Fantasy Baseball Prospect Report: Mark Trumbo

Eric Stashin

Jun 22, 2010

With Kendry Morales’ season officially coming to an end, it’s interesting that there hasn’t been more focus put on Mark Trumbo, the Angels’ slugging first base prospect at Triple-A. While Trumbo isn’t the same player Morales is, he certainly has the potential to be a contributor in the middle of the Angels lineup.

Let’s take a look at his production through Thursday:

242 At Bats
.285 Batting Average (69 Hits)
16 Home Runs
55 RBI
38 Runs
2 Stolen Bases
.327 On Base Percentage
.554 Slugging Percentage
.308 Batting Average on Balls in Play

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Given the BABIP, the average is very realistic. He doesn’t strikeout an outrageous amount (22.3% thus far, 20.3% for his career entering the season), which is generally a concern for big-time power hitters.

If you wanted to nitpick, you can point to his inability to draw many walks (15 this season). However, prior to his season-ending injury, Morales had walked just 12 times in 193 AB.

He’s a career .272 hitter, but a lot of that is due to hitting .224 at Single-A in 2006. Since then, he’s never hit below .273 in a season. If he continues hitting for that type of average, with the power he possesses, he’s going to have value.

Yes, he’s playing in the Pacific Coast League, so the 16 HR has to be taken with a slight grain of salt. In 2009 he struggled somewhat with the power (15 HR in 533 AB at Double-A), but he hit a total of 32 HR between Single & Double-A in 2008.

He’s not an extreme fly ball hitter, as you can see by his fly ball rates the past three seasons:

2008 - 41.8%
2009 - 33.6%
2010 - 38.1%

Clearly, the 2009 season stands out like a sore thumb, which helps to explain his drop in power.

While he was ranked outside of the organizations Top 10 prospects by Baseball America prior to 2010, he was #8 prior to the 2009 season. At that time, they said:

“Trumbo has plus power, and when he gets his arms extended he can crush the ball. He has made a conscious effort to be less pull-conscious. He doesn’t strike out excessively for a slugger. He has a strong arm, especially for a first baseman.”

While there are questions about his glove, which may explain why the team hasn’t turned to him yet, there’s no questioning the power. At some point in 2010 there’s a good chance that the Angels bring him up to play first base or provide a little extra power from the DH spot. When that happens, he will be a viable option in deeper formats if you need some home runs and RBI.

What are your thoughts on Trumbo? Could he be a viable fantasy option? How much power could he provide?

For more prospect reports, you can check out the following articles: