Prospect Pulse: Travis Taijeron Has Power To Spare

Outfielder Travis Taijeron was drafted by the New York Mets in 2011 out of Cal-Poly Pomona in the 18^th Round (552^nd Overall Pick). In his final season for Cal-Poly before being drafted, Taijeron hit .392 in 199 at-bats with 78 hits, 20 doubles, 16 home runs, 51 RBIs and .534 on-base percentage. After leading the conference in almost every offensive category, Taijeron was named the 2010-11 California Collegiate Athletic Association Male Athlete of the Year and named to NCAA Division II All American Team.

He signed on June 15, 2011 very quickly after being drafted and since he was right out of college, he was placed on the Brooklyn Cyclones roster.

As a Cyclone, Taijeron hit .299 in 56 games with 13 doubles, nine home runs, and 44 RBI. He earned three honors while playing for Brooklyn: New York Penn League Player of Week on August 1, 2011, New York Penn Mid- Season All Star, and was named to MinorLeagueBaseball.com New York Mets Organization All Star team. Due to his advancement and success at Brooklyn, Taijeron made the Savannah Sand Gnats 2012 Opening Day Roster.

Beginning the season at Savannah, Taijeron hit .291 over 64 games with 17 doubles, 12 home runs, and 44 RBI with a .401 on-base percentage. He earned SAL Player of the Week on May 7 and was named a South Atlantic League Mid-Season All Star. This led to a promotion for him following the South Atlantic League All Star game.

While with St Lucie thus far, the right-handed slugger has continued to show power, hitting four home runs over his first 19 games there, but has struggled with his average, hitting only .225 entering tonight’s game. Taijeron has continued to show his good eye at the plate earning 11 walks over 21 games for a .353 on base percentage and his .452 slugging is still impressive.

Our own Pete Shapiro ask Taijeron about his approach and what he was looking to work on this season in an interview he did earlier this year. “I understand that I need to cut down on my strikeouts and I have been working on that most of this off-season”, Taijeron said.

“I personally I think that I am a power hitter and I like it when there are people on base. I try my hardest when someone is on base to score them no matter what it takes. I enjoy the pressure especially with runners in scoring position. This off season I have been working most on my strike zone judgment, I believe I was swinging at a lot of bad pitches that I should not have been swinging at and getting myself out. This next year I want to make the pitcher really earn it to get me out.”

You can read the rest of Pete’s interview here.

For Taijeron to continue to excel, he must continue to hit for a high average with the continued high input of power. Taijeron is already 23 years old and for him to make a name for himself in the Mets system, the power and average must be there. A guess would say Taijeron will spend the remainder of 2012 in St. Lucie and if he can get his average around .260-.280 by the end of the season, he may begin 2013 in Double A Binghamton; if not, he will repeat St. Lucie to begin 2013.