John Trupin/Mitch Haniger Appreciation Thread

Today, March 12, is our dear friend John Trupin’s 23rd birthday. In honor of him, I’m officially designating him as President of the Mitch Haniger Fan Club.

After all, outside the Haniger clan itself, he’s likely the first person with one of these bad boys...

So on this special day, let’s celebrate those that we love most: John and Mitch.

John already wrote everything I could possibly say about Mitch in his 40-in-40 on the budding star, but the gist of it is this: If he can keep hitting like he did last year in AAA, and combine that with his plus defense in right field, there’s real potential. Yes, we’ve written sentences like that about failed prospects from Mariners of yore. No, it’s not easy to adjust from AAA to MLB.

But it’s not like we’re out here on an island. Dave Cameron weighed in via his weekly Fangraphs chat:

And he’s garnered attention locally:

...as well as from his former locale.

There are plenty of reasons to get excited about Mitch Haniger. And since it’s March, especially since it’s the Fan Club President’s birthday, there’s no reason not to go overboard with our praise.

Speaking of going overboard, enjoy these old treasures dug up from my Facebook page and family photo albums. Happy birthday, John, and may Mitch Haniger hit 25 bombs this year just for you.

Oh, and definitely keep the Birthday Crown on.