Welcome to the third episode of the Call to the Pen flagship podcast! New episodes will be up every Monday and Wednesday. Today we talk about Mike Trout’s MVP candidacy, and Jung Ho Kang’s DUI.
In today’s episode, host and Call to the Pen contributor Jonathan Platek discusses the possibility of a Mike Trout MVP candidacy. He also discusses an article from Call to the Pen contributor David Hill about the the Pirates Jung Ho Kang perhaps never being allowed back into the United States, and how that paints a bleak future for the Bucs.
There is also a Judge’s Chamber on tap, a segment on loan from the K&P Show, a segment in which Aaron Judge’s recent feats of hitting are on display and discussed.
Here’s what is going on in today’s episode:
- 0:00—6:10: Intro and discussion of Jung Ho Kang’s multiple DUI’s in Korea. Jon makes the case that instances such as these, including the Jose Fernandez death, should not be treated as tragic or sad for the players.
- 6:11—11:42: Judge’s Chamber. Jon breaks down the recent week in Aaron Judge play, giving his stats since the segment was last done, and putting the stats from this smaller sample size into a larger context. The good news is, Judge’s HR/FB rate is slowly returning to form, which is a major source of his value in a few areas of offense.
- 11:45—20:50: Jon discusses how insanely awesome Mike Trout has been since returning from a UCL tear in his thumb on July14th. Simply put, he’s been dominant. His dominance since returning, and this season overall, would dominate normal Mike Trout. He’s been so dominant, in fact, that Jon makes the case that Mike Trout is your 2017 AL MVP award winner.
- 20:51—28:04: What does “Valuable” mean, and how valuable is Mike Trout? Jon discusses how he makes an argument for MVP, and how his vote would be influenced (If he had one, he currently does not, thankfully).
- 20:31—Close: What’s Hot on Call to the Pen. Jon discusses and breaks down some great columns and content from Call to the Pen contributors, the posts discussed are linked below.
- First up is a piece from contributor Tim Haberin breaking down the not-often-discussed dominance of Indians pitcher Corey Kluber since returning from the DL in early June. Jon gives some complimentary statistics to Tim’s discussion, and ultimately points out that Kluber might be your AL Cy Young candidate.
- Next is a column from David Hill talking about the uphill battle the Pirates face in replacing Jung Ho Kang, who is currently not allowed to enter the United States after receiving his 3rd DUI in Korea.