Watch: Mariners rookie OF Taylor Trammell blasts first MLB home run
Apr 10, 2021, 12:44 PM
Taylor Trammell's first MLB home run came against the Twins on Saturday. (Getty)
(Getty)
When Mariners rookie outfielder Taylor Trammell got to the plate against Minnesota Twins pitcher Michael Pineda in the third inning, he got an 88 mph pitch right over the heart of the plate on the second pitch of the at-bat. He didn’t miss.
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Trammell, Seattle’s starting center fielder to start the 2021 season with Kyle Lewis on the injured list, gave the Mariners an early lead with this big blast off Pineda, which was the first home run of Trammell’s young career.
Save that baseball! pic.twitter.com/u9uylZM4IY
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 10, 2021
According to Baseball Savant, Trammell’s home run had an exit velocity of 99 mph off of the bat. The ball traveled 371 feet into the right field seats.
Trammell entered Saturday’s contest hitting just .105 with three RBIs. He has been able to draw a fair share of walks (six) to start the season, but he’s showcased a lot of swing and miss in his game. Through Seattle’s first seven games, Trammell appeared in six of them and had 13 strikeouts in 25 plate appearances. (Note: These numbers are all prior to Trammell’s third-inning home run).
Trammell came to the Mariners last summer from the San Diego Padres in a trade deadline deal. Seattle is Trammell’s third team as he was a first-round draft pick by the Cincinnati Reds prior to being shipped to San Diego.
Entering spring training, Trammell was seen as a lock for Seattle’s alternate training site as the Mariners didn’t have a ton of opportunities to see him up close last year and the last time he’d played in meaningful games, he struggled in Double-A in 2019, slashing .234/.340/.349 with 122 strikeouts in 514 plate appearances.
But Trammell slashed .311/.392/.644 with three home runs, six doubles and nine RBIs during the spring and earned a spot on the Mariners’ opening day roster despite having no MLB experience. Trammell was expected to be Seattle’s everyday left fielder, but with Lewis on the injured list to start the season, Trammell has played center field for the Mariners so far.
Trammell made his MLB debut on opening day against the Giants and recorded his first hit, an RBI double, in Seattle’s third game of the season.
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