Another spring of trying game for Travis
You can see it in his eyes. You can hear it in his voice. Injured Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis wants nothing more than to be back on the field and in the lineup on opening day against the Yankees. But it won’t be that easy.
Travis was among the dozen or so Jays in town on the weekend for the first annual Winter Fest, a celebration of baseball that attracted more than 15,000 fans to a variety of attractions and activities.
During a question and answer on the main stage with some teammates, Travis became emotional in speaking about his stalled career. Over the course of three years with the Jays, the 26-year-old Floridian has managed to play just 213 of 486 games. He has not been in a majorleague game since June 4, 2017, when he aggravated his injured knee.
He has been on the disabled list four times with significant time missed — twice with variations of a shoulder issue and twice with knee problems.
“I think it’s just more so excitement,” Travis said of his emotional reaction to questions on the state of his current health. “It’s been a long road, obviously, back-to-back years battling my knee. I love this game. It means a lot to me. Outside of it being my job, it’s truly what I love and I just can’t wait to get back out there.”
“I’m an emotional guy. I love this game. If you watch me play this game, I play with a lot of emotion deep down because I love it. And when you ask me about it, I’m not afraid to let it show.”
Travis suggested his next step in the rehab process is to begin a running program. The fact that he has not played a major-league game in eight months and is just beginning to run with just three weeks remaining until spring training suggests that his goal of being in the openingday lineup remains optimistic.
The short time frame for recovery, and the gruesome ankle injury suffered by Troy Tulowitzki that ended his season in July, may also help explain why Jays general manager Ross Atkins reached out to add major-league help for the middle infield this winter, obtaining Aldemys Diaz from the Cardinals and Yangervis Solarte from the Padres. Both men can be insurance up the middle.
“I don’t really use social media a lot, so I don’t really know about a lot of stuff,” Travis said of the arrival of what appears to be competition for his starting role. “I hear it through the grapevine, which I like a little bit better. I think it’s great. We’re a competitive ball club and we look to contend.
“We have a very good baseball team. I understand these past few years, me getting hurt makes things a little bit confusing. I’m really happy that we brought in a few guys who have proven themselves. Diaz was an all-star. Solarte’s been doing it a long time and I heard he’s a really good guy. I’m excited. I want to win. If I’m not the best guy to be out on the field, then take me off. That’s kind of how I roll.”
When he is healthy, it’s abundantly clear that Travis, a .292 career hitter, is the best guy to be out on the field for the Jays, but the club can now afford to be cautious as he strives to become healthy for a full season. The one thing certain is that Travis has become the best judge of his own body, when it’s time to be careful or time to go all out. It was a tough lesson learned.
“Unfortunately I have learned a lot about my body through these injuries,” he explained. “But on the other side, it is a positive too. I like to try and think of things as glass halffull. I believe that everything happens for a reason. To be quite honest, I don’t understand the reason at this point, but I know in time, everything will get answered. I’ve got to take care of my business. I’ve got to get healthy.”
Travis is grateful for the emotional support he has received throughout the process. He is grateful to his teammates. He is grateful to the Jays’ high performance staff. He is grateful to Atkins. The toughest thing about rehab may have been the times he worked on his knee alone as a major-leaguer in Florida at the Jays’ minor-league facility while his teammates were grinding out the season. That changed during the season when Atkins made him a welcomed offer.
“That was great of Ross,” Travis said. “It was the first thing he asked me when I got hurt. He said, ‘Hey, if you want to rehab here with the team, we’d love to have you. We’d love to keep you around the guys.’ It keeps your spirits high and that was really, really nice. I’m really grateful for that.”
Travis believes that when his teammates take to the field in Florida in mid-February that he will be able to do everything that they do, that he won’t need to skip a beat and that, with enough reps in the field and at the plate, he will be ready.
“I feel like when I’m healthy and in a good place, then when I’m out on the field my play can speak for itself,” Travis said. “I’ve got to get healthy though. If I’m not healthy, I can’t compete. I can’t help this team if I’m not able to do my job. I love to play this game, but I’ve got to be healthy.”
As Travis said, he likes to see life’s glass as half-full and believes that everything happens for a reason, but fate is sometimes cruel. Everyone is rooting for him to be ready for the opener, but if he’s not the Jays have provided themselves alternate solutions at second until their true starter is back to 100 per cent.