Albert Belle joined Joe and Evan to talk baseball on Friday afternoon, and when the conversation turned to Jacob deGrom and Mike Trout, two of the best in all of baseball, Belle offered some…interesting takes.
Most notably, Belle pondered if the two superstars are “making excuses” to not play with their current injury struggles.
Trout has been on the IL since May 17 with a calf strain, and is now weeks past his initial expected return date. Meanwhile, deGrom is awaiting another MRI on his elbow after dealing with forearm tightness, a flexor strain, shoulder soreness, and lat tightness earlier this season. When on the field, the two are unquestionably the best at what they do. But Belle, a former five-time All-Star, seems to think the two don’t have the desire to be on the field as much as possible.
“I think these two guys are just making excuses,” Belle said. “Maybe they don’t like the pressure of being the greatest hitter or the greatest pitcher in the game, but where are they now when their team needs them the most?”
DeGrom was on a historic pace before running into a wave of minor injuries throughout the season, and has not pitched since the All-Star break. He currently holds a 1.08 ERA through 92 innings of work, and has kept his season ERA below 2.50 in each of the past four seasons.
But Belle says deGrom is letting his team down, despite still being the team leader in WAR.
“They try to compare deGrom with Bob Gibson,” Belle said. “When deGrom got hurt earlier this year, the Mets weren’t in first place, and as soon as he gets hurt, they go on a hot streak and they’re in first place, and now, this is a crucial point where you need him, and he’s talking about forearm tightness.”
Trout, widely considered the best in baseball, has now dealt with injury in four of the last five seasons. After playing in at least 157 games from 2013 to 2016, Trout played in 114 in 2017, 140 in 2018, 134 in 2019 and just 36 so far this season. He was on a tear before suffering his calf injury, posting a 1.090 OPS while batting .333, but Belle seems to think the injury shouldn’t keep Trout out of the lineup for this long.
“They’re talking about how great a player he is, he’s a sabermetrics guru,” Belle said. “He’s never carried his team…and as soon as he starts slumping, now he comes up with a calf contusion that’s been what, four or six weeks? He may or not play anymore the rest of the year.”
Belle said he has talked with friends and can’t understand how someone injures a calf, though it is far from a rare occurrence in the sporting world, even baseball.
“I was like ‘Do you ever remember seeing anybody hurt a calf?’” Belle said. “I know we blew out hamstrings or quads from hurting all the time, but I don’t know how you hurt your calf. I know [Giancarlo] Stanton’s hurt his calf and he bounced back in a week or two.”
Belle played in 1,539 career games, retiring at 33 years old. Trout is at 1,288 games at 29 years old. Trout currently holds a higher career batting average, on base percentage and slugging percentage than Belle, and his career WAR (75.9) is nearly double Belle’s (40.1). But Belle clearly wants to see more.
“They talk about how he’s one of the greatest in the game, he has a nice track record, but lately, he hasn’t done anything,” Belle said. “He hasn’t carried his team.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch