Mark Trumbo's Potential Impact

When Kendry Morales hit a game winning grand slam the other day, no one was thinking about Mark Trumbo...until Morales hit home plate.

Now, with Morales likely out until at least September, there has been some speculation that the Angels might eventually turn to Trumbo to fill in at first. This hasn't happened so far, as Rob Quinlan was recalled and put in the lineup on Monday.

If Trumbo does get the call, what can we expect?

There is power potential in Trumbo's game, but it's not really the type of power that translates well at the first base position. In 2008, Trumbo hit 32 home runs between high-A and double-A, but most (26) of his homers came in the hitter friendly California League; the same league where Brandon Wood hit 43 home runs back in 2005.

Last season, in his first full year at double-A, Trumbo hit 15 home runs in 533 at-bats.

The other problem is that Trumbo is not a very patient hitter. His walk rates have consistently been around or below six percent at the higher levels, which would make it difficult to project much AVG wise at the Major League level. To this point in 2010, Trumbo is hitting just .273/.317/.513 at triple-A Salt Lake (a good hitters park).

This may be a moot point anyway, as the Angels seem to be looking at other options, but even if Trumbo were to get a shot, he wouldn't likely make an impact outside of AL-only leagues. Think Gaby Sanchez without the plate discipline.