Travis Jankowski

Travis Paul Jankowski (born June 15, 1991) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the San Diego Padres. Jankowski played college baseball at Stony Brook University, leading the Seawolves to an underdog College World Series appearance, and became a first-round draft pick for the Padres in the 2012 MLB Draft.

Travis Jankowski
Jankowski playing for the San Diego Padres in 2016
Cincinnati Reds – No. 31
Outfielder
Born: (1991-06-15) June 15, 1991
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Bats: Left Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 21, 2015, for the San Diego Padres
MLB statistics
(through 2019 season)
Batting average.241
Home runs8
Runs batted in42
Stolen bases62
Teams

Amateur career

Jankowski graduated from Lancaster Catholic High School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 2009.[1] He enrolled at Stony Brook University. As a sophomore for the Stony Brook Seawolves baseball team in 2011, Jankowski earned first-team All-America East Conference honors after hitting .355, setting a school record for stolen bases and going the entire season without an error.[2] That summer, Jankowski was invited to play for the Bourne Braves, where he led the Cape Cod Baseball League in hits, runs, and triples, earning league most valuable player honors.[2][3]

In 2012, Jankowski had a breakout junior year, breaking his previous school record for stolen bases and setting single-season school records in batting average (.414), hits (110), runs (79), and triples (11).[2] In leading the Seawolves to their first ever College World Series appearance, Jankowski earned First Team All-American and America East Player of the Year honors.[2][4] In 2017, Jankowski was inducted into the Stony Brook Hall of Fame.[5]

Professional career

San Diego Padres

Jankowski was drafted in the first round of the 2012 MLB draft by the San Diego Padres; he was signed by the Padres' Northeast Scouting Director, Jim Bretz.[4][6] After just two games with the AZL Padres, he was promoted to the Fort Wayne TinCaps, the Padres' Class A affiliate, for the remainder of the 2012 season. With the TinCaps, Jankowski hit .282 with 17 stolen bases in 59 games. He spent the 2013 season with the Class A-Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm[7] where he batted .286/.356/.355 with one home run, 38 RBIs, and 71 stolen bases in 122 games.

Jankowski began the 2014 as the center fielder for the Double-A San Antonio Missions, but he broke his wrist in a collision with the outfield fence in April.[8] He returned in July with the Rookie League club and worked his way back to the Missions over the season. Jankowski again began 2015 with the Missions, but was promoted to the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas in July. He batted .335 with one home runs, 25 RBIs, and a .413 on-base percentage between the two clubs while playing center field.

Jankowski was promoted to the Padres from the Chihuahuas on August 19, 2015. He replaced Will Venable who had been traded to the Texas Rangers the previous day. As the starting center fielder in his MLB debut in a 9–3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Petco Park on August 21, Jankowski singled off John Lackey in each of his first two plate appearances, drove in a run with his second hit and scored on Yangervis Solarte's two-run fifth-inning homer.[9] He is the first Stony Brook Seawolves position player in the MLB and was the first Padre since Tony Gwynn to record at least two hits and a RBI in his big-league debut.[10] Jankowski played 34 games with the Padres in 2015, including 21 starts in center and six starts in right, and hit .211 with two home runs.[11]

Jankowski made the Padres 25-man roster out of spring training in 2016 and was mostly used early in the year as a late-inning defensive replacement and pinch-hitter, recording only 62 plate appearances before June 19.[12] On that date, regular center fielder Jon Jay suffered a fractured forearm, sending him to the disabled list.[13] Jankowski then became the Padres regular center fielder until the late September call up of Manuel Margot. Jankowski stole home plate twice within the month of August 2016. His first came when Wil Myers was caught in a rundown between first and second base at the back end of a double steal attempt in the eighth inning of a 7–3 home victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on August 1.[14] An initial ruling of fielder's choice was changed to a stolen base the following day. Jankowski stole home again when he broke for the plate on Eric Fryer's return throw to Antonio Bastardo in the eighth inning of a 4–0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on August 10.[15] Jankowski finished the 2016 season with a .245/.332/.313 batting line and 30 stolen bases in 131 games played, including 82 starts.[16]

Jankowski was the Padres Opening Day left fielder in 2017, but he fouled a ball off his foot on April 14, resulting in what was initially diagnosed as a deep bone bruise.[17] After trying to play through the injury, he was eventually diagnosed with a hairline fracture and moved to the disabled list on April 24.[18] Jankowski began a rehab assignment in July and was activated and optioned to El Paso in August, as José Pirela had taken over in left field for the Padres.[19] Jankowski returned to the big league club after the Chihuahuas ended their playoff run in mid-September. Hampered by the injury early in the year, he finished 2017 with a .187 average in 87 Major League plate appearances, and a .268/.358/.325 line for 179 plate appearances in the minors.

Jankowski began the 2018 season with El Paso, but was recalled to the Padres at the end of April when Wil Myers joined Hunter Renfroe on the disabled list.[20] Jankowski had a breakout May, making 21 starts in the outfield while moving into the lead-off role and ending the month with a .305 average and .371 on-base percentage.[21] He credited his batting coaches with a new approach at the plate that lowered his strikeouts.[22] Jankowski stayed with the Padres for the rest of the year as a fourth outfielder and defensive replacement, making 29 starts in right field, 27 starts in center, and 22 starts in left, and appearing in a total of 117 games. At the plate, he batted .259 with a .332 on-base percentage and 4 home runs, setting or matching career highs. He stole a team-high 24 bases at a 77% success rate.[23]

Cincinnati Reds

On October 31, 2019, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for international bonus slot money.[24]

Personal life

Jankowski and his wife, Lindsay, were married in 2017.[25]

Jankowski goes by the nickname "Fred" or "Freddy", using it for his Twitter handle and on his Player's Weekend uniform.[26] The childhood nickname refers to Fred Rogers and Jankowski's daily routine viewing of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.[27][28]

References
  1. Reinhart, Jeff (August 19, 2015). "Lancaster Catholic grad Travis Jankowski being promoted to San Diego Padres". PennLive.com. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  2. "Travis Jankowski". goseawolves.org. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  3. Stires, Sean (August 16, 2011). "Jankowski Named Cape Cod Baseball MVP". College Baseball 360. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  4. Brennan, Sean (June 13, 2012). "Stony Brook's Travis Jankowski lives dream in College World Series". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  5. Center, Bill (May 6, 2017). "Jankowski going into Stony Brook Hall of Fame". MLB.com. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  6. "Padres Make Three Selections in Compensation Round of 2012 Draft". San Diego Padres. Archived from the original on June 21, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  7. "Travis Jankowski Minor League Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  8. Brock, Corey (April 24, 2014). "Padres prospect Jankowski suffers broken wrist". MLB.com. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  9. Brock, Corey (August 22, 2015). "Rookie puts on a show in The Show: Jankowski bangs hits in first two Padres at-bats, beginning audition for 2016". MLB.com. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
  10. Gaine, Chris (August 24, 2015). "Former outfielder Jankowski completes road to 'The Show'". The Statesman (Stony Brook University). Retrieved August 12, 2016.
  11. "Travis Jankowski 2015 Batting Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  12. Horvath, John (October 23, 2016). "Padres PNO (Positives/Negatives/Outlook) Travis Jankowski". EastVillageTimes.com. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  13. Lin, Dennis (June 28, 2016). "Padres' Jay lands on DL with broken forearm". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  14. McCalvy, Adam; Collazo, Carlos (August 2, 2016). "Padres five-run fifth sinks Brewers". MLB.com. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
  15. Cassavell, AJ. "Travis Jankowski steals home for Padres". MLB.com. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
  16. "Travis Jankowski 2016 Batting Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  17. "San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers Box Score, April 3, 2017". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  18. Bloom, Barry (April 27, 2017). "Jankowski could be out for a month or longer". MLB.com. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  19. Sanders, Jeff (August 4, 2017). "First pitch: Padres option Jankowski to El Paso". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  20. Cassavell, AJ (April 29, 2018). "Myers placed on DL with left oblique strain". MLB.com. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  21. Cassavell, AJ (May 20, 2018). "Jankowski thriving in leadoff opportunity". MLB.com. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  22. Acee, Kevin (May 22, 2018). "The new Travis Jankowski sticking to plan as Padres leadoff hitter". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  23. Stevens, Nick. "San Diego Padres 2018 Review: Outfielder Travis Jankowski". FanSided. friarsonbase.com. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  24. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/10/reds-acquire-travis-jankowski.html
  25. Driver, David (July 23, 2016). "Former Crusader Travis Jankowski learning MLB ropes with Padres this summer". LNP. LNP Media Group. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  26. Cassavell, AJ (August 23, 2018). "See the Padres Players' Weekend nicknames". MLB.com. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  27. Gruver, Ed (June 6, 2012). "Jankowski selected by San Diego in MLB Draft". Lancaster Online. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  28. Whisler, John (June 5, 2015). "Missions' Jankowski a sure catch in center field". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
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