Trammell goes yard on breakout night

Since switching organizations at the end of July, Taylor Trammell has been looking for answers at the plate. It appears he's starting to find them after making sure he's doing the little things.
The second-ranked Padres prospect homered in his first three-hit game in the Texas League as Double-A Amarillo rolled to a 15-6 thumping of Arkansas on Friday at Hodgetown.

After drawing a five-pitch walk from Mariners No. 24 prospect Ricardo Sánchez (8-12) in the first inning, Trammell lined out to right field in the second. He got going in the fifth by sending a 2-2 offering from Bernie Martinez to right for a single.
"Getting on base, that's one of my biggest things," Trammell said. "Obviously, I have goals but I have to be realistic and fight towards them. I do feel like I got an extra boost because my family was in town."
MLB.com's No. 28 overall prospect got to Martinez again in the sixth. After a seven-pitch battle, he ripped the right-hander's pitch to center for a double, then scored on Padres No. 18 prospect Edward Olivares' 18th roundtripper of the season. 
With first baseman Nick Zammarelli III pitching the eighth for Arkansas, Trammell blasted his ninth long ball of the season -- and third since joining the Sod Poodles -- over the center-field fence to extend Amarillo's lead to 12-5. 
"I was dialed in," Trammell said of his at-bat against Zammarelli. "I looked at the scoreboard and saw that he was pitching pretty hard for a position player, like 88 to 90 mph. He had good mechanics and good stuff. He had some nice backspin on the ball. It really didn't feel like a position player pitching; he looked really good. I had to dial in and not give up an at-bat." 
Padres No. 11 prospect Owen Miller went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, while 12th-ranked Hudson Potts added two hits, an RBI and a run scored. Buddy Reed, ranked 26th in the San Diego system, blasted his 14th tater and Kyle Overstreet doubled twice, singled and drove in four runs. 
"You look at these guys," Trammell said of his team's 18-hit night. "They've been playing hard. The last series we had some balls that weren't dropping. Tonight, they started to fall. It's always nice to be rewarded in these types of games, but you never want to waste any at-bats." 
Gameday box score
Trammell raised his batting average with the Sod Poodles 21 points, to .213.
"This isn't the kind of season I've wanted, but I can honestly say, every single day I've competed my tail off and strung together some good at-bats," the two-time Futures Game selection noted. "You have to do the little things when you're not getting balls to fall. You have to do something on the field and the basepaths differently.
"I've found out a lot about myself this season, but I haven't given up on my teammates. If I can't get it done at the plate, I'm going to get it done on the field for those guys on the mound. They [pitchers] are fighting for their position. It would be very selfish of me to go out there and pout. You can give yourself a minute to be upset, but then you have to flush it."
Despite his numbers, Trammell has one thing on his mind: a championship ring.
"I want to finish the year strong," he said. "But we have three games left and I'm seeing how I can take my momentum into the playoffs, because at the end of the day, we are trying to get a ring. Honestly, the regular season doesn't matter, because once the playoffs hit ... everyone's batting average goes down to zero and the stats reset. So, get after it and win a ring."
San Diego acquired Trammell from the Reds as part of the three-team deal involving Trevor Bauer and Yasiel Puig at the July 31 Trade Deadline.
"I was in left field and they called me out of the game," Trammell recalled. "My manager [Pat Kelly] said, 'Congratulations, you've been traded.' I said, 'What?' He said, 'Yeah, you've been traded. I have to get you off the field.'"
Trammell said the trade caught him off guard for a couple minutes.
"I came out in the top of the ninth, me and Scott Moss, who also got traded later on, were talking and trying to figure out where I was going. I didn't want to know anything until I got into the locker room. Once the game ended and we won, I spoke to Tyler Stephenson. He said, 'Just give it to me.' I told him I had no clue where I was going, but I was about to find out."

"It's funny because that was the night of the whole [Reds-Pirates] brawl. I went into the locker room, everyone was huddled around the TV looking to see where I was going. We were all seeing the brawl happening. Puig was out there and I'm like, 'What in the world is going on?' I decided to check my phone and saw multiple texts and notifications. I called my agent right away and he told me I was headed to the Padres. I gained some respect for Puig, that he was backing up his teammates even though he got traded. He was going out to war with his brothers."
The 35th overall selection by Cincinnati in the 2016 Draft was estatic when he found out he was traded to San Diego.
"I've played against some of the guys in the organization when I played in Arizona [Fall League] and when I was in Low-A," he said. "The first call I received was from Padres GM A.J. Preller. He told me I was heading to Amarillo, Texas, to play there for the rest of the season and go from there. He told me to just play my game and not worry about anything. Be free, don't worry about the ups and downs and just have fun."
Evan White, MLB.com's No. 71 overall prospect, launched his 17th and 18th homers for the Travelers.