Sam Travis

Snodgrass'Muff

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DOB: 8/27/93
Height: 6'
Weight: 220 lbs.
High School: Providence Catholic
College: Indiana
First Drafted by: Reds, round 40, 2011
Drafted by Red Sox: Round 2, 67th overall
Signed for: $846,800.00
Slot: $846,800.00
Position: 3B (Most speculation is that he'll move to 1st)
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/samtrav6
Indiana University Player Page: http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/sam_travis_779957.html
Awards: 2012 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, 2012 Perfect Game Freshmen All American Squad Selection, Big Ten All Freshmen Squad Unanimous Selection, Big Ten Player of the Week on March 26th and April 2nd and Freshman of the Week in both those weeks as well as April 7th.  2013 Second Team All Big Ten, Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player, NCAA Bloomington Regional Most Outstanding Player, Big Ten Player of the Week February 18th and April 1st.  2014 Awards not posted yet.
 
BA Scouting Report:
 
Travis bloomed late in his high school career, belting 17 home runs to lead his team to a state runner-up berth. The Reds drafted him in the 40th round but he chose to attend Indiana, where he became a three-year starter. All he has done in three years is hit, though he’s also moved down the defensive spectrum from third to first base. A career .333 hitter with 29 home runs for Indiana, not even a broken hamate in his right hand could slow him down while helping the Hoosiers reach the College World Series in 2013. Travis, who also hit .339 with power in the Cape Cod League in 2012, doesn’t profile well as a 6-foot, 220-pound righthanded-hitting first baseman. Travis’ approach stands out, as he walks as much as he strikes out (which isn’t often) and impresses scouts with his line-drive batting-practice approach. He’s strong enough to drive the ball to all fields and has shown pull power, out-homering teammate Kyle Schwarber this season. A team that drafts Travis is buying a bat, though he is a sure-handed but not flashy defender at first and fringe-average runner.
 
MLB.com scouting video: http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/67565098/v32290725/draft-report-sam-travis-college-first-baseman
 
Here is some video of him hitting for Team USA.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAfUpVYl_Qk
 
And here's Sam showcasing some of that pull power.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtBKJ1nLScM
 
There is a little bit of Kevin Youkilis in that swing.
 

BosRedSox5

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I know it's just meaningless scout speak, but he just looks like a ballplayer. No batting gloves, eye black, his demeanor. He just looks like an old school dirtdog. I've got the imagine that if the Sox took a short first baseman with limited other defensive options than they must really like his bat. Good plate discipline, a solid stance, a short load in his swing and he makes solid contact. I can't wait to see where he ends up. 
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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Making his debut tonight for the Spinners against the Connecticut Tigers at Dodd Stadium for any Nutmeg sosher's who might be interested.
 
https://twitter.com/LowellSpinners/status/479350213170044928
 

pokey_reese

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BosRedSox5 said:
I know it's just meaningless scout speak, but he just looks like a ballplayer. No batting gloves, eye black, his demeanor. He just looks like an old school dirtdog. I've got the imagine that if the Sox took a short first baseman with limited other defensive options than they must really like his bat. Good plate discipline, a solid stance, a short load in his swing and he makes solid contact. I can't wait to see where he ends up. 
Sounds like Miles Head, who has plateaued a bit in the OAK organization.  I hope that this one turns out better, certainly has a better draft spot.
 

mabrowndog

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As happens in the Cape League year after year, one can expect an adjustment period of 2 to 3 weeks for most newly-signed college hitting prospects as they're swinging wood bats after months of metal bat use -- especially as they're seeing higher-caliber pitching overall than they've faced in the NCAA.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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Congratulations to Sam for collecting his first professional hit, a single on Sunday against the Tri-City Valley Cats.
 
Next stop, Cooperstown!
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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Sam went 2-4 last night with a double and a run scored.  It's his first multi-hit game and his first extra base hit.  They are in the 3rd inning tonight and he's 0-2 so far, but it's nice to see him flash a little bit of that bat he was drafted for last night.
 

knucklecup

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954 career OPS versus Schwarber at 1044 while at IU.  I watched these two for years and long term, unless Schwarber can stick at catcher, I'm not sure they're that far a part from eachother as far as overall potential goes if they both end up at first base.
 
Maybe Theo just fell in love and he would have gone late first if the Cubs hadnt scooped him up, but this is great value for the Red Sox here.
 

mabrowndog

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Snodgrass'Muff said:
And he hit his first home run last night.  He's 6 for his last 18 and last night's 3-5 bumped his average up 69 points to .229.  Hopefully this is a start of a nice little streak for him.
 
He pretty much destroyed Vermont in the weekend series. 1-for-4 with 2 RBI and a run on Saturday, and another 3-for-5 yesterday with a HR, 2 RBI and 2 R. For the three games, he was 7-for-14, 2 HR, 5 R and 6 RBI.
 
Seemingly the only drawbacks for him so far in his very young career:
 
* He's yet to draw a walk in 44 trips to the plate. Then again he's only struck out 6 times (13.6%).
 
* He's still sowing his oats vs RHP (8-for-37, 5 K, .216 BA, .216 OBP .324 SLG).
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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Thanks for the update.  I was about to check his game logs.  He appears to be adjusting to the wood bat quickly and that's a very good sign.  Long way to go and all that, but I'm excited about him.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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Sam has been hitting a little better of late.  His season line is up to 288/321/384 with a 106 wRC+.  Since June 26th, he's actually been raking a bit.  His first multi-hit game was June 27th.  Using that as a starting point and looking at him through yesterday's game he's hitting 326/366/442.  So it appears that he need a week or so to get settled in and has been doing just fine ever since.
 
He's still doing most of his damage against left handed pitchers, but he has his slash line up to 260/306/315 against righties.  It was at 216/216/324 at the time of mabrowndog's update at the end of June.
 

OptimusPapi

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Given that we gave Gomes two years and ten million I would be fine if he turn into a lefty masher, though I obviously hopeful for more
 

mabrowndog

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After putting up a .333/.364/.448/.813 line in 174 PA over his first 40 pro games with Lowell, Sam's been promoted to low-A Greenville. His last 17 games for the Spinners: .419/.434/.581/1.015 in 76 PA.
 
I said in the Draft Day game thread that he could have been assigned to the Drive right after signing and handled that level just fine, but I have no quarrel with the club for exercising patience and restraint. I also know some observers might be worried about the dearth of walks (just 4 in those 174 PA), but I'm not concerned. He's gotten ahead in most of his counts, so the batting eye is there. He's certainly had the benefit of some BABIP luck (.357), with an 18% LD rate and 50.7% on ground balls, but he's also been hitting the ball pretty hard by most accounts -- which is consistent with how he hit for Indiana and in wood bat summer leagues. Those grounders aren't all slow rollers through the hole that barely elude fielders.
 

mabrowndog

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Travis goes 3-for-4 with a run scored in his Greenville debut. He might have had an RBI on his first-inning double, but Wendell Rijo was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first base.
 

mabrowndog

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Alex Speier
 
 
First baseman Sam Travis continued to mash in Greenville, going 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and a walk. In his first five games with the Drive, he’s 9-for-19 with four doubles, three walks and three strikeouts, good for a .474/.545/.684 line. Dating to his time in Lowell, the 20-year-old — taken in the second round of this year’s draft — has an 11-game hitting streak that features seven multi-hit games. In 45 games in his first pro summer, Travis is hitting .348/.385/.473 with 14 extra-base hits in 45 games.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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After a day off, Travis has gone into a mini-slump hitting 158/200/368 in his last five games. One of those hits is a home run bringing his season line to 325/362/453 with 5 HR, 35 RBI and 10 doubles over 52 games and two levels.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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So with the minor league regular season wrapping up, Sam Travis has had a great start to his pro career. His 40 games in Lowell resulted in him hitting 333/364/448 with 4 home runs and an wRC+ of 140. In 25 games in Greenville he's hit 286/330/550 with 3 home runs and a wRC+ of 125.
 
He went 1-4 in today's 3-2 win and they have one more game against Lexington tomorrow to finish the season. Greenville has the second worst record in the SAL, so they will not be going to the playoffs. I'm guessing they will let him go into the winter on a high note and not move him onto a playoff roster.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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Travis now has a 142 wRC+ on the season. His full slash line is 313/378/467 with a 9.4% walk rate, a 15.5% strikeout rate, 5 home runs and 35 runs scored. He's doing exactly what they drafted him to do and this is starting to look like a very good pick. Hopefully he'll finish the season in Portland with eyes on potentially cracking the major league roster some time in late 2016 or to open the season in 2017.
 

Detts

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pokey_reese said:
Sounds like Miles Head, who has plateaued a bit in the OAK organization.  I hope that this one turns out better, certainly has a better draft spot.
 
Missed this last year.  Sam Travis is no Miles Head.  Miles Head had a hard time bending over to catch grounders in Greenville because he was built like a fire hydrant.
 
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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Travis struggled mightily in his first 6 games after being promoted to Portland, but since then has gone back to mashing. .396 OPS as he got settled in over those first 6 games, and a .917 in the 8 games since. His overall AA OPS is .697 but it's climbing steadily. This kid is going to be the starting first baseman in 2017.
 

nighthob

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Snodgrass'Muff said:
Travis struggled mightily in his first 6 games after being promoted to Portland, but since then has gone back to mashing. .396 OPS as he got settled in over those first 6 games, and a .917 in the 8 games since. His overall AA OPS is .697 but it's climbing steadily. This kid is going to be the starting first baseman in 2017.
To be brutally frank it wouldn't surprise me if Craig started next year as the starter at 1B only to overtaken by Travis sometime during the year.
 

Fishy1

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Also worth noting that he has only 3 strike-outs in 52 at bats so far, which is a remarkably small number. It's a number that's bound to normalize, but it speaks to his hit tool nonetheless.
 

jscola85

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I still worry if he will ever hit for the power needed to play 1B, but maybe in this lower run-scoring environment he can get away with it if he flashes a plus glove and is a solid fielder.  Hitting .300 like he has so far in his MiLB career certainly would help.
 

inter tatters

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In AA so far - 86ABs, .302/.361/419, 8BB vs 6ks. OK there is still the lack of power from a first baseman - 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR - but for a guy that only turns 22 next month, it's a great start.
 

bringbackburks

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after a 2/5 night with his second HR in AA his Portland line stands at .312/.378/.435 after just over 150 PA.  he's also kept his strikeout rate right in line with what it was in Salem. 
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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bringbackburks said:
after a 2/5 night with his second HR in AA his Portland line stands at .312/.378/.435 after just over 150 PA.  he's also kept his strikeout rate right in line with what it was in Salem. 
 
 
Snodgrass'Muff said:
This kid is going to be the starting first baseman in 2017.
 
Just reiterating. :)
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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130 wRC+ in Portland. His bb% has ticked up since his promotion and his k% has ticked down. Surprisingly, he's stolen 17 bases on the year. He's hit 9 home runs between A+ and AA.

I'm guessing he starts next year in Portland with an eye on a June or early July promotion to Pawtucket.
 

WenZink

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Snodgrass'Muff said:
130 wRC+ in Portland. His bb% has ticked up since his promotion and his k% has ticked down. Surprisingly, he's stolen 17 bases on the year. He's hit 9 home runs between A+ and AA.

I'm guessing he starts next year in Portland with an eye on a June or early July promotion to Pawtucket.
 
Travis will be in the Arizona Instructional League next month.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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Red Sox scout who signed him? Lol.

I guess he could be sox 1b of the future when Hanley moves to DH and shaw is at 3b
There's a pretty good chance Sam Travis will end up the first baseman of the future. He doesn't have star potential (never mind Goldschmidt level performance) but he's got a decent chance to be an above average hitter and an average defender which has significant value for the Sox until he hits free agency.
 

Cesar Crespo

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More Mark Grace than Mark McGwire, and if he had Grace's career, I think we'd all be happy with that. Grace did have the most hits in the 90's.
 

pokey_reese

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As far as that top prospects list goes, it's also worth noting that it's a weak position for prospects generally, because really good guys will still be trying to stick at other positions further up the defensive spectrum. Only a handful of the guys on that list will appear on anyone's top 100 prospects list, so being the 10th best 1B prospect is like being the 200th best prospect, while being the 10th best SS/RHP prospect makes you a top-50 guy in all of baseball.
 

grimshaw

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As far as that top prospects list goes, it's also worth noting that it's a weak position for prospects generally, because really good guys will still be trying to stick at other positions further up the defensive spectrum. Only a handful of the guys on that list will appear on anyone's top 100 prospects list, so being the 10th best 1B prospect is like being the 200th best prospect, while being the 10th best SS/RHP prospect makes you a top-50 guy in all of baseball.
Agree - You have to really mash to be a true 1B prospect.
Adding to that - the median offensive numbers for 1B last year were a w/RC+ of 117, an obp of .351 and a slugging of .470 - roughly Adam Lind. That's a little below where's at now though obviously only 22.

I'm sure he'll get on base but hope the power develops for him enough to be a top 10 offensive 1B as well as fielding his position well.

One thing he really needs to work on is upping the FB and/or LD%. He has improved his FB% from 25 to about 33 since Short Season which is nice, but still only top 100-ish in MLB. His LD% of 15 is way below average. These are also vs. AA and below defenses. The trend is good, but more please.
 
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