Devon Travis

Early career

In 2003, Travis played in the Little League World Series, representing Boynton Beach, Florida. They finished as the runner-up to the team from Tokyo, Japan. He attended Palm Beach Central High School in Wellington, Florida, and later Florida State University.

Draft and minor leagues

Travis was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 13th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft out of Florida State University. He started his career with the short-season Connecticut Tigers, hitting .280/.352/.441 with three home runs and 11 runs batted in (RBI) in 25 games.

Travis started the 2013 season with the Class A West Michigan Whitecaps. He was the MVP of the Midwest League All-Star Game after going 2-for-2 with a three-run triple. Travis was promoted to the High-A Lakeland Flying Tigers after hitting .352/.430/.486 with six home runs in 77 games with the Whitecaps. He played in 55 games with Lakeland, and batted .350 with 10 home runs and 34 RBI. After the season, he was named the Tigers Minor League Player of the Year, and played 18 games for the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League. Travis played the entire 2014 season with the Double-A Erie SeaWolves, batting .298 with 10 home runs and 52 RBI in 100 games played.

2014–2015

On November 12, 2014, Travis was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Anthony Gose. In early 2015 he was named the sixth best second base prospect in baseball, as well as the number nine prospect in the Blue Jays' organization by MLB. After a strong performance in spring training, Travis was announced as the Blue Jays' starting second baseman on March 31, 2015. Travis debuted on April 6 and recorded his first career hit, a solo home run off Chasen Shreve of the New York Yankees. He also recorded two walks and scored two runs as the Blue Jays won 6–1. On April 12, Travis hit a three-run double to help the Blue Jays win 10–7 against the Baltimore Orioles. The hit was initially ruled an error on Travis Snider, however the call was changed on April 16, and Travis was credited with a hit and three RBIs.

Travis was named the Blue Jays Player of the Month for April on May 1. In a 10–7 loss to the Cleveland Indians on May 3, Travis hit his first career grand slam. On May 4, Travis was announced as the winner of the American League Rookie of the Month for April. He batted .325/.393/.625 with six home runs, 17 runs scored, and 19 RBIs. After missing five consecutive games with a left shoulder injury, Travis was placed on the disabled list on May 21. To that point in May, he had batted .185 in 14 games. He was activated off the disabled list on June 26. Travis re-injured his shoulder on July 28, and was placed on the disabled list on July 31. On September 11, he was transferred to the 60-day disabled list. The Blue Jays shut down Travis for the remainder of the season on September 17, and announced that he would undergo an exploratory surgery on his shoulder. He finished 2015 with a .304 batting average, eight home runs, and 35 RBI. On November 18, it was announced that Travis had undergone another surgery on his left shoulder, in an attempt to correct a condition called os acromiale which was discovered during the 2015 regular season, and would require 16–20 weeks to recover from the procedure. Two screws were inserted into his shoulder, in an attempt to stabilize the extra bone in his shoulder.

2016–present

In late April 2016, Travis began taking part in extended spring training games. He was assigned to the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays for rehab on May 13. On May 18, he was promoted to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons to continue rehabbing. On May 25, Travis was activated off the disabled list by the Blue Jays and called up. He hit a walk-off infield single on May 28 to help the Blue Jays defeat the Boston Red Sox 10–9. On August 5, Travis hit two home runs in a game for the first time in his career. Leading off against the Kansas City Royals, Travis hit a solo home run to give the Blue Jays an early 1–0 lead. In the ninth inning, he hit another solo home run off Kelvin Herrera to lift Toronto to a 4–3 victory. On August 8, Travis hit his first career triple, which came as part of a four-hit game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Following a game on August 31, the Blue Jays optioned Travis to the Rookie-Advanced Bluefield Blue Jays. The move was made to allow Josh Thole to be re-signed and have postseason eligibility. As the Bluefield season would end on September 1, Travis could be immediately recalled by Toronto afterward, bypassing the ten-day waiting period. Travis was recalled by the Blue Jays on September 2. He finished the season hitting .300 with 11 home runs and 50 RBI in 101 games. Travis played in the Wild Card Game and the first game of the American League Division Series, but missed the remainder of the ALDS with a bone bruise in his right knee. He played in the first game of the Championship Series, but left in the fifth inning after reaggravating his knee injury. On October 15, Travis was removed from the ALCS roster due to injury, and replaced by Justin Smoak. In accordance with MLB rules, Travis was ruled ineligible to return for the postseason, ending his season. On November 18, he underwent right knee surgery to remove a small flap of cartilage, and is expected to be ready for spring training.

Travis struggled to open the 2017 regular season, batting just .130 at the end of April. However, he would improve and bat .364 in May. In a 7–6 victory over the Texas Rangers on May 26, Travis hit the second grand slam of his career as well as his 15th double of the month. In doing so, he set the franchise record for extra-base hits in a month by a second baseman, tied Fred Lewis's franchise record for doubles in the month of May, and became the first second baseman to hit more than one grand slam as a Blue Jay. On June 6, 2017, the Blue Jays placed Travis on the DL due to a bone bruise in his right knee. He subsequently underwent surgery in his knee and is expected to miss 3-4 months of play.