Taylor Trammell was coming off of a strong season for the Dayton Dragons in 2017 when he was assigned to the next level up to begin his 2018 season. The Reds sent the outfielder to join the Daytona Tortugas in the pitcher friendly Florida State League.
The 2018 season got out to a nice start for Taylor Trammell. In the first half of April, over 10 games, he hit .314/.429/.571 with more walks than strikeouts and four extra-base hits. Despite a slump over the first four games played in the second half of the month, he hit well the rest of the way, too. His OPS was .838 in the final two weeks of the month. For April he finished hitting .286/.394/.512 with 15 walks and 17 strikeouts in 99 plate appearances. He only stole two bases in five attempts during the month.
May didn’t quite pick up where April left off for Taylor Trammell. The then 20-year-old hit just .226 in the first two weeks of the month. Things went much better in the final two weeks of May. There was only one game in which he didn’t record a hit, and he would walk in that game. In those final 13 games he hit .409/.509/.545. Overall, May looked a lot like April as he hit .333/.444/.467 with three home runs, 14 walks, and 20 strikeouts in 90 plate appearances. He would also steal three bases in five attempts.
Things did not go well in the early part of June. Through June 11th Taylor Trammell was just 5-26 (.192) without an extra-base hit. He would rebound well from that point, though. In the remaining 12 games of the month he went 19-47 (.404) with four doubles, four walks, and just seven strikeouts. It was a tale of two halves in June, but he finished with a .329/.405/.384 line. The power dried up in the month, but the other aspects were strong. His stolen base totals jumped up, too. After going just 5-for-10 in the first two months, Trammell went 7-for-9 during June.
July got out to a slow start, much like June did. The different here was that Taylor Trammell didn’t quite recover during the month. After hitting .240 in the first week of July, things went backwards. Over the next three weeks he hit just .195 with five extra-base hits. In 114 total plate appearances he hit just .206/.289/.314. The .603 OPS on the month was by far the worst of the season, as was the 36 strikeouts he had. There was a highlight, though, as he took home MVP honors in the Futures Game.
The final month of the year picked up where July left off for Taylor Trammell. In the first four games of the month he went 2-15 (.133). On August 7th he would exit the game with a concussion after running into the wall. The outfielder would miss the next nine days before returning to the lineup on the 17th. Trammell would finish out the month strong, going 10-35 (.286) with seven walks and four doubles. In his 18 games played he hit .254/.365/.365 with seven steals in as many attempts and seven doubles.
For all 2018 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 | Taylor Trammell has an average hit tool that may play up a little bit thanks to his speed and ability to beat out some infield hits.
Power | There’s above-average power potential for Taylor Trammell.
Speed | Currently he has plus speed, though as his body matures he may lose a step.
Defense | Trammell’s capable of playing center field now and is an above-average defender.
Arm | The only tool that he has that is below-average. His arm has improved since he was drafted, but it’s still below-average.
The overall profile for Taylor Trammell could be that of a future All-Star. He’s got a chance to hit for a good average, he has a good grasp of the strikezone, and there’s a chance for above-average power. The bat profiles quite well. But he’s also got plenty of speed, so he should provide plenty of value on the bases too.
Defensively is where there’s some split among scouts. Those who are on the high end think he can play center field. The belief is that he won’t lose enough speed over the years and can remain there, while the arm will be a negative, the range will make up for it. Those on the other side believe the arm issues will be enough to push him to left field. Some also believe he will outgrow center as his body matures and he just won’t have enough speed to stay there long term. No one worries about whether the bat will play even if he does need to move to left field.
Longest Home Run of 2018
438 feet on July 15th in the Futures Game.
Interesting Stat on Taylor Trammell
He had more home runs in each of April and May than he hit between June, July, and August combined – when he only had two, and both came in July.