May 30, 2016 at 9:41 PM
Sam Travis out for season with torn ACL
The Red Sox have announced that first baseman Sam Travis (pictured), the fifth-ranked prospect on the SoxProspects.com rankings, has torn his left ACL and will miss the rest of the season. Travis suffered the injury during a rundown on Sunday afternoon against the Indianapolis Indians. He will undergo surgery and is expected to be ready for the start of the 2017 season.
Through 47 games with the PawSox in 2016, Travis was slashing .272/.332/.434 with 10 doubles and six home runs. Travis has risen quickly through the Red Sox organization since being drafted in the second round of the 2014 draft out of Indiana University. He played in Lowell and Greenville after being drafted in 2014 and then hit a combined .307/.381/.452 in 2015 between Salem and Portland after an aggressive promotion to High-A to begin the season.
Travis's calling card is an above-average hit tool and an advanced approach at the plate. Questions about his power potential had raised doubts about his ability to stick as an everyday first baseman, but he had hit six home runs through the first two months of the 2016 season after collecting just nine in the entire 2015 season. Defensively, Travis is limited to first base but he has the potential to be solid there.
SoxProspects.com editor Chris Hatfield, director of scouting Ian Cundall, and assistant director of scouting Chaz Fiorino were at the game on Sunday and reported that Travis's leg buckled during a rundown as he chased a runner towards second base. An Indianapolis baserunner immediately called for a trainer, and Travis had to be helped off the field. Managing editor Matt Heugel interviewed Travis and the Pawtucket coaching staff about Travis's winning nature in April.
Photo Credit: Sam Travis by Kelly O'Connor