Los Angeles Angels rookie Mike Trout says that he and teammate Peter Bourjos have come to an agreement when patrolling the outfield: No baseball shall ever pass between them.
"No balls can drop in the gap," Trout told reporters. "That's a big thing for me and Pete. We're always trying to catch everything."
They're not kidding, either. Watch as Trout makes a great grab of a Nick Swisher drive in the second inning of the Angels' 5-1 win over the Yankees on Tuesday night. (Seriously: If this is what they're catching, what are they letting drop?).
The catch came during the Angels' eighth straight victory and near the end of a month that has seen the Halos revive themselves. Part of that is due to Albert Pujols regaining his stroke — he has eight homers and 24 RBI in May — but Mike Trout has also made a big impact. The team is 18-11 since Trout joined the ranks on April 28. He's posted a line of .304/.364/.522 with five homers and 14 RBI in 29 games and is on a direct path to battle Texas Rangers ace Yu Darvish in a great race for the AL rookie of the year award. (Yes, he's still eligible despite appearing in 40 games last season.)
Combined with the things that Bryce Harper is doing in Washington, it's hard not to pull for both outfielder to bring home the ROY hardware at the end of the season. Though future success is far from guaranteed, a Harper-Trout duo would have the potential to join the list of the best same-year combos to win rookie of the year. Recent additions have been Ryan Braun/Dustin Pedroia (2007), Hanley Ramirez/Justin Verlander (2006) and Albert Pujols/Ichiro (2001). Going back further, there's Andre Dawson/Eddie Murray (1977), Tom Seaver/Rod Carew (1967) and Frank Robinson/Luis Aparicio (1956).
Are those some pretty weighty names to be throwing around after just one month of Trout and Harper highlights? When neither can legally buy a drink just yet. Sure.
But it's really hard not to get ahead of yourself when watching these guys play. You might want to point a finger at us, but we'll just point two right back at Trout and Harper.
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