Ron Roenicke isn't the only man to coach Mookie Betts and Mike Trout -- former Red Sox bench coach Gary DiSarcina earned that distinction, too -- but he brings the freshest perspective to the discussion.
Roenicke spent the last two seasons as Angels third base coach, where he watched Trout outlast the upstart Betts in the 2016 MVP race and then follow up with a fourth-place finish last year despite missing nearly 50 games.
With Betts off to a ridiculous start punctuated by Tuesday's 4-for-4 and grand slam against the Yankees, Roenicke weighed in on what it's like to witness both superstars on a daily basis.
"They both have power. They can both hit for average," Roenicke said. "They don't chase a lot of pitches out of the zone. I guess you just have to see it through the season. I mean, unbelievable player, Mookie. Trying to compare, maybe there's five guys you can put up there at the top, saying they're best player in the game, and Mookie even before I was here, he's one of them."
It goes without saying that Trout belongs at the very top of that list. Since winning Rookie of the Year in 2012, Trout has claimed a pair of MVPs, finished second three times, and posted his "worst" showing with last year's fourth place finish.
Betts, meanwhile, finished second to Trout in 2016 and placed sixth last year while winning a pair of Gold Gloves. Ten games into this season, he leads baseball with a .432 average to accompany a 1.263 OPS. He has ripped line drives since his first swing of the season, which Tampa's Kevin Kiermaier tracked down with a leaping catch against the fence in the deepest part of Tropicana Field.
"Since the season started, he has really swung the bat well," Roenicke said. "He killed that ball, first swing, and they made the catch on him."
The swing is a good place to start. Betts has been locked in, targeting almost nothing but strikes and virtually never missing. Trout, by contrast, grinds at-bats until he gets his pitch.
"Trout's a little bit different," Roenicke said. "They pitch him a little different. He fouls off a lot of balls. I think with his approach, he'll always foul off a lot of balls. They pitch him in a lot. He's always trying to get that thing out of there. But he fouls off so many pitches that they make a mistake and then he hits it.
"Mookie doesn't miss too many balls. He swings and it's amazing. Today you throw him a couple of fastballs and all of a sudden you throw him a good breaking ball and he's right on the breaking ball. That's not easy to do."
When Roenicke evaluates players that talented, it almost ceases to be about their production, which is basically a given. He instead focuses on the incremental improvements they make in the pursuit of perfection.
For Trout, that meant upgrading his arm, the only aspect of his game that could be considered below average. And he turned to a far less heralded teammate for inspiration -- Kole Calhoun.
The last right fielder to win a Gold Glove before Betts, Calhoun may not be a star anywhere near Trout's orbit, but he's got a great arm. The two are close friends, and before every series, Calhoun would challenge Trout to join him in a ritual.
"I'd watch Cole tell Trout, 'Let's go,'" Roenicke said. "First game of every series they'd play long toss. Then they'd throw to some bases. And I saw Trout, when I was there last year, was a pretty good thrower. That was probably the only thing you could say he was a little below average in, and he's not below average anymore. That speaks a lot for Calhoun, too. But Trout was willing to do it. He knew the part of his game he wanted to get better, and he worked on it and really improved on it."
Similarly, Betts overhauled his offensive approach this winter. A naturally patient and selective hitter, Betts has amplified the aggressiveness on fastballs, especially early in the count. The result is probably the most sustained run of hard contact in his career.
"Anytime I see a great player, the personalities impress me more than anything," Roenicke said. "When you're that good, sometimes you're just not open to talking about some things to make you better. Both Trout and Mookie, they're always trying to figure out how to get better. As a coach, that's what it's all about."
Two years ago, Roenicke paid attention to Betts not only when the Angels played the Red Sox, but as the season wore on and it became clear he'd be Trout's primary competition for the MVP Award. He liked what he saw then, and he can't wait to see what Betts is capable of now.
"Because I was with Trout, I was looking at who else in the league was having the kind of year that could match him," he said. "Everybody's looking at the offensive years, but you've got to look at what Mookie does defensively. There was one year when I thought Yadier Molina should've won the MVP, because defensively he was the best catcher in the game, and he also hit .330. And I thought, how could you have a better year? He didn't win the MVP and it bothered me, because I think people were looking too much at offense. You contribute that much defensively, Mookie contributes a lot defensively. I had Andrelton Simmons last year, watching what he does at shortstop. If those guys hit, along with what they do, they're making a huge impact on both sides of the field. For me, that's what an MVP does."
Betts has made a strong opening argument to join that race again. And Trout, whose four homers lead the American League, will undoubtedly be right there with him. You can count on one hand the players who belong in the discussion for best in the game, and Roenicke feels blessed to have coached two of them.
