Devon Travis is Criminally Underrated

[Raps in 4]

Everyone is talking about how we shouldn't worry because our core is coming back next season. But when writers mention our core, nobody mentions Travis. There was an article in the Star today that said Travis would make a good backup to Goins next year.

Nobody in the mainstream media seems to realize how special this kid is. He put up MONSTER numbers in the 62 games he played this year. He was arguably the best 2B in the majors before his injury and would have almost certainly ended up with the ROY if he stayed healthy.

Travis is the leadoff hitter this team was missing in the playoffs.

Is anyone else annoyed at the lack of love this kid gets? Seeing this offence with him in the lineup is what excites me the most about next season.

[Scott Hall]

I haven't paid to much attention to what the local media thinks but most fans always talk about him and know
how good he was.

However it was in a small sample size and his shoulder injury doesn't seem to be healing properly so
I don't know what expectations should be?

Also how good was he defensively? I had to miss a lot of games in April this year

[Trilogy]

He's a massive upgrade at 2B for sure. The lineup goes from ridiculous to absurd with him in it, assuming his numbers aren't too inflated from a small sample size.

He was definitely missed in the playoffs. The Jays don't even have to do anything and they'll get better offensively next year if healthy. Crazy.

[Jays4WS]

He was this good defensively.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHgIAj8n4yo[/youtube]

[Raps in 4]

He was this good defensively.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHgIAj8n4yo[/youtube]

People laud Goins for his defence, but Travis is no slouch himself (he had a better UZR at 2B than Goins and the same UZR as Goins at SS). I know the sample sizes are small, but it's all we have to work with at this time.

[v1n5anity]

I haven't forgotten about Travis and couldn't stop thinking how it would've been different with him in the lineup. We sure could've used him at leadoff. I remember early on he was rookie of the month or something. Pretty good player both offensively and defensively.

[JaysRule15]

Travis had a great run of 62 games. But it wouldn't be fair to assume that he can replicate that over the full course of a season. Remember how good Brett Lawrie looked in his first 42 games in the major leagues to end off the 2011 season? He never looked the same after that again. Pitchers figured his weaknesses and Lawrie couldn't adjust at the plate to counter that. Barring a poor performance in spring training, I think Travis will have the inside track to the starting second baseman job. But Goins is a favorite of Gibby's, I wouldn't be surprised to see Travis/Goins end up platooning at second base if Travis struggles early on in the season.

Let's just hope Travis has put that shoulder injury behind him. They said that a cyst was causing the pain that Travis was constantly feeling when swinging the bat. Let's hope that this was indeed the case. You would hate to see a promising player like Travis get sidetracked by a freak injury.

[Boogie!]

im not annoyed because hes a rookie and the sample size is small... its easy to forget about him considering most of our success as a team came after he was hurt and without him in the lineup... if he comes back with the same production, hell be big for us... but again, he hasnt had enough time in the league to say hes for sure gonna be amazing for years to come.

[Regulator]

He's a stud. No doubt about it

[Rbk_3]

Underrated? He was putting up Ruth numbers early in the season, I that is all we would talk, remember?

[Ong_dynasty]

Tbh..I think he is overrated.
He has played 62 games..let's see..let him prove he can do it for a whole season..then talk.

[joseph227]

Travis had a great run of 62 games. But it wouldn't be fair to assume that he can replicate that over the full course of a season. Remember how good Brett Lawrie looked in his first 42 games in the major leagues to end off the 2011 season? He never looked the same after that again. Pitchers figured his weaknesses and Lawrie couldn't adjust at the plate to counter that. Barring a poor performance in spring training, I think Travis will have the inside track to the starting second baseman job. But Goins is a favorite of Gibby's, I wouldn't be surprised to see Travis/Goins end up platooning at second base if Travis struggles early on in the season.

Let's just hope Travis has put that shoulder injury behind him. They said that a cyst was causing the pain that Travis was constantly feeling when swinging the bat. Let's hope that this was indeed the case. You would hate to see a promising player like Travis get sidetracked by a freak injury.

Goins had even less of a sample of success and a whole track record of sucking ib the majors and minors. Platooning Travis with Goins would be laughable even if he gets off to a slow start.

[And1Skip]

I was going to say " you can't teach plate discipline" but then that's what Goins developed during the season but that went away for the better part of this post season. With Travis, the guy naturally has a great approach at the plate even when he began in the minors just a few years ago. That will never go away. Great OBP, contact hitter, and patient to wait for the pitch he's looking for. Perfect lead-off guy (although I'd like him to develop some more speed on the bases if that's possible).

I would keep Goins too to be that utility guy that would play more often than others in that role on other teams. Over the next 5 years , Tulo and JD are getting older and I'm almost certain injuries to one of them will happen and then never know the durability of Travis as well. Goins will get his fair share of playing time.

[Lateral Quicks]

Suffice it to say that starting Goins over Travis would be dumb.

[Raps in 4]

Travis had a great run of 62 games. But it wouldn't be fair to assume that he can replicate that over the full course of a season. Remember how good Brett Lawrie looked in his first 42 games in the major leagues to end off the 2011 season? He never looked the same after that again. Pitchers figured his weaknesses and Lawrie couldn't adjust at the plate to counter that. Barring a poor performance in spring training, I think Travis will have the inside track to the starting second baseman job. But Goins is a favorite of Gibby's, I wouldn't be surprised to see Travis/Goins end up platooning at second base if Travis struggles early on in the season.

Let's just hope Travis has put that shoulder injury behind him. They said that a cyst was causing the pain that Travis was constantly feeling when swinging the bat. Let's hope that this was indeed the case. You would hate to see a promising player like Travis get sidetracked by a freak injury.

It should be noted that the 62 games wasn't all sunshine and roses for Travis. He hit a rough patch in there too that he managed to get out of, which lends support to the idea that the good play wasn't just an anomaly.

I also don't see the benefit of platooning Goins with anyone. His bat is a complete liability.

[Indiana Jones]

It's hard to underrate Goins' defense. Will Travis' bat make up for the difference in their gloves? We'll just have to wait and see.

Having three middle infielders worthy of starting is a good problem to have.

[Schad]

It's hard to underrate Goins' defense. Will Travis' bat make up for the difference in their gloves? We'll just have to wait and see.

Having three middle infielders worthy of starting is a good problem to have.

Goins was worth 1.5 fWAR over 128 games and 428 plate appearances. Travis was worth 2.3 fWAR in half the time. His bat definitely makes up the difference...while i wouldn't expect him to maintain that pace (he'd have been good for 6.3 fWAR over a full season, which would have made him the 11th-best position player and best 2B in baseball by far), he's likely to be an above-average hitter and defender at a position where few can claim to be both.

[Indiana Jones]

It's hard to underrate Goins' defense. Will Travis' bat make up for the difference in their gloves? We'll just have to wait and see.

Having three middle infielders worthy of starting is a good problem to have.

Goins was worth 1.5 fWAR over 128 games and 428 plate appearances. Travis was worth 2.3 fWAR in half the time. His bat definitely makes up the difference...while i wouldn't expect him to maintain that pace (he'd have been good for 6.3 fWAR over a full season, which would have made him the 11th-best position player and best 2B in baseball by far), he's likely to be an above-average hitter and defender at a position where few can claim to be both.

Those numbers makes it pretty clear who's better. I'm just playing it safe by saying we need to wait and see how he returns after a lot of shoulder problems. Can he keep pace? Unlikely, but anything close to his production is obviously a huge upgrade, as you've shown.

[Raps in 4]

It's hard to underrate Goins' defense. Will Travis' bat make up for the difference in their gloves? We'll just have to wait and see.

Having three middle infielders worthy of starting is a good problem to have.

Travis had the same or better defensive stats as Goins this year. I know that defensive stats are unreliable in small sample sizes, but the gap between Travis' glove and Goins' glove isn't that big (if there is a gap at all), where as the difference in offensive production is enormous.

[cram]

Trade him for a pitcher. I like Goins.