It was a big night for Cincinnati Reds 1st rounder Nick Senzel and competitive balance 1st rounder Taylor Trammell on Saturday night.
Nick Senzel entered the night hitting .323/.414/.552 for the Dayton Dragons. By the end of the night all of those numbers would be much higher. In his first trip to the plate the #2 overall pick in the draft doubled off of the wall. In the 3rd inning he hit a hard grounder down the third base line that the third baseman dove for and stopped, but Senzel easily beat the throw to first for a hit. In the top of the 6th inning he led off with another double, also off of the wall in left center field. In the 8th inning he upped the ante with a long fly ball to center field that went for a triple, bouncing off of the warning track and then the wall. The Dragons third baseman would finish that night going 4-5, adding in a stolen base to go along with his three extra-base hits. When the game ended Nick Senzel had pushed his line to .335/.422/578 on the year with Dayton over his 247 plate appearances.
Outfielder Taylor Trammell continued the 2016 draft pick party on Saturday night in Billings, though it didn’t get out to the best start. He would strike out in the 1st inning and in the 3rd inning he grounded into a double play. Things started turning around in the bottom of the 5th inning when he singled on a line drive to left field. In the 7th inning the outfielder drew a walk, but was stranded. After Helena rallied to score three runs in the 7th and 8th innings to tie the game up at 4, it set up the Mustangs for a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 9th. With no one on base and two outs in the bottom of the 9th, Taylor Trammell came up to the plate and on a 3-1 pitch he smacked a walk-off home run. The 18-year-old is now hitting .300/.371/.423 on the season to go with 23 stolen bases.
Sebastian Elizalde continues to swing a hot bat
Outfielder Sebastian Elizalde hasn’t drawn a walk since July, but despite that he’s been swinging an incredibly hot bat since August rolled around. In the 30 games since the calendar flipped over from July, the Blue Wahoos outfielder has gong 49 for 118, good for a .415 average. Last night saw him rack up four hits, his third straight game with multiple hits. Over his last ten games he’s had hits in nine games and multiple hits in six of them.