Trout brings confidence to majors

By Douglas Miles, The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS - It was never a question of if, just how soon.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, 19, made his major league debut Friday, just one day shy of a year since his last game as a Cedar Rapids Kernel. Trout, promoted from Double-A Arkansas, started in center field in place of the injured Peter Bourjos in a 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners.

“I got to see his last two at-bats,” Kernels Manager Brent Del Chiaro said last night before Cedar Rapids'3-2 loss to Peoria in 10 innings at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“He looked comfortable. I'm sure the adrenaline was just skyrocketing. I talked to him before the game, wished him all the best and congratulations, and he was excited.”

Trout was 0-for-3 in his debut with a groundout, fly out and lineout. He did make his presence felt in the outfield with a sensational running catch on the warning track to rob Franklin Gutierrez of an extra-base hit to end the ninth inning. Trout got his first major league hit, a third-inning bunt single in last night's game with Seattle.

Del Chiaro, Trout's hitting coach last year with the Kernels, cited unwavering confidence and ability to learn on the fly as qualities that will serve Trout well in the major leagues.

“Mike can take something that I was teaching him ... and apply it to the game like it was a habit that he had been doing for 20 years,” Del Chiaro said. “That doesn't come around very often. I had never been part of that talent.”

Even if Trout's call-up lasts only until Bourjos is healthy, the experience will provide a vital measuring stick that will reap benefits in his future.

“He felt like he wasn't being challenged at Double-A anymore,” Del Chiaro said. “He's going to go up there, he's going to make his adjustments. It's probably the only level that he's going to have some failure at, some adversity, so it's going to be fun to watch and see how it goes for however long he's up there.”