Mike Trout reveals the MLB pitcher he just can't figure out
There could be some argument about this, but there shouldn’t be: Mike Trout is the best baseball player on the planet.
Trout is a two-time MVP at 26, a guy who has never finished any lower than fourth in the MVP vote. He’s already having one of his across-the-board-great seasons, which shouldn’t be a surprise at this point. He’s also the guest on this week’s Yahoo Sports MLB podcast, which we can’t say will add to his Wins Above Replacement total, but it sure won’t take away from it either.
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In a fun sitdown with Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown, Trout talks about a number of topics, including Albert Pujols and Shohei Ohtani, what he loves about baseball, what pitcher he just can’t figure out and even a little bit of football — he puts together an NFL roster of baseball players.
If you’re not already a subscriber to our podcast, now is a good time to fix that. Click the image below to be whisked away to Apple Podcasts, where you can subscribe to the show and get new episodes each week when they’re released.
As for the pitcher who frustrates Trout — it’s not Clayton Kershaw or Justin Verlander. It’s Max Scherzer, the Washington Nationals ace, who has almost as much hardware in his awards case as Trout.
“When Scherzer was with Detroit,” Trout told Yahoo Sports. “I’m happy he went to the NL.
“He’s got unbelievable stuff. Obviously with the Cy Young awards. He’s just an athlete on the mound. He’s a grinder. You see his emotion out there. He competes. I like guys who go out there and leave it all on the line.”
The numbers support Scherzer owning Trout. In 16 at-bats against Scherzer, Trout has struck out 10 times and has only three hits. One is a homer at least. There are only 10 pitchers in MLB who have ever struck out Trout 10 times and Scherzer is the only one to do it in fewer than 20 at-bats.
If you listen to the entire podcast, you’ll see how Trout holds Scherzer in high regard. He also earned himself a spot on Trout’s Football-Baseball team. Once again, you can find the show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Acast and where ever else you find podcasts. If you dig what we’re doing, we’d appreciate your ratings and reviews.
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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
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