The year after a strong debut with the Billings Mustangs, Taylor Trammell was assigned to the Dayton Dragons for 2017. April was one where the 19-year-old saw some struggles, sort of. The lefty had hits in 17 of the 21 games he played in, but only had more than one hit in one game during the month. In total, he would hit .222/.312/.309. The hits weren’t coming and neither was the power. What did show up, though, was his speed and his ability to walk. Trammell had eight steals in nine tries and drew 11 walks in 21 games.
When the calendar flipped to May, things turned around quickly. Over the first three games, Taylor Trammell had three multi-hit games. He never really slowed down from there. In the 24 games played in the month he hit .287/.382/.553. The hits started showing up and so did the power. He would smack seven doubles, an insane six triples and hit two home runs. He also added in 15 walks and five more stolen bases.
The hot hitting carried into the first few days of June, two mini-slumps in the month drug down the overall hitting. From June 6th-10th he would go 1-15. Then from the 24th through the 27th he would go 1-17. Outside of those two stretches he would go 26-68 (.382), but wound up with a solid line of .280/.327/.450. He would add another six steals, pushing his total to 19 on the season.
July was another good month for Taylor Trammell overall. It was, however, hot-and-cold. From July 8th through the 20th he would go 19-49 with five extra-base hits. The stretch was good enough for a 1.046 OPS in 53 plate appearances. Over the final 10 games though he would struggle, hitting just .176 with one double. Despite the hitting struggles, he walked more than he struck out in that span – the ball simply wasn’t finding the grass. Overall he would hit .306/.390/.417 for the month. He would add another 10 steals in 13 tries, to push his total up to 29.
The first half of August was interesting for Taylor Trammell. In six of the 13 games he played in, he went hitless. In the other seven games he had 13 hits in 22 at-bats. After going 0-12 from the 12th through the 14th, Trammell went on a run to finish the season strong. In the final 17 games of the year he posted a .292/.410/.554 line that included four home runs. Over the lst 30 games, encompassing August and the final few games played in the first week of September, he posted a .296/.412/.500 line with 12 steals. It would push his season total to 41, making him the second Dragons player of the year to top 40 steals (Jose Siri).
For all 2017 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Taylor Trammell Spray Chart
Taylor Trammell Scouting Report
Hitting | Trammell shows the ability to use all fields and he can hit the ball with power to all fields. His speed also allows his hit tool to play up as he’s able to leg out a few extra infield hits that others wouldn’t be able to.
Power | Currently his power is slightly below-average, but he’s got above-average power potential. The ball carries well off of his bat. 20+ home runs in the future isn’t out of the question.
Running | While he’s not quite Billy Hamilton fast, Taylor Trammell is a plus to plus-plus runner right now. He may lose a step as he adds strength over the next couple of years and fills out his frame, but he should continue to be an above-average runner even if he does.
Arm | This is the one weakness in his game. There were times during the season when he showed off a fringy below-average arm, but more often than not scouts noted that it may be enough to keep him from playing center long term. Some graded it as a 30. When I saw it at it’s best, mostly in the 2nd half of the season, it was closer to a 40-grade arm than a 30.
Defense | While a majority of his season was spent in left field, at least for right now, the speed and range are plenty for center field. In left field he shows outstanding range, but that’s to be expected given that he’s a center fielder who was playing in left.
There’s a lot to like when watching Taylor Trammell play. He can run. He can hit. There’s already some power there and there’s more coming in the future. His arm may be holding back his overall defensive profile, but unlike some scouts that I spoke with, I’m not concerned about the arm keeping him from playing center field. While runners may test his arm in the gaps, his range will make up for any shortcomings with the arm. For his age he’s got a good understanding of the strikezone and shows a good eye. As it goes with almost every 19-year-old, there’s work to continue to do, but pretty much everything you want to see in a baseball player can be seen with Trammell.