Let’s Give Mark Trumbo A Little Bit of Respect
As I scrolled through X (formerly Twitter) a few weeks ago, I came across a tweet (old habits) from the great contributor Not Gaetti. He (I am assuming from the profile picture) said the following: “Not enough people talk about Mark Trumbo.” And he listed a bunch of stats. That is right; not enough people talk about this guy.
The Anaheim Angels selected Trumbo in the 18th round of the 2004 MLB draft out of Villa Park High School. He started 2005 in rookie ball, hitting ten home runs in 299 at-bats. He slowly worked his way through the minors, notching as many as 36 dingers (which occurred in 2010 in Salt Lake, so there may be an asterisk on that season).
Trumbo made his major league debut, striking out in the seventh inning of a game against the Mariners after his September call-up. He started his career going 0-for-14 with eight strike outs before recording his first hit, a two-out, two-run single in the Angels’ last inning of the season.
That base hit must have left a lasting impression, as he broke camp with the club in 2011, played in 149 games, smashed 29 homers, while slashing .254/.291/.477, for a 114 OPS+ and second place in Rookie of the Year voting.
The following year was more of the same, but better: 32 dingers, an .808 OPS, and a 124 OPS+. That garnered him his first All-Star appearance.
In 2013 he cranked 34 home runs and drove in an even 100.
After that season, Anaheim included Trumbo as part of a three-team trade, sending him to the Arizona Diamondbacks (as a side note, Tyler Skaggs went from Arizona to Anaheim in that deal, changing the trajectory of his career and his life).
Midway through the 2015 season, the Diamondbacks traded Trumbo to the Seattle Mariners, where he put up 1.0 bWAR in 96 games, hitting thirteen home runs.
At the end of the year, the Mariners shipped him off to Baltimore. It seems reasonable that Seattle regretted the move. Trumbo had a career year — bashing 47 homers (which led the league), driving in 108, with a 122 OPS+, earning him his second All-Star nod and his first Silver Slugger Award. He won the Comeback Player of the Year Award, to boot.
Then Trumbo came back to earth. Over the next two seasons combined, he hit just 40 homers and drove in 109 runs. Trumbo missed most of the 2019 season with a knee injury, not taking his first at-bat until September 2nd. He ultimately played in 12 games in what would be his final MLB season.
When all was said and done, Trumbo’s career slash line was .249/.302/.459, with a 108 OPS+. He hit 218 homers. When discussing potential Hall of Fame pitchers, note that Trumbo had a 1.533 OPS against Mark Buehrle, and slashed .348/.375/.739 when facing Cole Hamels. Per Baseball Reference, his career is most similar to Pete Incaviglia, but a more modern-day comp would be Teoscar Hernández. Trumbo isn’t a Hall of Famer; he doesn’t even belong in the Hall of Very Good. But he had a solid career, earning nearly $60 million along the way.
On September 10, 2013, Trumbo became the first Angel to have five hits and score five runs in the same game. He had three doubles and a homer, for 11 total bases.
On April 15, 2016, Trumbo became the first Oriole to hit two home runs in the same inning, when he smashed a two-run dinger off Martín Pérez and then a three-run shot off Andrew Faulkner.
We tend to forget the players that come and go; those who don’t put up massive numbers, but are solid year after year. It is important to recognize the lunchpail guys who show up, do the work, produce, and leave the game and their teams better than where they found them. Mark Trumbo was just that type of player.
PLAY BALL!!
