"Mark Trumbo isn't your typical 7th hitter." Those aren't my words, I lifted them from an Associated Press story on the ESPN website. Truth be told, it's not often you see a team's home-run and RBI leader batting 7th in the line-up. But with Mike Scioscia, "roles" often trump stats. Veteran players bat 3-4-5 no matter what their offensive stat line is.
Let's look at a side-by-side comparison of Mark Trumbo and Vernon Wells, our current 4-hole batter:
AB H HR RBI AVG OBP SLG
Trumbo, M 376 98 22 63 .261 .301 .495 (stats were updated on 8/7/11)
Wells, VW 339 72 16 43 .212 .246 .383
Vernon has played fewer games so, as expected, he lags in home runs and RBI's. But, his BA is well below Trumbo's and his slugging percentage isn't even close.
Trumbo was to be the Angels temporary first base replacement pending the return of Kendrys Morales. But over the first half of the season, he has demonstrated that he can hit at a par with the big boys. Defensively, Trumbo may need some spit and polish (dWAR = 0.3), but his bat has more than made up for the lack of luster in his fielding.
The Angels suffer regularly from a recurring case of offensive malaise. Veteran status can not be the panacea for what ails the line-up. Trumbo's offensive prowess (and clutch hitting ability) could be. It's time to give it a try.