Angels third baseman Mark Trumbo misjudges a foul pop fly in the sixth inning… (Mark Boster / Los Angeles…)
The two errors he made in his third-base debut Friday night were difficult enough for Mark Trumbo to absorb, but a bigger concern for the Angels and the converted first baseman could be the mental scars left by the rocky performance.
“I’d be lying if I said otherwise,” Trumbo said Saturday when asked if his confidence was shaken a bit. “It’s not that I don’t have confidence in myself, but I know how hard pitchers work to get those outs, and any time you don’t pick them up, I feel as bad as anybody.
“I take a lot of pride in contributing on multiple levels, and when you’re not able to do that, it leaves a real sour taste. But I have to use it as motivation to try to get better.”
Trumbo singled during a five-run eighth, but it was hard to relish his contribution to a season-opening 5-0 win over the Royals after committing a throwing error in the second and over-running a foul popup that dropped near the on-deck circle in the seventh, miscues that forced Jered Weaver to throw 14 extra pitches.
“I don’t think jitters played much of a part,” said Trumbo, who had never played third in any of his seven professional seasons. “The mistakes I made were purely physical. They weren’t due to lack of preparation or planning.”
Both errors provided lessons for Trumbo, who was not in Saturday’s lineup.
“I made a good play on the grounder and pulled my throw a bit—maybe I need to pick up the target a little better,” said Trumbo, who led the team with 29 homers and 87 runs batted in last season but was pushed off first by Albert Pujols.
“The popup, I got used to the way ball comes off the bat at first, but it’s always going to come back toward me at third. So maybe I can’t be as aggressive with my route. I need to ease my way in there.”
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