Luis Gonzalez: Diamondbacks need Mark Trumbo back ‘desperately’
Jun 16, 2014, 11:41 PM
Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt has already proven he is among the elite players in Major League Baseball, hitting .309 with 15 home runs and 51 RBI this season. If left fielder Mark Trumbo can contribute immediately once he returns, former Diamondbacks outfielder and current special assistant to D-backs president Derrick Hall Luis Gonzalez says Goldschmidt could turn into even more of a threat.
“He (Trumbo) was brought in here to protect Goldschmidt and to be the stabilization behind him and to provide that security for him,” Gonzalez told Bickley and Marotta Monday afternoon on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
Before he went down with a broken foot on Apr. 21, Trumbo was hitting .210 with seven home runs and 19 RBI. Without his bat in the lineup, Gonzalez said it has become more difficult for Goldschmidt to find success.
“Goldy is just a superstar player in the game, he works hard,” Gonzalez said. “When you’re a guy like Goldschmidt, you’re that one guy they pick out on the team that can beat you.”
Gonzalez mentioned the trio of Albert Pujols, Mike Trout and Josh Hamilton, who play for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, as a good example of how hitters protecting each other in a lineup can work to a team’s advantage. He added that if Trumbo can return sooner rather than later, then the D-backs could string some wins together and find themselves back in the playoff hunt.
“Trumbo is a guy we desperately need back to get back in the middle of the order, to stabilize this time and to stretch our lineup out a little bit longer,” Gonzalez said. “When you hit in the middle of an order you always want to have that other guy the batman and robin type of thing you want to have that protector guy with you.”
