Mike Trout built an impressive baseball r?sum? before he turned 20.
He was a .338 lifetime hitter in the minor leagues entering this season.
He has been tabbed baseball?s top prospect by multiple pundits each of the past two years.
He was named the Topps Minor League Player of the Year last season. He also made his major league debut last year ? at age 19.
Any local baseball fan wondering what all the fuss is about better not have showed up late to Monday?s game against the Aces. The Salt Lake Bees leadoff hitter deposited the game?s second pitch well beyond the outfield wall in right-center at Aces Ballpark, easily clearing the picnic area next to the home bullpen.
It was just one aspect of Trout?s game that has drawn comparisons to some of the game?s all-time greats. Namely, Mickey Mantle.
?The prospect stuff and all that is good, but once you get on the field you just have to go play,? Trout said before his Salt Lake team began a four-game series against the Aces. ?That?s what I?ve tried to do. I just want to get out there and go play. You can?t worry about No. 3, No. 2, No. 1. You just have to go play.?
Trout was selected with the 25th pick by the Los Angeles Angels in the 2009 draft, 24 picks after the Washington Nationals took Stephen Strasburg and eight picks after the Diamondbacks selected fellow center fielder A.J. Pollock, now with the Aces.
Bryce Harper, whom the Nationals took No. 1 overall the following year out of Las Vegas, might receive the most attention among minor leaguers. But among the cognoscenti, Trout and Harper split top billing as the game?s top prospect.
Trout is the highest-rated player to take the Aces Ballpark field. He trumps current Giants Buster Posey and Madison Bumgardner, who appeared with Fresno in 2010, the same year the Rangers? flame thrower Neftali Feliz made a visit with Oklahoma City.
?A lot of times you see prospects and you hear about their ability to hit for power, their ability to defend, or whatever it is. Sometimes it shows up and sometimes it doesn?t,? Bees manager Keith Johnson said. ?The thing about Trout is that all parts of his game show up every night. Everything about him that you hear about comes out on a nightly basis.?
Not all those parts have been on display just yet this year. A shoulder injury suffered in spring training has limited Trout to the designated hitter role through five games.
?It?s frustrating because I want to be out in the field,? said Trout, who could be in center field by Wednesday. ?DH-ing is not my thing. It?s a good thing I?m not getting used to it.?
The shoulder injury came shortly after Trout recovered from an illness that took 15 pounds from his 6-foot-1, 200-pound frame.
Many in the game have stated Trout is big-league ready ? he hit .220 in 40 games in the majors a year ago ? and his .500 average through five games with Salt Lake suggests they?re right.
But the two ailments, along with a crowded Angels outfield, sent Trout to Triple-A, just three years removed from his senior prom at Millville High in New Jersey.
That was just fine with Johnson.
?He?s a great talent and adds a whole new dynamic to this team,? said Johnson, who does not worry about Trout managing all the attention and expectations.
?He?s done it so far, ever since the day he was drafted,? Johnson said.
?Whenever he gets to the major leagues, he going to have to deal with the same types of things he has at this level and all through his career. He?s going to be OK.?
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