Dave Stewart on Mark Trumbo: “You Have to Like the Potential”

Mark Trumbo has a fan in GM Dave Stewart. Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The outfield is pretty crowded for the Arizona Diamondbacks right now. There are a total of five players who can conceivably play every day for only three spots. Logic would dictate someone has to go. If we are to take new GM Dave Stewart at his word, Mark Trumbo won’t be on the move. According to Jack Magruder at Fox Sports Arizona, Stewart is pretty high on Trumbo:

“You have to like the potential. This is a guy who has 30-plus home runs in two seasons. You have to like that kind of player. And he’s a young player, so we should not be the ones to miss out on his potential.”

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Stewart hinted that Trumbo may very be well on the move….to a different position:

“He’s playing left field, which is a difficult position to play,” Stewart said. “At some point, we may have to see if he is a better right fielder. If he is a better right fielder, that may give him peace of mind and comfort, which will make him a better hitter. We have to look at all possibilities to put our players in the best position we can to get the best we can out of them.”

I thought Trumbo did a good job trying to become a better hitter instead of focusing on going deep with every swing. He still had his fair share of strikeouts but you could see the effort being made to shorten his stroke and just put the ball in play. On more than one occasion I remember him going the other way with a pitch on a two strike count.

Still, you have to wonder if this is just a general manager trying to pump up value for a player coming off a down season or does he legitimately believe the words he is speaking. I believe that Stewart is sincere in his praise but would not pass up on a deal for Trumbo if the return makes sense.  We will see if there will be some kind of platoon in right field with Trumbo and David Peralta. That would be hard to believe.