Sam Travis: First Baseman
Just like Kelly last season, we should be seeing a few familiar faces come back to Boston this season. The first of which should be my current favorite prospect, Sam Travis.
Travis is already on the 40 man roster and has been called up to Boston twice this season. The heir apparent to first base posted a .279/.380/.395 line in 18 games this season. Travis is a solid hitter with limited power potential, but at just 24, he still has time to change that.
The timing couldn’t be better for Travis, who is struggling since his last time in the majors. Since being sent down on July 18th, he’s batted just .273/.365/.291. Not bad numbers, but you certainly would hope he would be hitting better than that in the minors.
Is he one of those guys that just plays better in the bigs? Will he benefit from a change of scenery? It’ll be interesting to watch this fall. Hopefully he comes up and can get some more consistent playing time then his last go around.
There’s also a good chance we see mid-season phenom Tzu-Wei Lin called up along side Travis. He only appeared in 19 games, but “Tzunami Lin” showed that he belonged. He slashed .280/.379/.360 while playing above average defense all over the infield, and captured the hearts of a nation.
Like Travis, Lin is already on the 40-man, and the team has nothing to lose by adding him to the active roster. Actually, I’m adding him on at the end of Travis’ page because I think he might be on the team before September. If Brock Holt continues to struggle, look for Lin to be the next man up.