Trout the best player C.R. has seen in long time

CEDAR RAPIDS - Getting Mike Trout to talk about himself is a tough task. You get a lot of short answers, a lot of cliches.

He's not trying to be rude. For the Cedar Rapids Kernels outfielder, it really isn't about him.

“He is so grounded,” Kernels Manager Bill Mosiello said. “That's incredible. He cares more about the team than he does himself.”

Trout is one of seven Kernels in Fort Wayne, Ind., for tonight's Midwest League All-Star Game, the lone Cedar Rapids starter for the Western Division. It's the culmination of an incredible first half for an 18-year-old outfielder from Millville, N.J., whose speed and power potential reminds Kernels General Manager Jack Roeder, a lifelong Yankees fan, of Mickey Mantle.

Yes, Roeder is serious.

“A great start to my first full year,” Trout said.

“A special guy,” said Los Angeles Angels director of player development Abe Flores. “A very talented guy.”

It's difficult to imagine the Angels expected anything close to what they've gotten thus far from Trout, who has emerged as one of the top prospects in the minors. He goes into the all-star break leading the MWL with a .370 batting average, a .455 on-base percentage and 33 stolen bases.

“It's a joy to watch him,” said Kernels hitting coach Brent Del Chiaro. “It's an absolute treat to come to the ballpark every day and wonder ‘OK, what's he going to do today?'"

“He's as good as it gets,” said Kernels Manager Bill Mosiello. “I've never had that type of player. A right-handed hitter, a guy who can do all the things that he can do. I don't even have anyone I can compare him to.”

Trout has a football body at 6-foot-1 and 217 pounds. He played quarterback and safety as a freshman in high school and could have been a Division I player, according to his dad, Jeff, a longtime baseball and football coach at Millville, who spent four years playing minor league baseball in the Twins system.

“He was so fearless on the field, as the football coach, I got so worried about what was going on,” Jeff Trout said. “He got dinged up ... So I just told him ‘Mike, you ought to spend one of these seasons just hitting the weights and lifting. I don't care what sport you pick, it's great to be a three-sport guy (also basketball) and everything.' But I was trying to encourage him, hoping he would back away from football a little bit. And he did.”

“I knew baseball was going to be a better career for me,” Mike said. “It's worked out.”

The first thing that wows you about Trout's game is his speed. In April, he was timed at 3.88 seconds from the right side of the plate to first base. A month later, he lined a ball into the left-field corner at Memorial Stadium and legged it into a triple.

“For me, he's an enigma. In a class by himself,” Del Chiaro said, when asked to compare him to another player. “He has the power and he can run ... And he's a sponge. He's always wanting to learn. That's what makes him so special.”

“I just go out there every night trying to win,” Trout said.

And trying to move up the minor league ladder. The Angels have repeatedly said they aren't going to rush him but a move to high-Class A Rancho Cucamonga seems imminent. The expectations for him seem to be growing daily.

“That has just made me more excited to play,” Trout said. “Every day, stuff like that just makes you want to play better. All these people watching me now. Like I've said, just go out there and have fun.”