It was an unsolicited comment from Texas manager Buck Showalter in a pre-game press briefing: "Travis Buck will be Oakland’s left fielder next season."
That must have come from the Rangers’ scouting reports, because Travis Buck hasn’t played against the manager named Buck. The statement certainly has a chance to be true, or least it did until a hernia sidelined Double-A Midland’s left fielder in mid-July.
There’s a direct precedent for Buck, who will be 23 in November, to advance that far, that fast. Last year’s RockHounds left fielder was Andre Ethier, who’s now a major league regular for the Dodgers.
"He’s a lot like Andre Ethier was there," said Keith Lieppman, the Athletics’ director of player development. "They’re real similar. They both went to ASU (Arizona State). They have tremendous bat control. They hit the ball all over the field. They can fight tough pitches off and keep at-bats alive. They let the ball travel. They don’t commit too early. They’ve got great eyes.
"We project Travis almost the way we did with Ethier. He was playing good enough to promote him. They’re really missing him in that lineup."
Despite those similarities, their timeline isn’t a direct comparison. Ethier, a second-round draft pick, was a year older when he spent all of last season at Midland. Buck, taken 36th overall as a supplemental first-round draft pick in 2005, this year earned an in-season promotion from high Class A Stockton. Earned as in "Why did it take so long?" because Buck batted .349 with three homers, 26 runs batted in and two stolen bases in the California League.
The 6’2", 205-pounder arrived at Arizona State as a first baseman, but moved to right field there. Oakland switched him to left field, where he isn’t expected to have as strong an arm or as much power as a right fielder would. In three years for the Sun Devils, he stole 52 bases but hit just 19 homers.
Before he was injured, Buck had picked up his power and speed outputs at Midland, with four homers and nine stolen bases to go with 22 RBI and a .302 average.
Buck, who bats and throws left-handed, is well aware of his limitations. He has described his offensive approach this way: "If you hit it well, sure, it’s going to go out, but I have to concentrate on hitting line drives and ground balls up the middle."
He has been on the fast track almost since the day he was drafted. It took just nine pro games for Buck to be promoted from short-season Class A Vancouver (.361, two homers, nine RBI) to low Class A Kane County. In the Midwest League, he batted .341 with four homers and 22 RBI in 32 games.
For now, Lieppman said, "We hope he’s able to go soon, so we could send him to the (Arizona) fall league. We sent Andre to the fall league, and he really took off."
- Lary BUMP
