Thoughts on Boston Red Sox prospect Sam Travis

Boston Red Sox first base prospect Sam Travis is having an amazing spring: through 25 at-bats he's hitting .600 (15-for-25) with two homers.

Here's the comment from the 2016 Baseball Prospect Book for Travis, with additional commentary below.

Sam Travis, 1B, Boston Red Sox
Bats: R Throws: R HT: 6-0 WT: 195 DOB: August 27, 1993

The Red Sox drafted Travis in the second round in 2014 from Indiana University. He was excellent in the New York-Penn League after signing (140 wRC+) and remained excellent in 2015, posting a 146 wRC+ at Salem and a 140 wRC+ at Portland. Then he rang up a 144 wRC+ (.344/.394/.505) in the Arizona Fall League. He seems to put up the same numbers no matter the competition; certainly there was no deterioration in his production or his approach as he moved forward. Travis hits most of his homers to left field but is otherwise not a strict pull hitter. His strike zone judgment is superior and he makes consistent contact. While his swing isn’t geared for home runs, he’s no weakling and should be good for low double-digit homer production as he moves forward, combining that with batting average and OBP. His glove is limited to first base but it looks like he can play regularly at that position for many teams. Strong Grade B.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY:

I'm already thinking that may be too low. Travis didn't quite make the Top 50 Hitting Prospects list; he would be somewhere in the 51-55 territory based on this report. I don't mean to over-react to a hot spring training run, but even based on what we knew before camps started, you can make a case for Travis as a Grade B+ given the quality of his bat.

When the Top 175 list comes out, Travis' position will likely be revised, even if he doesn't get a hit the rest of spring training. The more I study him, the more I like him.