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Baltimore Orioles: Worries about Mark Trumbo Splits

By Randy Buchman

Jun 6, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Mark Trumbo (45) hits a home run in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Baltimore Orioles won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 6, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Mark Trumbo (45) hits a home run in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Baltimore Orioles won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /
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How much concern should the Baltimore Orioles have about the dropoff in power and production by Mark Trumbo as compared to the first two months of the season?

There is little to find fault about the April and May that Trumbo put together for the O’s. As of June 9th, he was batting .296 with 20 home runs and 48 RBIs in 59 games. Gotta like that! But in the 11 games since then, he is 8-for-46 (.174) with just a double and three runs batted in.

At first glance this might sound terribly over-critical. He had to cool off from a beginning like that, otherwise he would, at that pace, tally 55 home runs and 132 RBIs.

However, we are far from the first to point out that a pattern exists from over the first six years of Trumbo’s career that June has been a bad month and the overall second half has not been as good as the beginnings of each year.

Since he entered the majors in 2010, Trumbo has hit .284 in April and .273 in May. But his combined average over the remaining months is .239, and his worst month is June at .226. Trumbo’s power numbers, OBP and everything else drops off at about the same proportion.

Does this clear pattern speak to a factor of cumulative fatigue that sets in? Is it a matter of scouting and pitching adjustments being made to which he is not responding? Are the Orioles thinking about these sorts of questions?

Much has been said about Trumbo being the second coming of the 2014 version of Nelson Cruz. This could be truer than folks realize. Statistically, Cruz had a terrible three months of June, July and August of that year. He only hit .213 for those months, though he did contribute 15 homers over the summer.

More from Baltimore Orioles

Probably the best thing that could happen for Mark Trumbo to break out of this recent downturn is that it has now been written about here. Usually when we write an article that could fit into the category of criticism or concern, the featured person has a breakout series of games. So Orioles fans, you can thank us here at The Baltimore Wire for Trumbo’s soon massive outbreak.

Carolina League All-Stars – In other news, three players from the Frederick Keys played in the Carolina League / California League All-Star game in Lake Elsinore, California last night. The Carolina League won the game, 6-4.

Pitcher Matthew Grimes took his 1.55 ERA and 7-4 record to the game and pitched the second inning. He threw a total of seven pitches, six for strikes. The first two batters hit simple fly ball outs, while the third batter went down on three consecutive strikes. That’s a long way to travel to only throw seven pitches, but the experience was a good one for the Georgia Tech grad, who I have the pleasure of hosting in my home when the Keys are not on the road.

Catcher Jonah Heim started the game for the Carolina stars, going 1-for-3 with a single in the sixth inning.

Aderlin Rodriguez, a 1B/3B/DH for the Keys, was the starting designated hitter for the Carolina League all-stars. He singled in his first at-bat, going 1-for-4 on the game.

After finishing the first half of the season 36-34, the Keys begin the second half on the road Thursday night at Salem, a Red Sox affiliate.

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