If Jackie Bradley Jr. has ever proved anything, it is that Spring Training stats really do not matter too much. Sure, they can show that a player can hit pitching. But hitting pitching in the spring does not mean someone is major league ready.
It seems to be for that reason why there should be some cautious optimism when it comes to Red Sox first base prospect Sam Travis.
So far this spring, arguably no one has swung a hotter bat than Travis, the Red Sox second round draft pick in the 2013 MLB Draft. He has been regarded as an advanced bat throughout his minor league career and a high floor player as a prospect — a medium-risk high-reward scenario.
Travis went deep today and before the game, he was hitting .579 in 19 at-bats — a small sample size. But hitting a home run the one day the Red Sox wore green uniforms is certainly a reason to remember him.
There’s no reason to just jump to a ton of conclusions. Appreciate that he is hitting well, but it is pretty set that he is not going to be the team’s starting first baseman this year (hence the cautious optimism).
Travis, who spent part of last year in high-A and the latter part in double-A appears to scheduling his flight arrangements to triple-A this time around even though before the spring, double-A Portland would have been the consensus.
As a right-handed bat, Travis has shown in the minors that he can really clobber left-handed pitching. He is not half bad against righties either. But think for a second: he’s a right-handed hitter. Travis Shaw is a left-handed hitter.
That’s right: a Sam Travis Shaw platoon.
Now that is how you confuse people.
Not only does that sound pretty cool for number 47 (Shaw) and number 74 (Travis). But Travis could prove to be a serviceable big leaguer with some seasoning in Pawtucket. He only plays first base. But he is athletic enough where he could probably make him self a little more valuable by playing a sub par left field like so many first basemen before him.