Devon Travis 2B NEWS

Bats: Right,
Throws: Right
Height: 5' 9",
Weight: 185 lb.

Born: February 21, 1991 in US (Age 22)
High School: Palm Beach Central HS (Wellington, FL)
School: Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL)

Drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 13th round of the 2012 MLB June Amateur Draft from Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL).

Travis, five other prospects to play in AFL

By Jason Beck and Bobby Nightengale / MLB.com | 8/27/2013 8:14 P.M. ET

DETROIT -- While Tigers fans are looking for postseason baseball in October, there will be more fall work for some of Detroit's prospects. The Arizona Fall League released its rosters on Tuesday, and they include breakout Tigers prospect and Class A Lakeland second baseman Devon Travis, who will get his shot against some of the better pitching prospects in the game.

Travis will be one of a half-dozen Tigers prospects on the Mesa Solar Sox, whose coaching staff will include former Tigers hurler and Lakeland pitching coach Mike Maroth. Also going to Arizona is Class A West Michigan closer Corey Knebel, Double-A Erie outfielder Tyler Collins, SeaWolves reliever Will Clinard and Triple-A Toledo lefty Kyle Lobstein. Detroit will name one more player to the roster before the season opens Oct. 8.

Travis' season began with a Spring Training impression as an extra player in Detroit's Grapefruit League games. The former Florida State second baseman took that momentum to West Michigan and hit up a storm in the Midwest League, batting .352 with 17 doubles, six homers, 42 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 77 games.

He earned a midseason promotion to the Florida State League and hasn't let up, hitting .330 with eight doubles, five homers and 22 RBIs in 47 games. He has gone 6-for-7 stealing bases. A matchup in the Fall League was the next logical step.

"I think it's going to be a very natural step for him," Tigers player development director Dave Owen said Tuesday. "What a great year he's put together."

Knebel will become the second Tiger in five years to go to the AFL the same year he's drafted. Andy Oliver did it in 2009. Knebel, however, is in a different situation. He came into the Tigers' system as a reliever, despite initial indications the Tigers would stretch him into a starter, and he'll continue work out of the bullpen in Mesa.

The formula has worked well so far. The former University of Texas closer entered Tuesday having allowed just two earned runs on 12 hits over 28 innings, striking out 38 batters and recording 13 saves.

"He came on after the Draft and has done everything he's supposed to do," Owen said. "He's shown he's ready for a challenge."

Collins will get a chance to work on some of the hitting adjustments instructor Bruce Fields and Erie hitting coach Gerald Perry made with him this summer with his swing and his plate discipline. The Spring Training standout has struggled to a .240 average with the SeaWolves, but his 18 home runs and 74 RBIs easily top his previous bests as a pro.

Lobstein spent most of the spring in camp with the Tigers as a Rule 5 pick, then went to Erie when the Tigers worked out a trade with the Rays to acquire his full rights. He's 12-7 with a 3.40 ERA between Erie and Toledo, including two complete games.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. Bobby Nightengale is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

MOTOR CITY BENGALS
2012 Draft Picks A Year Later
Aug 22nd, 2013 at 12:20 pm by John Verburg


Devon Travis- 13th round

There isn’t much to say about Travis other than so far, he looks like an absolute steal in the 13th round. I have no issues projecting him to be a major leaguer, however, it is still in question to the kind of role he will play. At the heart of it, Travis is limited in his ceiling. He isn’t a premium athlete, and his body type suggests he is going to slow down even further. His ability with the bat in my multiple viewings though has been impressive. Travis uses the whole field, squares up both fastballs and breaking balls, and gets by on smarts. He has really good hands defensively, but will have to anticipate to make up for a lack of range going forward. He has done nothing but murder baseballs all summer, and probably should be in AA right now.

Tigers announce Minors Player, Pitcher of Year
Second baseman Travis, reliever Alvarez selected for organizational honors

By Bobby Nightengale / MLB.com | 9/14/2013 7:50 P.M. ET

DETROIT -- The Tigers on Saturday announced that second baseman Devon Travis and left-hander Jose Alvarez were named the organization's Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year.

Travis, who spent the season split between Class A West Michigan and Class A Advanced Lakeland, batted .351 with 16 home runs and 76 RBIs in 132 games. The 22-year-old, who was a 13th-round pick in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of Florida State, was selected for the Midwest League midseason and postseason All-Star teams.

The Tigers have chosen Travis to be one of their five representatives in the Arizona Fall League and he will begin play with the Mesa Solar Sox on Oct. 8.

Alvarez, who is now in Detroit's bullpen, went 8-6 with 115 strikeouts in 128 2/3 innings over 20 starts with Triple-A Toledo. Among International League starters, Alvarez finished second in WHIP (1.08) and fourth in ERA (2.80).

Bobby Nightengale is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Fields, Travis, Lennerton head six roster cuts

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 3/14/2014 6:56 P.M. ET

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Daniel Fields, Devon Travis and Jordan Lennerton all made impressions on Tigers officials to help their case for eventually making it to the Major Leagues. None of them were going to make the Opening Day roster. Thus, they were among the second wave of roster cuts as the Tigers trimmed their ranks Friday.

Lennerton, Fields and Justin Miller were optioned to Triple-A Toledo, while third baseman Francisco Martinez was optioned to Double-A Erie. Travis, as a non-roster invitee, was assigned to Minor League camp; he's expected to join the Double-A club after hitting up a storm at both Class A levels last year.

The Tigers later optioned outfielder Steven Moya to Erie after Friday's 12-6 win over the Nationals.

Of the six cuts, Miller had the one real chance to make the Opening Day roster. The hard-throwing right-hander, signed last fall out of the Rangers' farm system, was a darkhorse candidate for a bullpen spot. He gave up runs in each of his first four outings this spring, which combined with strong performances from others in camp left Miller on the outside of the battle. He gave up five runs, three earned, on six hits in five innings, walking two and striking out six.

For Lennerton, a first baseman in the same organization as Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez, an Opening Day spot would've been a long shot unless somebody was injured. The 28-year-old went 5-for-21 with two RBIs in his first big league camp. He'll return for a second season with the Mud Hens.

"I think I showed them that I am able to play at this level," Lennerton said. "Obviously things may not have gone exactly as I wanted, but I put together some good at-bats, I played some solid defense, and I think the staff knows I'm not afraid to work and I'm always putting in my time."

He'll be joined by Fields, who's headed to the same ballpark where his father, current Tigers hitting coordinator Bruce Fields, managed at Toledo in 2001 and '02 before joining then-manager Alan Trammell's staff in Detroit as hitting coach. Now, the younger Fields -- born and raised in Detroit -- will be one step away from making the big leagues himself.

With no time above Double-A, the 23-year-old Fields was never seen as a candidate to fill the left-handed-hitting platoon role that opened up in left field when Andy Dirks required back surgery earlier this month. He went 3-for-14 with no RBIs this spring, walking three times with seven strikeouts.

"I think when I got in there, I played as hard as I could and did everything I could to play well and show them what I had to do," said Fields, who will play center field in Toledo. "Hopefully I'll go to Minor League camp, play well, start the season off in Toledo and hopefully I get an opportunity up to Detroit soon."

Travis is an up-and-coming second-base prospect who made a fresh set of impressions with a new staff. He went 5-for-18 in scattering playing time this spring.

He'll be joined in Erie by Martinez, who returns to the same level where he earned an All-Star Futures Game selection in 2011. He spent last summer at Class A Advanced Lakeland after the Tigers reacquired him from Seattle.

Martinez went 5-for-17 in 12 games.

Moya was the furthest from the big leagues going into camp but made a big enough impression to change the perception on his development. The lanky left-handed hitter went 7-for-21 with two doubles, a triple and five RBIs, falling a home run shy of the cycle in a four-RBI performance against the Cardinals on Monday in Jupiter, Fla.

Moya's name came up when the Tigers were discussing their options in left field with Dirks out, manager Brad Ausmus said.

"You can make an argument that he was the MVP of the camp," Ausmus said. "The problem is he was in A-ball and he really just needs to play. He needs to get experience. We certainly think the ceiling is high for him, but asking him to go from 90 games in A-ball to the big leagues is an enormous jump."

Moya was neither stunned nor disappointed by the decision.

"That's OK, I'm not upset," Moya said. "I'm just going to keep doing my job, working hard, keep going forward, thinking positive. The only thing you have control of is what you do every day and how your work."

Asked whether he felt he proved what he can do, Moya said, "A lot. I know now they know that I can hit. They know I can run. Now they know I can play the outfield. I let them know what I want, and what I want is to be in the big leagues."

The moves reduce the Tigers' Spring Training roster to 40 players with two weeks to go before breaking camp.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.