Mike Trout‘s RBI double in his third at-bat Friday against Texas Rangers left-hander Derek Holland was a quintessential example of Trout’s ability to adjust to a pitcher mid-game.
Trout saw two mid-90s sliders over the outside corner in the first inning and grounded out to shortstop on the second pitch. Holland struck out Trout in the third inning, tying Trout up on an inside slider.
The double came on another inside slider, one that caught a bit more of the plate. Holland had been pounding Trout inside during the at-bat (only one of the five pitches was not), and Trout clearly knew what to look for. The double drove in Chris Iannetta with the go-ahead run. The Angels still lead 2-1 in the sixth inning.
Buster Olney of ESPN.com cited a scary Trout stat the other day on his blog, breaking down Trout’s performance against a pitcher the first, second, third and fourth time he faced him in a game in 2012:
1st : .860 OPS 7 walks 35 strikeouts
2nd: 1.042 OPS 10 walks 25 strikeouts
3rd: 1.198 OPS 17 walks 17 strikeouts
4th: 1.244 OPS 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Today was just another example of Trout being Trout.