As Roster Expansion Approaches, Will Mariners Pick Kyle Lewis or Taylor Trammell?
With roster expansion looming, the playoff hopeful Mariners may have to choose between former highly-regarded prospects, Taylor Trammell and Kyle Lewis. Both players have missed time due to injury this year, but have had some bright moments in limited action as well.
Which of them should Seattle choose in September? Let's take a look.
The Case For Taylor Trammell
The No. 1 advantage for Trammell is his speed and athleticism. With below-average defenders like Jesse Winker and Mitch Haniger on the roster, Trammell could fill in as a late-inning defensive replacement for either veteran.
Trammell has hit this year, especially off of right-handed pitchers. A small sample size of 79 plate appearances may not mean much, but the former top prospect is carrying an .826 OPS against righties this year. He does not fare quite as well against southpaws, however, sporting just a .527 OPS.
This could play well into Trammell being used in a platoon with Winker, who has surprisingly performed much better against lefties this season. While Trammell's hamstring has kept him out of action for most of the season, the limited sample has seen improvements in contact rate and overall discipline.
Taylor Trammell to dead center! pic.twitter.com/iG4S1Ya9sG
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 14, 2022
Trammell is also a true center fielder, one thing that has been scarce on this roster this season outside of Julio Rodríguez. Trammell's ability to play plus defense at all three spots could help in the late innings, improving run prevention over the likes of Winker (-10 DRS this season) and others.
The Case For Kyle Lewis
Lewis was the 2020 Rookie of the Year in the American League and has always been known as a special hitter with advanced power. Unfortunately, injuries have forced him out of action for most of the past two seasons, and sapped him of some of his tools.
Lewis won Rookie of the Year as a center fielder, a position he will likely never see again at the big league level. His knee has not allowed him to be the same type of athlete as before, thus greatly diminishing his value.
The 27-year old outfielder still carries the ability to be an above average bat but we have not seen it this season. In 62 plate appearances, Lewis is slashing just .143/.226/.304, which is a far cry from the player we have seen in the past
Pre-concussion, we saw some flashes of the old Kyle Lewis, showing power to all fields. Since then, however, we have seen his contact skills dissipate, and the swing and miss increased a ton after being activated off the IL.
Kyle Lewis Batflip Cam: pic.twitter.com/cwSB89WjyO
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) May 29, 2022
We need to see a ton more of this in Tacoma, as well as the ability to play more often to justify a spot on the roster.
Overall, Lewis has the higher upside bat, and if he could DH four to five times a week he could be valuable to this team if he is hitting. However, the knee injury has ruined a lot of his tools, and he cannot play the outfield on any sort of regular basis, leading to less roster flexibility.
Conclusion
It is tempting to want Lewis on this roster. He was once an electrifying player with a very solid bat that could have contributed to this team.
However, Trammell is the right answer for the Mariners. His value both defensively and on the base paths, as well as his success versus right-handed pitching, outweighs that of the upside in Lewis' bat.
Lewis offers nothing defensively and while his bat could be impactful, it seems to be far from what it was even at the beginning of last season. The bigger issue with adding Lewis is his availability.
At most, he may only be able to play two or three times a week for Seattle, which is hard to justify for a team trying to compete. If his bat heats up down in Tacoma, it is certainly possible the Mariners could try to DH him as much as they can, but they have not been willing to let one player exclusively use that spot this season.
In the end, it seems these two players are trending in opposite directions. Trammell looks like a guy who could be a big league regular as soon as next year with continued development, and Lewis seems to be tailing away from that status.
Lewis is an extremely exciting bat when he is healthy and seeing the ball well, but neither is the case right now and Seattle has no time to waste. Trammell, meanwhile, can offer this team a lot down the stretch and should be a no-brainer for the Mariners when rosters expand on September 1.
