I would bet on him trying to play in the playoffs regardless of whether he is back to 100%. He’s got over 2 months to be ready to give it an attempt.
Looking at Trammel's Baseball Prospectus scouting report... it does seem some coaching could unlock him... https://www.baseballprospectus.com/player/108682/taylor-trammell/ 2024 The strides Trammell made at the plate in 2023—unlocking more game power, drawing more walks and proving more competent against left-handers—would be received far more favorably were he four years younger and tackling Triple-A pitching for the first time. But as a 25-year-old on his third stint in the PCL, Trammell's progress was viewed through a far less enthusiastic lens. A dramatic grand slam in Toronto in his first big-league plate appearance of the season provided a spark of false hope, but Trammell quickly reverted to an untenable amount of flailing at pitches with which he could do nothing. For as much as we bemoan the overreliance on traditional offensive statistics, at some point, batting average does matter. 2023 You might, squinting just so at Trammell's offensive stat line, see your way to cutting him some slack if you assumed that he was a defense-first center fielder. Open your eyes fully, however, and you see a 75 DRC+ in a major-league sample approaching 300 plate appearances and defense suited for center only in emergency situations. While Trammell has a decent eye and a modicum of power, the contact skills are simply not at a sustainable level for a big-league job. Look for Trammell to be part of the standing reserve at Tacoma, if he’s not given a new start with a new team. 2022 Trammell had his shot, earning a starting job in Seattle on Opening Day while Kyle Lewis was healing and Jarred Kelenic was detained. It was like the baseball equivalent of mixing every single flavor of soda at the fountain drink station, as well as some milk and vinegar. His 15 extra-base hits provided a clear demonstration of his potential; the 10 singles showed why it remains, still, just potential. Nearly half of his starts featured multiple strikeouts. Based on his Triple-A numbers, there’s still a chance that Trammell’s athleticism and pop can make him a fourth outfielder. If another team still views him as something more, it may behoove the organization to give Trammell that opportunity elsewhere via trade—not that he hasn't already been subjected to that enough in his career. 2021 If there were ever a prospect to make you sigh in relief that the old scouts vs. stats wars are over, it’s Trammell. In the Ancient Times, a.k.a. 2012, stat guys would sit you down and Clockwork Orange your eyes open while they harangued you about how Trammell’s route efficiency makes him a suspect center fielder. Scouts would cue up Futures Games highlights, show you hand-clocked home-to-first times, and ask you if you’d seen Trouble With the Curve. It’s good that both sides have learned to appreciate what the other has to offer. Rather than argue over what Trammell is or isn’t we can be brief: He's a fabulously athletic player with 70-grade speed, enough power to hit 30 home runs in a season, and enough contact and route-running issues to worry if either will ever translate to the major leagues. If it all pans out Trammell will be one of the best and most exciting outfielders in the league, but he’ll have to show he can hit consistently in a way that, up until now, he simply has not. 2020 The Padres are hoping the Franmil Reyes Trade, much like what was once called the James Shields Trade, will someday be called the Taylor Trammell trade. The former Reds farmhand boasts paint-peeling speed, power potential and the plus makeup needed to translate his tools into everyday production. Last year in Double-A, Trammell focused on drawing more walks with fewer strikeouts, but his more contact-oriented approach cost him much of his power. This year's focus should be on maintaining an advanced approach and getting on base while working to unleash the power in his swing. Trammell will need to improve his arm and his defensive fundamentals to stay in center, but his speed and on-base skills give him a fourth outfielder's floor with a much higher ceiling. 2019 The athletic, toolsy stereotype applies to Trammell, who’s already shown double-plus speed and the potential for above-average power. Although his arm is a bit weak for center field and he takes routes in the outfield that make you think he accidentally set Waze to avoid highways, his combination of jaw-dropping raw skills is enough to make any national prospect writer fawn over him in GIF form. Trammell came away from the Futures Game with some Hardware and some notoriety as well: he celebrated a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning by flashing two fingers at the dugout, to represent his second bomb of the game, only it didn't actually clear the wall. He wasn't nearly as dynamic during his season in the FSL. We know there's clear star potential here, but whether he reaches that ceiling depends on how much consistency he can show on a game-to-game or week-to-week basis. 2018 Though Trammell was drafted 35th overall in 2016, he was more highly regarded than that and was paid accordingly—his $3.2 million bonus was more than the recommended slot for the 12th overall pick. The outfield prospect is always going to get by mostly on his athleticism, which led him to cross the 40-steal plateau at an efficient rate. However, the bat will determine whether he lives up to his tools, and he has done nothing in his two years in the minors to show that he can't make the most of his talent. Odd draft quirks allowed the Reds to pick Trammell relatively late, and so far he looks like a bargain. 2017 When the Reds drafted Nick Senzel higher than expected last June, it was with an eye toward spending less than the bonus pool system allotted to that pick and nabbing big talent later on. With the first pick in the competitive-balance round (35th overall), Cincinnati took Trammell, then paid him $3.2 million—or roughly the slot value of the 12th pick. He spent the summer raking in the Pioneer League. He's a tremendous athlete with a sound approach at the plate, and there's power projection in his swing and his frame. There's work to do, but the upside is huge. It's not so much that the Reds got a steal by drafting Trammell where they did, as that the broken system that is the draft dropped him into their laps.
Dude is 27 year old. He's not some raw prospect just waiting for coaching to unlock. We tried that, just this year, with Brendan Rodgers. Reminds me of the Rockets trying to unlock every failed draft prospect from the 2009 draft. At least Hasheem Thabeet was only 23 when they tried to "fix" him.
This is also a franchise that is willing to gamble on older players. Ronel Blanco was 30 last year. Dubon essentially wasn't a net positive player until 28.
MRI? This is the Astros. They said it's "just a matter of pain tolerance" and they plan on having him out running sprints today or tomorrow as part of his rehab.
Dubon was a 0.6 WAR player in his first big league season, with 111 PA. That's a 3 WAR pace if he'd played regularly. He was 25. Second year he was 1.0 WAR in 177 PA. Not a good comparison, at all. Trammel is a failed prospect with negative WAR through 400+ PA in his career. Lots of prospects fail. In Trammell's case it's because he's never learned to make solid contact. This year his wiff % is one of the worst in the league and he's striking out 30% percent of the time. That's down from 35%+ for his career. He's hitting it harder than before with the tradeoff being that he hits them directly into the ground with a 10% launch angle.
Not in Houston though. They will fly him to Florida, then have him sprint, then shoot a cannon at him to test his reflexes, then bury him 6’ under, then call it day-to-day.
He had a nice day yesterday for sure But dude is striking out 36% of the time. 14K's and 8 Hits Of course that's better than Hummel's 39% but damn, when we are already needing to play Short and his 39%, just hard to compete with that many at bats not even putting the ball in play. I know Chas hasn't been any good, but he also has only started back to back games 3 times all year, and has not started 3 straight at any point. Sure would be nice to see him start 5-6 games in a row and see if he could get in any kind of a groove. We don't need him to be 2022 Chas, we just need him to be a little below average mlb hitter to be a drastic improvement to the lineup right now
ESPN article ranking trade deadline candidates w/ speculation on likely team interest: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id...deadline-candidates-alex-bregman-jarren-duran
I could really like a Bubic/Lugo conversation. Let Bubic piggy back with McCullers and keep Gusto for long relief. Keep all three of their innings down. Everyone seems worried about Bubic and his usage . . . but we seem like a team that could really benefit from his arm and could keep his innings under control as we get guys coming back. Not sure what we give up . . . but that's some pasta that could stick to the wall.
It’s a grade 2 sprain at least (I’d bet) which is 8 weeks. 8 weeks from now is the last week of the season. All the minors are shut down. also- he’s sort of fat so that probably doesn’t speak well to his body being a quick healer. also- it could be worse than a grade 2 and the way he was jumping on one leg to 1st base and how they said “it’s bad” immediately after I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a tear. Which is 6 months. other than that, sure- pencil him into the post season lineup. This org is awesome at getting guys back on time and on schedule if not earlier than expected!
Boob Itch velocity was down a few mph yesterday and his results haven't been as good recently. Has the smell of a guy who might be about to miss a little time
yeah . . . i think he had a stomach bug over the weekend. kinda why i was thinking threeish innings might work well for him for a few months. dunno.
Could we pick up E Saurez and move him to either him or Paredes to second base? I know he's not left handed but a hitter is a hitter.
Paredes can play 2B next year when he’s back. Seriously, anyone betting on him being back and ready to be good in the playoffs is betting on a coin flip.
