Mariners outfielder Taylor Trammell will have surgery on his right hand to repair a broken hamate bone, reports Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. Trammell will be out of action for seven or more weeks, per Corey Brock of The Athletic. Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto tells Divish that Trammell was struck on the hand during a workout.
Trammell, 25, was once one of the most highly-touted prospects in baseball but has yet to deliver on his promise in the big leagues thus far. Originally drafted by the Reds, he has twice switched organizations in significant trades. He went to the Padres in the 2019 deal that sent Trevor Bauer to the Reds and Yasiel Puig to Cleveland, then went to the Mariners in the 2020 trade that also sent Ty France and Andrés Muñoz to Seattle.
Trammell was able to make his MLB debut in 2021 but wasn’t able to hit the ground running, striking out in 42.1% of his plate appearances. Last year, he dealt with a hamstring strain for much of the time, only getting into 43 major league contests and 22 more in Triple-A. There were some signs of optimism, as his 28.2% strikeout rate was still above average but a noticeable improvement from the year prior. He also walked in a strong 11.1% of his trips to the plate. In those Triple-A games, he only struck out 17.3% of the time and hit .333/.408/.575 for a wRC+ of 144.
The outfield in Seattle figures to be different this year compared to last. Jesse Winker was traded to the Brewers, Mitch Haniger departed via free agency and Teoscar Hernández was acquired in a trade with the Blue Jays. Hernandez and Julio Rodríguez figure to be in right and center field, respectively, but left field was open for someone like Trammell. AJ Pollock was brought signed to be the short side of a platoon but Trammell and Jarred Kelenic, who both hit left-handed, were going to be competing to be on the strong side.
Opening Day is now about six weeks away, so Trammell now seems destined to miss at least some of the regular season. That opens the possibility that Kelenic gets another stretch of time in the club’s lineup, though he has faced similar struggles. Despite hitting .302/.372/.574 in 537 Triple-A plate appearances for a wRC+ of 128, his major league batting line is .168/.251/.338 for a wRC+ of 68 in 558 trips to the plate.
Should Kelenic continue to struggle against major league pitching, it seems he’ll face another competitor in Cade Marlowe. Dipoto tells Daniel Kramer of MLB.com that Marlowe could now figure more prominently in the competition. The young outfielder, 26 in June, had a solid year at the plate last year in the minors, hitting .287/.377/.487. That amounted to a 120 wRC+ and he added 42 stolen bases to boot. Most of that came at Double-A with a 13-game stint at Triple-A to finish the season. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November to protect him from selection in the Rule 5 draft.
Though it’s possible Trammell doesn’t miss much of the regular season, it’s surely a frustrating start to his 2023 on a personal level after he missed so much time last year. For the club, their outfield competition has lost one option, but they will hope that one of Kelenic or Marlowe can step up.
Not good for Taylor. Poor kid is really talented and needs a legit, regular ab audition. But I’d be surprised to see him make the club out of camp now.
He obviously won’t make the club out of camp because he’s out for 7 weeks
Especially since the surgery will keep him out of action until at least mid-April.
I didn’t word my post very well, the point being that he needed a good spring to really earn his spot, and now that opportunity is gone. He will probably spend a lot of time in Tacoma and maybe get a shot over the summer after some injuries/doubleheaders/etc. I still think they want to give him chances to contribute this year. But he also could very well have seen his last days as a Mariner….he will need to hit the ground running once he comes back and get that bat up to par. If he struggles to do that, we may never see him again
Yeah this is a make or break year for him in regards to the Mariners at least.
Pretty sure they won’t be missing his bat so he can take all the time he needs for recovery,
I have always felt sorry for Taylor Trammell. Never really got going
Some guys just don’t make it. You have to get some good breaks, and fewer broken bones. . . .
Let’s hope Trammell breaks the curse of his 2019 trade. It’s safe to say that the other two players involved won’t return before him…
Gruß,
BSHH
Interesting….so they’re repairing the bone instead of excising it?
Jerry said they were going to pull it out the other day…yet everyones says the repair talk. Jerry says closer to 3 weeks than the 6 week media talk. Jerry says nothing about the minors and talks about TT being in competition for the left field platoon roster spot. Then others have TT going down.
Jerry gives the guys he likes a long look…
Even if Trammell completely busts, I think it is still safe to say that the Mariners won that trade by a LOT.
Oh man, you got that right. Just with Ty Frances 2 seasons and Munoz 1 season last year; based on that alone the deal is already a total robbery. And we are still counting the return.
And Padres fans said as much at the time too, but Preller had his pants around his ankles and a nose full of coke, so what could we do? I wish we’d kept Ty, he’s such a lovely guy.
The Pads lost that trade. But they miss none of those guys more than they need Nola right now.
That was a unnecessary trade AJ probably loves the Mariners and wanted to hook them up.
That bone never heals completely. That’s a life injury. Poor kid.
I wonder why they don’t take that bone out in HS. They don’t know what it does except get hurt and need surgery. I say that mostly in jest but it is an odd bone. Has no known function and players lose nothing when removed.
We had a run of those injuries awhile back 3 I think it was. Maybe not a run but enough to be a nuisance. Hope he heals fast and rakes in AAA so he will be a good trade chip.
I hate when he strikes out and walks back to the dugout like he is going to get the newspaper. No emotion at all. If it is a bad k looking or he swings at a bad pitch nada. I know it might be a good thing but hit your hand with your bat show a little emotion.
Imagine Haniger in LF, Rodriguez in CF and Hernandez in RF …….if Haniger stays healthy the M’s have no one to blame but themselves.
Haniger is in San Francisco. I don’t think his health really affects or concerns the Mariners anymore.
That’s a pretty big if based on the last few years, and I’m as much a fan of him as anyone.
The Mariners should have re-signed Haniger, is the point. Signing one of the big 3 shortstops may have been a stretch for them, but bringing Haniger back was completely realistic and doable. Their one biggest remaining need is one more middle of the order bat, and he was one of the better values among hitters available in free agency, in part due to his health issues. There’s plenty of risk with him due to that, but if he stays healthy his contract with the Giants could go down as quite team friendly. There’s no reason the Mariners couldn’t have brought him back, especially when he openly wanted to return and was considered a clubhouse leader. The Mariners are going to be good, but they would have been that much better with Haniger.
Show me the money.
Hummel is more likely to get the gig in left before Marlowe. Hummel’s a switch-hitter, already on the 40, and has more AAA seasoning. They’ve both struggled a bit with strike outs, but Hummel doesn’t have splits. He would give Seattle a little more versatility, not to mention he could serve as an emergency catcher which would allow them to DH Raleigh vs. RHPs or Murphy vs. LHPs.
But imagine if Pollock or La Stella get injured, or in La Stella’s case, never gets back on track with the bat. Things could get desperate for Seattle real quick. They’re a contender that’s banking on a breakout with a left fielder and a rebound from a player who has struggled the last two seasons.
This is kind of a situation where they’re hoping for the best, but not well prepared for the worst.
I suspect they think Kelenic will be a lot better, which seems likely, but how good that is is still a question. A lot better than shouldn’t be on the team could still not be very good. I think theres a decent chance he ends up with a decent price even good career, but it’s not the situation a contender generally starts the season with.
I think they should have tried for a better person to split with him than Pollock, like an actual regular. That could still be a good platoon and makes sense as a platoon. I just feel like having him rotate the OF while giving the other guys PA at DH would allow him to play, but also not rely on him if he still doesn’t hit. Now the has to or that doesn’t work, unless Trammell breaks out. If he’s hitting and so is everyone else, they have trade captial at the deadline.
Pollock makes plenty of sense to face LHP if they’re bent on a platoon.
I’d simply prefer an established regular.
Same here
Kelenic is ckearly the favorite. Trammell was next in the pecking order, but Hummel wasn’t even mentioned in the post.
Hummel is versatile, I agree he’s next in line after Trammell, I do think the Mariners should have done more in the outfield. The Mariners are at the point they need to add good players. Hernandez was a good pickup, they could have used another player of of caliber at least. I get they have enough options to probably avoid a straight up blackhole out there, but there’s a really good chance they just run a string of 4th outfieldersn especially if Rodriguez or Hernandez miss any significant time.
I just thought a team that made the playoffs for the first time in a generation, with a paired down payroll and some real needs would have been active in free agency
I like Dipoto’s thinking on FAs. You build from minors and supplement from FA. Could they have gone out and got another player? Yes but who?
I think they are wanting to see if Kelenic can be the everyday guy. If they spent on an expensive FA they would have had to give him more playing time. I also don’t know who they would have gotten.
Hopefully they can get out of Kelenic most of his potential. If not they need to make the change before the trade deadline. I would think Kelenic will be preform or get a new voice. He needs to grow up some and relax. It all won’t be perfect.
My goodness, the Mariners have great pitching with excellent defense and you want to sign a free agent left fielder instead of Pollock who crushes LHP, and give up on a 23-year-old Kelenic? Some people see a team with “a lot of needs”, others see a roster loaded with great talent, enough to take the division and make it to the World Series.
Kelenic has had 558 PAs, has a 29.9 K%, a .168/.251/.338 slash line and a 68 wRC+. But I’m not suggesting ‘give up on him’, I’m suggesting they simply shouldn’t depend on him. Big difference between a regular role and a supporting role. Having him as the fourth outfielder, or giving him more time to work on his issues with breaking and offsepeed stuff from AAA wouldn’t have been a bad thing. In fact, that was probably Plan A. Budget restrictions put in place by Stanton likely forced Jerry & Justin to get creative.
Seattle’s offense has a projection of 4.24 runs per game. That’s the 7th worst and lower than what they actually averaged last year. You can argue projections don’t mean much, and I wouldn’t disagree, but they can still give you an idea of how teams stack up.
The problem for Seattle isn’t just their dependence on Kelenic breaking out, it’s that the fallback options have the same lack of success or simply have little or no experience. They’re also banking on a rebound from La Stella who had a miserable 2021 and 2021, largely due to injury. Pollock has his own injury history, Expecting him to take a larger role in the field if Kelenic struggles probably isn’t a real option. That’s two significant question marks in the lineup.
But the outfield and DH aren’t the only concerns. Wong was one of the worst second basemen defensively last season (OAA), so Seattle will not only be hoping he can rebound in the field, but hoping he can offer more range as the shift-ban goes into place. Fortunately, they have Perry Hill working with him, but it’s still something to watch.
All of this is a lot to ask from a number of players. So yes, I see holes that were filled loosely…cheaply. You’ll have to forgive me for wanting less question marks and more stability. It’s not just about what Seattle has done.
We can’t forget that the Rangers got better. They finally have an enviable rotation.
The Angels got deeper. They won’t be dependent on their versions of Kelenic and Trammell (Adell and Moniak)..
The Astros didn’t get worse. They arguably improved their offense with Abreu, which helps offset losing Verlander.
Then there are the other AL teams that added (Toronto, Minnesota, Cleveland) and/or will get better with players returning from the IL, such as Lowe, Franco, and Glasnow with Tampa, and top prospects with small samples of success last season getting larger roles, such as Henderson, Rodriguez & Hall. with Baltimore.. I’d add that Cleveland is on the verge of having a dominant rotation with Espino & Bibee set to debut soon.
Seattle is deep in pitching, especially RHRPs. That’s their strength. But there is a lot of uncertainty with the position players and the alternatives have notable flaws.
This isn’t a team that can realistically take the division and get to the World Series. It’s a fringe wild card team that needs a lot of things to go right.
And it’s not as simple as just adding at the deadline if necessary. They don’t have the chips to land stars, which limits them, and they have to consider the potential mess of an offseason they’ll be facing following the 2023 season. Teoscar, Pollock, La Stella, Wong, and Murphy are all due to hit free agency. Regardless of how they perform, that’s a lot of departures, barring extensions, and there are no clear internal options to serve as replacements. Not at the moment, anyway.
Had they added more solid veterans on multi-year deals via free agency, many of these questions & issues wouldn’t exist.
bloomquiest, it made little sense to hit the brakes now. They were just a couple of stars and an additional bat or two short of being a legitimate WS contender.
Right? There were plenty of options this offseason to shore up some of their needs. Even just keeping Haniger would have been better than expecting Kelenic to take a step forward and would help offset losing Hernandez. I don’t dislike their long term prognosis but not this approach. They are in a good position to make themselves into a powerhouse and decided to plug holes instead. I full expected a splash at least, and if not at least add aa regular in LF with a decent bat, like Haniger. Why we’re they so quite? I suspect the ownership has placed spending constraints on the front office. It sure looks that way.
Compassrose, they graduated two waves of prospects and swung huge trades that addressed several needs. I see a core of Castillo-Ray-Gilbert-Kirby-France-Raleigh-Rodríguez, with a strong bullpen centered around Muñoz and Sewald, and several solid bench players (Moore, Haggerty, Murphy). Suárez is pretty solid as well.
This was the time to add. They headed into the offseason with glaring holes in the OF corners, 2B and DH. There were many options. Nimmo might have been possible had Seattle been willing to give him another year. Benintendi would have raised the floor, even if his ceiling is limited. Brantley would have made a ton of sense as the DH/4th outfielder. Though I wasn’t keen on rebound projects, even Conforto made some sense as a DH/4th outfielder and he isn’t as far removed from success as La Stella. There was an argument to bring back Haniger as well, especially considering where they are now.
Seattle apparently valued a lower payroll, the hope of a breakout from Kelenic, and a rebound from La Stella more than spending on players that were more likely to push them over the top. Hopefully the gamble pays off, but there are so many variables and the lack of depth for the field makes them incredibly vulnerable to injury.
Fingers crossed.
I’m not 100% against being reserved in spending at this point but they should still have enough payroll flexibility to have added someone else even if they’re taking a reserved approach. They dont need to spend like the Mets but this feels more cheap than reserved.
I feel the same. I’m not even mad they ended up with Wong. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear Turner wasn’t staying on the west coast. Correa’s health even gave Cohen second thoughts, and neither Swanson or Bogaerts were great fits, in my opinion.
But failing to lock up a middle-infielder meant needing to go big in other areas.
They didn’t. They went cheap.
They very well could be holding out hope for Ohtani next offseason. But he wouldn’t address their OF or infield needs and it’s fair to wonder if he’d have confidence in Seattle’s willingness to do what it takes to get to the World Series. This offseason could be a showcase for future free agents, telling them what they can or should expect from Seattle’s ownership & front office.
I’ve wondered if we might see a deadline trade more for the future than a trade for 2023. That would be more of a reserved approach and we’ve seen that strategy from Jerry in the past with the acquisition of Gonzales, the San Diego trades, and even Toro, though that didn’t work out.
Seattle may not be able to get stars at the deadline, but they might be able to trade a player like Ford for an equally promising player who is MLB-ready, or projected for a 2024 debut. Given Seattle’s unwillingness to spend on most free agents, and the 2024 FA class being weaker, that might be a real possibility.
That may not have been a possibility this offseason, but it might be something to watch for in July.
Uh guys, if Teo gets most of his AB’s as a DH, who would be our right-fielder?? Remember Teo’s defense is not supposed to be his strong suit. They could move Pollock to RF and a Kelenic/Haggerty tandem in LF I suppose. It’s starting to dawn on me that we need another outfielder. Yikes.
I don’t think they want to use Pollock in the field more than Teoscar. I don’t think they want to use Haggerty in a traditional platoon role, either. They’ll probably have him at 2B against LHPs now and then, but they probably want to use his speed situationally..
Lot of limitations. They probably will need another outfielder.
There’s a real chance left field is a problem. I would hate to see them give up on Kelenic. Hernandez is a free agent next offseason. They could use Kelenic as a fourth OF until then. I think at least keeping Haniger made a ton of sense.
This was supposed to be a reply to letsplaytwo. The reply button acts weird sometimes
Are mariner fans still excited for kelenic or are you starting to lose your patients with him
I’m excited for him but I’m also well aware of the risk in relying on him. Even bigger prospects have busted. I think theres a real chance be ends up a good player despite that. He has the tools and minor league track record. I hate to see them sell low on them.