Born: August 27, 1993
Chicago, IL
Height: 6-0
Weight: 205
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Drafted: 2nd round, 2014; 40th round, 2011 by Cincinnati
How Acquired: Draft
College: Indiana
High School: Providence Catholic (IL)

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SoxProspects.com Links
2014 Top 40 Season in Review
2015 Top 40 Season in Review
Sam Travis: Obsessed with winning (4.13.16)
Scouting Scratch (9.7.17)

Traded to Texas for Jeffrey Springs (Jan. 2020)

Physical Description: Undersized, but has a strong, muscular build. Filled-out frame with limited remaining physical projection. Not overly athletic.

Hit: Solid approach and strong contact skills. Compact swing lends itself to hard contact to all fields. Swing lacks loft. Solid-average bat speed. Could struggle with velocity, as his swing can get long and he has shown vulnerability to fastballs inside. Tracks pitches, works counts and understands the strike zone. Potential solid-average hit tool. Reportedly changed swing path during 2017-18 offseason to add more loft and, therefore, more power, but experiment failed. Reportedly switched back to a more contact-oriented approach midseason.

Power: Fringe-average power potential. Above-average raw power, but doesn’t translate to games, where he has a more line drive-oriented swing. Propensity for hard contact. Strength could eventually allow him to settle into around 15 home runs a season. Attempted to adjust swing path to add loft in 2018, but returned to original approach after struggling for half a season.

Arm: Average arm strength. Plenty of arm for first base, but doesn’t get to show it off often. Arm is fine for occasional duty in left field.

Field: Solid athlete for a first baseman. Soft hands, confident picking balls out of the dirt. Potential above-average defender. Split time between first base and left field in 2018. Below-average defender in left field.

Run: Below-average runner. Not a major part of his game. Above-average instincts on the bases. Smart baserunner.

Career Notes: Played for Team USA Collegiate team after his sophomore season at Indiana. Broke hamate bone in right hand before start of sophomore season at Indiana, but played through college season and summer with Team USA before undergoing surgery that August. Participated in 2014 Fall Instructional League. 2016 season ended in May when he tore his left ACL. A hip injury limited him to just 10 games in the Dominican winter league in 2017. 2018 swing path adjustment saw him hit just .215/.279/.308 with 64 strikeouts in first 54 games before returning to old approach to hit .298/.352/.404 with 28 strikeouts in final 47 games in Pawtucket.

Summation: Ceiling of a platoon role player who can come off the bench or start in the right matchups. Tough profile in the modern game due to lack of power and undersized frame at a run-producing position. Bat will determine value because he is limited to first base and only spot duty in left field. Possesses solid instincts and is a notoriously hard worker.