” said Trout, whose 13 homers leave him one behind the Yankees’ Aaron Judge for the most in the AL.
He said he watched some replays of Derek Jeter being honored Sunday at Yankee Stadium and was asked — not for the first time — about being the “face” of a game that has had a difficult time connecting with younger fans. Not for the first time, Trout didn’t bite. “Just to be in the same conversation with Jeter, with him being a role model, means a lot,” Trout said. “The way I go out there and play, I try to be the best I can be. I try to be a good role model, just like him.”
Just don’t expect him to say much about it.