As the calendar turns from July into August, teams are starting to gel and take shape for the last two months of the regular season.
The Houston Astros have been playing great baseball, and Lamont Wade jr recently told MLBbro that “it’s a close-knit team with a good mix of clubhouse guys.”
One of those guys in the clubhouse to take note of is Taylor Trammell.
Trammell, now in his second year with the Astros and his fourth Major League team, knows how to handle roster movement.
“Earlier in my career I used to think a lot about it. Going through all of it, I figured out how to keep things as simple as possible,” Trammell told MLBbro about staying professional through being traded, being designated for assignment, and being picked up on waivers through various points of his career. “I do the little things day by day, and big things happen. You look up, and you’re six years into the Major Leagues.”
The Astros post a winning record and are always in the hunt for a playoff spot.
“I think it starts from the top down. Dana [Brown] has put the right guys in the right position to execute that,” Trammell said about the general manager of the team who has been at the helm since the beginning of the 2023 season.
Brown is also the only black general manager in Major League Baseball and the first since Dave Stewart, who was in charge of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2016.
“Our coaches and players are constantly thinking about what we can do to get the job done,” he mentioned.
Trammell was the 35th overall pick in the 2016 draft by the Cincinnati Reds. He was traded twice before he made his Major League debut in 2021 with the Seattle Mariners, and since then hasn’t become a regular in the starting lineup.
“I’m a great baseball player, and no one can tell me any different,” he confidently stated. “I’ve known it, seen it, shown it, and now it’s about going out there and doing it every day.”
One of the good moments he showed occurred on May 27, 2022, as a member of the Mariners.
“Hitting a homer off of [Justin] Verlander. I grew up watching this guy, got a good pitch to hit, put a good swing on it, and it came full circle,” the 28-year-old recalled.
Players aren’t away from the ballpark often, but when Trammell is, he makes the most of it.
“We go around and explore various towns, coffee shops, niche things like that are what we like to do,”
Trammell concluded with MLBbro about what he and his wife enjoy doing when family time allows.
Through the first weekend of August, the Astros are sitting atop the American League West division, and Trammell already has a career high in games played and hits this season. Whether he is in the starting lineup or coming off of the bench, expect to see Trammell post a few more career highs during the final two months of the regular season as the Astros look to make the playoffs.
