Blake Trahan admits that he didn’t have a great season in 2017. The just turned 24-year-old infielder hit .222/.311/.275 in Double-A this past season. He started 136 of the 140 games for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. While there wasn’t much success at the plate, he was strong in the field. He only made nine errors during the year, posting a .982 fielding percentage.
Blake Trahan sat down with MiLB.com earlier this week to briefly talk about some things, including what he’s working on.
He specifically mentioned being a complete hitter, one who can go to all fields and having a great approach as things he is looking to work on in Arizona this fall.
While strikeouts and walks don’t always give you a complete picture of a players approach, Blake Trahan didn’t seem to struggle in this area. He had 52 walks and 82 strikeouts in 2017. That came in 526 plate appearances – so his rates in both areas were strong. But, simply making contact doesn’t always reflect a good approach. When he made contact in 2017 he hit just .269 (BABIP). Perhaps this is where he was referencing a better approach, one that would let him do a little more than make contact. One where he’s just a little more selective and will let him do a bit more damage when he does make contact.
When it comes to using the whole field, he’s already been doing that. In 2017 he went to right field 70 times, while going to center 56 times and left field 51 times. As a right handed hitter, he’s going the other way significantly more often than he is pulling the ball. With that said, he went the other way less often in 2017 than he did in 2016, when he went to right field 89 times and to left field only 45 times.
Last night saw Blake Trahan start his 5th game in the Arizona Fall League. For the 5th game he racked up a hit, going 1-3 with a stolen base. He’s hitting .300 (6 for 20) in that span with a walk and four strikeouts. Trahan has also stolen three bases.