All baseball fans are aware of the big debate over who’s the best player in baseball. Is it Bryce Harper or Mike Trout? Nine times out of ten, baseball analysts, ESPN anchors, and your everyday sports fans say Bryce Harper. There are a few, however, that say Trout is the best player.
Harper hits the home runs and hits well; nobody can take that away from him. But Trout does too, and he does a lot more than that. Mike Trout is one of the best five tool players the game has seen in years. The five tools of baseball are hitting for power, hitting for average, speed, fielding ability, and throwing ability. It’s impossible to argue that Mike Trout doesn’t have all those tools, but does Harper have them all? The answer is absolutely not.
Harper has three, and at most four. Fans have seen him make some outfield assists, and he definitely has both hitting and speed. But within the past few weeks we have seen him miss two routine fly balls that Trout would have nabbed. Turn back the clocks a few weeks: Papelbon was on the mound trying to get a save, and a fly ball was hit Harper’s way. It looked like he had a bead on the ball, but all of sudden he stuck his glove out, pulled back, and the ball dropped. Many believed he was sticking it to Papelbon because of the incident between the two last season.
That’s inexcusable if true, but say he gets a pass for it (But why risk blowing a game like that? That’s not revenge, that’s just dumb). Last week, on almost same type of fly ball, with no Papelbon on the mound, he let the ball drop. For that one, people are making excuses for him, saying he didn’t want to slide it was too close to the wall. Trout dives for that ball anyway to save a run. It wasn’t that close to the wall (look at the replay on YouTube). After those two plays, the fielding ability comes off his tool list right away. He does not get a third chance at a routine play. The argument should now be over, with Trout as the clear winner. But consider a further point.
The best player in baseball should be a great team leader, and a role model for the kids. No team leader should be questioned for their hustle, like Harper was for the play with Papelbon on the mound.Then on top of that, he threw a hissy fit and got into a fight with his teammate. No one ever questions Trout’s hustle because he hustles on every play, day in and day out, and he would never get in a fight with one of his teammates like that.
Look also at Harper’s incident with the umpire this past week. Harper got suspended a game a game for yelling an expletive at an umpire after he got tossed from the game for arguing balls and strikes. Again, this would never happen with Trout. Trout is now beating Harper seven to four between the five tools and his points for team leadership and being a role model to young fans. This argument should be put to rest. Mike Trout is the best player in baseball.
Main Photo:
