BALTIMORE – Around baseball, a lot of hitters are putting together great months. There’s Mike Trout, who has seven home runs this May. Or Joey Votto, who’s reaching base more than half of the time. In New York, Michael Conforto and Aaron Judge are crushing baseballs with regularity.
And yet of all the hitters in MLB, Devon Travis has the most extra-base hits this month: one home run and 14 doubles. This has to be the best stretch of his professional career, right?
"I don’t know," Travis said. "I don’t even really know what exactly the numbers are."
They’re impressive. In 18 games this month Travis has 15 extra-base hits, more than Anthony Rizzo, Michael Brantley and Andrew McCutchen have on the season. It adds up to a .369/.382/.632 May slash line.
That’s not to say that Travis is the best hitter in baseball, or even that he’s having the best month, but considering that he began the month with a .130/.193/.195 slash line and just two extra-base hits, his rapid turnaround stands out even more.
Perhaps surprisingly, this success isn’t the product of a change in approach. In fact, Travis says he didn’t change anything about his swing before his hot streak began.
"I truthfully haven’t, it’s just that when you’re having success it’s a lot easier to stick with your approach," he said. "Just continuing to trust. That was the biggest work during the struggle, and it has to be the biggest work when you’re going good, too."
Travis began the year with a career .301 average and .811 OPS, so it’s no surprise to see him produce.
"I’ve been feeling pretty good," he said. "I’m just trying to stick with the approach, trust the process and thankfully the results have been on my side lately."
Devon Travis is enjoying a terrific May after a slow start to the season. (Gail Burton/AP)
The Blue Jays have dabbled in plenty of small ball of late, and had Travis bunt against the Atlanta Braves last Tuesday. Thanks to his three-run homer Sunday no small ball was required.
“I can’t believe we didn’t have the chance to bunt him for crying out loud,” John Gibbons joked.
Entering the season, the biggest question surrounding Travis wasn’t his bat but rather the health of his right knee. He underwent off-season surgery to remove a small flap of cartilage that was caught in his right knee joint. More problematic was the bone bruise he suffered on the same knee late in the 2016 season.
To this point in the season, Travis has felt strong physically, good enough to play in 39 of the Blue Jays’ 45 games. That, more than his recent success at the plate, has been the most encouraging element of his 2017 season.
"This is sweet, for sure,” he said. “To be able to play every day and play without pain. I can show up to the yard every day and I can focus on baseball and not worry about how my knee’s feeling or if I’m going to make it through the day.
“It’s a beautiful thing. I’m just so happy to be healthy and out here playing."
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