The Toronto Blue Jays have not been playing well as of late. They have gone 4-6 over their last ten games and now sit 5.5 games back of Baltimore in the AL East. They have a difficult eleven games at home before the All Star break against the Indians, Royals, and Tigers. Unless they find a way to steer the ship in the right direction, and quick, they’ll continue to fall out of the division title race and may enter the break with a record below .500.
One player who has performed well as of late however, is second basemen Devon Travis. Acquired in a trade with Detroit where Toronto sent CF Anthony Gose in return for the promising second basemen, Travis has lived up to the hype. Although a left shoulder injury derailed the start to his career, Jays fans should be excited for what he will bring to the club. With Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop and Travis at second, the Jays have a formidable duo up the middle for the foreseeable future.
Drafted 424th by Detroit in 2012, Travis quickly rose through the minor league system and showcased himself as possibly the biggest steal of that draft. After he was traded to Toronto he was stepping into a starting role and all eyes were on him. He may have had to ‘compete’ with Ryan Goins for the job, but deep down front office and management, along with the fans, knew Travis was the present and the future at second in Toronto.
He won AL rookie of the month honours in April of 2015, but was limited to 62 games after an unfortunate shoulder injury. Jays fans had only seen a glimpse of the upstart rookie infielder and in those 62 games he batted .304 with 18 doubles, 8 home runs, and 35 RBI’s. Travis has the tools to be a leadoff bat for this franchise and losing a ROY calibre type of player is difficult, but he has come back in 2016 with authority.
Activated from the DL on May 25th, Travis has continued where he left off. In 28 games this season he is batting .274 with 5 HR and 17 RBI. What’s even more impressive is how he has performed over his last seven games. A .407 average, 3 HR and 6 RBI, are numbers that will put you in player of the week discussions.
Travis only played his 90th career game yesterday against the Rockies and his future is bright with the Blue Jays. In this brief time, he has managed to hit .294 with 13 HR and 52 RBI. It is no secret he has skills at the plate. What should not be underappreciated though is his ability with the glove as well. He has yet to commit an error this season and only had six in his shortened rookie season. If your second baseman is only committing one error every fifteen games, he’s a keeper in my books.
You can follow Devon on Twitter @DeVoTrAv along with myself @GHam614. The Jays will look to bound back against the Rockies tonight after a crushing 9-5 loss to start the series. J.A. Happ takes to the mound looking for his 10th win and Travis will look to continue his hot streak at the plate.
