From Last Night:

• Ubaldo goes 8 scoreless to beat the Rays
• The Twins walk off on the Mariners
• Miller throws 7 scoreless, Wainwright goes the distance and allows one run as the Cards sweep the Giants in a DH
• Oakland literally walks off against the Sox
• Rockies walk off on the Dodgers

What I’m Watching Today:

• Matt Harvey faces the Marlins, expect strikeouts (1p Eastern)
• Cliff Lee goes against the Crew (130p Eastern)
• Jeremy Bonderman is back on an MLB mound against the Twins (2p Eastern)
• Corbin gets the Cubs (2p Eastern)
• Darvish toes the slab against the Royals (3p Eastern)
• Buchholz and Kuroda in NY (8p Eastern)

The Big Question:

• Does playing a different position really affect you at the plate?

You may have heard recently that Mike Trout is crushing at the plate again after his early season slump because he’s back in CF while Bourjos is on the DL. I’ve got to say, this is silly. Very. I could buy the argument if he was struggling when playing a more difficult position. For example, if you move from 1B to 3B and struggle at the plate because you have to work on your defense, that could make sense. But Trout was moving to an easier spot, why would that affect him? It wouldn’t. He’s a world class 21 year old athlete coming off a crazy good season. It’s nonsense to think he was affected at the plate by a position change that put him in a spot that was too easy. Ken Rosenthal has led the way on this topic and points to this split:

Trout 2013 as LF:.247/.327/.412

Trout 2013 as CF: .324/.400/.632

But that’s normal variation. Rosenthal and others just saw it and went for it as something to write about to gin up controversy. Here’s how I know:

Trout 2012 as LF: .326/.395/.645

Trout 2012 as CF: .329/.404/.542

If Trout was affected psychologically by playing out of position, why didn’t affect him last season? This is random noise in his production over the course of the season that happened to correlate with a teammates injury. Want better evidence?

Trout 2013 in Odd Numbered Games: .401 OBP

Trout 2013 in Even Numbered Games: .339 OBP

Look, Mike Trout is better during odd numbered games. The Angels should sit him today. Give me a break.