Travis Jankowski is having fun with a career-best season with the Texas Rangers. Playing a platoon position on a first-place crew, the 32-year-old left-handed-hitting outfielder is slashing .319/.407/.405 with a 133 wRC+ in 190 plate appearances. Speed and protection are his calling playing cards. Jankowski has swiped 15 luggage in 16 makes an attempt, and racked up 5 Defensive Runs Saved and 4 Outs Above Average whereas seeing time in any respect three fly-chaser positions.
His observe file coming into the 2023 marketing campaign was considerably spotty. Drafted forty fourth total in 2012 by San Diego out of Stony Brook, he spent 2015-19 with the Padres, then bounced from the Reds to the Phillies to the Mets to the Mariners earlier than becoming a member of the Rangers this previous January. Prior to inking a free agent cope with the Chris Young-constructed membership, his cumulative hit complete was 252, whereas his wRC+ over 1,215 plate appearances was an unbecoming 77. By and huge, he’d been a spare half whose efficiency hadn’t merited constant taking part in time.
A confluence of well being and the proper alternative has helped gas the Lancaster, Pennsylvania native’s breakthrough.
“It’s been finding a good spot with a great manager and a great lineup,” Jankowski defined when the Rangers visited Boston earlier this month. “I’ve been able to carve out a role, and a big part of that is being comfortable. Nine seasons in, I know what to expect at the big league level. Beyond that, it’s just clicking for me right now.”
Jankowski went on to quote a trio of accidents, two of which adopted the one years by which he’s logged 300-plus plate appearances. In 2017, he suffered a damaged foot; in 2019, he broke a wrist. Last season included an ill-timed go to to the IL as properly. The speedster broke a knuckle in late May, then wasn’t capable of finding agency footing after rejoining the Mets in mid-July. He was subsequently designated for task, claimed off waivers by the Mariners, DFA’d once more, after which reclaimed by the Mets, who despatched him to Triple-A. As Jankowski defined, “Coming back from an injury mid-season is pretty tough.”
Seven weeks after the Rangers promoted Chris Young to Executive Vice President and General Manager, the Princeton graduate and erstwhile big-league hurler shrewdly signed Jankowski to a one-year, $1.25 million contract. For the participant, coming to Texas made numerous sense.
“I saw the moves they were making and knew the direction they wanted to go in,” stated Jankowski. “That was a huge selling point for me. Seeing Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom sign, and Corey Seager and Marcus Semien having come over last year, I knew they were out there trying to win. Bruce Bochy was here as well, and for me an old-school manager is a good thing. If you look at the type of player I am analytically… I don’t think that’s the greatest definition of who I am. Speed off the bench and being a good defensive outfielder is what’s kept me around the big leagues, and an old-school manager can see the value in that more than a computer can.”
That Jankowski hit his solely house run of the season the day earlier than I spoke to him at Fenway Park qualifies as an odd coincidence. Going deep has by no means been a giant half his sport — the July 3 dinger was simply his tenth as a giant leaguer — and he’s happy to be on a crew the place that isn’t an expectation.
“The hitting coaches here aren’t trying to turn guys into something they’re not,” defined Jankowski. “I’m not a power guy. I never have been, and I don’t think I ever will be. I actually told them on day one, ‘Listen, if you want me to hit 15-20 home runs this year, that’s not the player I am.’ They’re OK with that. The Padres wanted me to try to hit for some more power in 2017 — that was the year I got hurt a few weeks into the season — but it didn’t correlate well. I think I had three home runs in spring training, but my strikeouts probably tripled, so it just wasn’t a good risk-reward for me.”
Six years later, merely being himself is working simply wonderful. The long-maned outfielder has by no means been higher.
“Here, it’s just, ‘Hey, be you. It’s why you’re in the big leagues,’” Jankowski stated. “I think that’s one of the reasons I’ve been having success this year. Along with being healthy and having found a good niche, I’m just focusing on doing what I do best. Again, that’s providing speed and playing good defense. It’s been going well.”
Content Source: blogs.fangraphs.com