Red Sox first baseman Sam Travis thriving in role Steve Pearce failed to fill

Boston Red Sox first baseman Sam Travis is starting to emerge as a lefty masher, filling the role that was expected of Steve Pearce.

The Boston Red Sox entered the season expecting to deploy a right-handed bat to platoon with the lefty-swinging Mitch Moreland at first base. What they didn’t expect was that bat would belong to Sam Travis.

We know this because the Red Sox shelled out $6.25 million to bring back Steve Pearce last winter. Instead of allocating those funds toward an undermanned bullpen, Boston rewarded the World Series hero.

It seemed reasonable at the time but clearly backfired with Pearce struggling through an injury-plagued year. The veteran is hitting a putrid .180 in 89 at-bats this season and has barely reached the Mendoza Line against lefties, floundering in the role he was primarily brought in to fill.

The inability of Pearce to provide any meaningful contributions has opened opportunities for other players and Travis is taking advantage.

His overall production won’t raise any eyebrows. Travis is hitting a modest .253 with a .721 OPS in 30 games with the big league club this season but he’s building up from a slow start now that he’s receiving regular playing for the first time in his young career.

Since the All-Star break, Travis is hitting .288/.339/.577 with four home runs and nine RBI in 56 plate appearances. His .377 wOBA and 132 wRC+ ranks fourth on the team over that span.

Travis is primarily playing against lefties with Moreland covering the bulk of the first base duties against right-handed pitching since his return from the injured list. Moreland’s bat has been slow to recover from his lengthy absence but Travis is providing plenty of punch when he’s in the lineup.

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It’s still a relatively limited sample but Travis has been productive against lefties in his career, hitting .279 with a .789 OPS in 111 at-bats. Four of his five career home runs have come against a lefty.

Boston’s league-leading offense has been fairly mediocre against southpaws this season. They are 10th in the majors with a .328 wOBA and own a distinctly average 100 wRC+ against lefties. Pearce was expected to be a force in the middle of the lineup whenever a left-handed pitcher took the mound given his history as a lefty-masher. It’s why they traded for him in the middle of last season and he thrived in that role down the stretch.

Now it’s up to Travis to fill the void left by the ineffective and injured Pearce. Lately, he’s been up to the task and there are reasons for optimism that Travis can continue to grow in this role. The former second-round draft pick was once a promising prospect until an ACL injury slowed his development.

Travis hadn’t been given an extended look in the big leagues until recently but he’s getting the chance to prove himself. With Pearce and Moreland both hitting free agency after this season, now is the time for Travis to cement a role for himself in the club’s future.