Taylor Trammell has had an interesting season so far, to say the least.
Despite never playing above Double-A, Trammell made the Seattle Mariners opening day roster due to a tremendous showing in the Cactus League. When Jake Fraley went down with an injury in early April, Trammell found himself with more playing time in Seattle.
Trammell had tremendous difficulty making contact in the majors, but when he did he showed power and potential. But the strikeouts really piled up, and he was sent to Tacoma when Jarred Kelenic was deemed ready for the big leagues.
Trammell joined the Rainiers on Thursday here in Salt Lake City, and it’s been a lazer show since the moment he arrived. Trammell has gone 11-for-18 at the plate, with three home runs, hitting line drives all over the place. Most importantly, he’s been putting the ball in play with only three strikeouts (and two walks).
The Salt Lake pitching staff has not shown the velocity that Trammell faced in the majors, topping out in the mid-90s rather than upper-90s, but this experience should be good for his confidence as he has been able to put the ball in play far more frequently.
It appears that Trammell is going to get a chance to get a couple hundred Triple-A at-bats and really get right, but with the Mariners voodoo doll causing injuries left and right, who knows?
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Odd game for the Rainiers pitching staff on Sunday – check out these numbers.
Tacoma pitchers – there were six of them on a bullpen day – struck out a season-best 17 batters. They did this in just eight innings pitched, since the Rainiers lost on the road and there was no bottom of the ninth.
They also allowed four homers among eight total hits, and walked six.
Look at it this way: Salt Lake went 8-for-32 (.250) at the plate, with 17 strikeouts. However, when the Bees actually hit the ball they went 8-for-15 (.467) with four homers, doing a ton of damage to win the game.
I have no idea what to make of that, and I think Rainiers pitching coach Rob Marcello and Mariners pitching coordinator Max Weiner are probably scratching their heads as well. It’s weird.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Salt Lake outfielder Scott Schebler hit three home runs in the Bees 8-7 win over the Rainiers. Schebler, who hit 30 homers in the majors for Cincinnati in 2017, is the 14th player in Salt Lake franchise history to hit three dingers in one game (we saw current Angles first baseman Jared Walsh do it against the Rainiers a couple years ago). Tacoma was down 7-0 in the third inning and put together an impressive comeback bid that came up one run short.
TODAY: Tacoma (4-6) at Salt Lake (4-6), 5:35 PT.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Los Angeles Angels.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Lou Marson.
SEASON SERIES: Salt Lake leads, 3-1.
PITCHERS: LHP Ben Onyshko (0-0, 7.94) at RHP Jake Faria (0-1, 3.86)
Another bullpen day for the Rainiers. Onyshko joined the Rainiers from Advanced-A Everett at the start of the season and has shown a good breaking ball which has a chance to be successful against the heavily left-handed Salt Lake lineup.
HOT HITTERS: Taylor Trammell has gone 11-for-18 with three homers in four games since joining the Rainiers… Cal Raleigh has four hits and four walks over the first three games in this series, and he hit his second career triple on Saturday night… Jose Godoy is looking like a solid back-up catcher with a big bat, which is a luxury. He has hit safely in four of five games, with two homers. Managers generally don’t like to have both of their catchers in the lineup at the same time (one catching, one DH) due to injury concerns, but the Rainiers have already done it a couple times and Negron will be tempted to do it more.
OPPONENT NEWS: Salt Lake has the Angels top prospect Jo Adell on the roster… another highly-rated outfield prospect joined the Bees on Thursday night: Brandon Marsh… infielder Kean Wong has opened the season with a nine-game hitting streak… Anthony Bemboom has gone 6-for-15 with three homers in this series.
BROADCAST: All games will be broadcast free on a live audio stream which is available right here.
As in the past, a streaming HD telecast is available through MiLB.TV. It’s a subscription service, but it’s just a one-time payment that gets you thousands of games from all levels of the minor leagues, including all 120 Tacoma Rainiers games home and away. That same link above has details on how to get it if you scroll down the page – there’s even a discount code.
Unfortunately, there is no traditional terrestrial radio station carrying the games at this time.
TRIPLE-A WEST SCOREBOARD: Follow all league games in real-time with links to Gameday screens right here.
STORIES YOU MIGHT LIKE:
- The Mariners are playing better, yes, and now they are beating Shane Beiber. That’s three straight wins for the M’s.
- The Seattle Times has an update on the Mariners injured list, which is depressing on the whole, but does have some encouraging information in it. We could start getting some rehabilitation assignments in Tacoma soon.
- The News Tribune has a Mariners update covering events of the past few days, including a minor league report.
- Fangraphs posted its Mariners Top Prospects feature.
- Baseball America’s weekly Prospect Hot Sheet includes three Mariners.
Listen to every home and away Tacoma Rainiers game for free HERE. You can also download the MiLB First Pitch app for a free and easy one-click listening experience at home, work or in your car. Watch an HD video broadcast of every game with an MiLB.TV subscription. Use code: RAINIERS to save $10 on an annual subscription.
About the Tacoma Rainiers
The Tacoma Rainiers are the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The Rainiers are a member of the Triple-A West. Tacoma has been a Mariners affiliate since establishing the Rainiers moniker in 1995.
Find more information and purchase single game tickets here. Questions regarding season tickets can be directed to Tickets@WeRTacoma.com.
The most up-to-date news and notes about the Tacoma Rainiers and Cheney Stadium can be found at WeRTacoma.com, or by following the Rainiers on Twitter (@RainiersLand), Instagram (@tacomarainiers) and liking the team on Facebook.
We R Tacoma Team Store
The We R Tacoma Team Store is currently open Monday-Friday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. (non-game days) or until the end of the game on home game days. Team Store purchases can also be made online 24/7. Grab your Rainiers gear, your Defiance ‘fit, and follow the team store on Instagram and Twitter.
September 21, 2023