Many in the fantasy baseball
community tend to have short-term memories when it comes to players and this is
especially true if such a hitter or pitcher is young of age. Often a hot
stretch of intriguing play followed by injury or an extended slump can quickly
dull any fantasy baseball momentum that might have been building. This
was such a scenario for Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis over the
last two seasons as he ran the gamut from being highly sought after to becoming
waiver wire trash. Winning the second base job out of spring training
2015, Travis became an overnight sensation that April by hitting .325 with 6
home runs and 19 RBI in only 80 at-bats. It certainly looked like Travis
was setting himself up to possibly be the next big thing at the always volatile
second base position but then the calendar flipped to May which was when all
the trouble began. A rough .189 performance that month was soon followed
by a bout of shoulder soreness that eventually landed Travis on the DL.
While he did make it back in July for a short 21-game stint, more
shoulder pain sent Travis back to the DL for good and soon surgery was performed that offseason
which prevented him from being ready at the start of 2016. After what
seemed like endless waiting, Travis was activated from the DL in May and
proceeded to go right back to hitting the baseball hard but with much less
attention paid to his accomplishments. Batting .300 with 11 home runs in
432 at-bats, Travis showed his shoulder was sound and that he was ready to be a
key contributor both for the Jays and his fantasy baseball owners. As far
as the advanced numbers were concerned, Travis showed an overall nice approach
at the dish, which has helped him hit for average at a still very young age (he
won't turn 26 until February). A 20.1 K/9 rate looks just fine but Travis
does need to show some more patience since he walked in just 4.6 percent of his
at-bats last season. With age usually comes more patience and that will
further solidify Travis as a decent average guy going into the future.
Depending on where the Jays hit Travis this season, his counting numbers
in runs and RBI should be helpful as well given how potent the lineup is.
In terms of the power, we don't really know yet how high that ceiling
goes but Travis has shown he can hit the baseball hard which makes 20 home runs
not out of the question. Travis also possesses good speed but it has not
translated yet on the base paths (just 4 steals in 2016). What should
really be interesting about Travis for 2017 fantasy baseball is the fact no one
is really talking about him since April 2015 is slipping out of the minds of
many. That means a very good profit could be made here if you choose to
go with Travis as your starting second baseman.
2017
PROJECTION: .292 17 HR 62 RBI 65 R 8 SB
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