Travis Buck
| AB | 810 |
|---|---|
| AVG | .243 |
| OBP | .316 |
| SLG | .399 |
| HR | 20 |
- Full name Travis George Buck
- Born 11/18/1983 in Richland, WA
- Profile Ht.: 6'2" / Wt.: 230 / Bats: L / Throws: R
- School Arizona State
- Debut 04/02/2007
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Drafted in the C-1 round (36th overall) by the Oakland Athletics in 2005 (signed for $950,000).
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Buck had the highest profile of any college outfielder heading into the 2005 season. He hit .373-9-58 as an all-Pacific-10 Conference performer in 2004 and hit .412 in leading Team USA to the gold medal at the World University Games last summer. He looked like a sure first-round pick but hasn't had the year scouts envisioned, even though he has been Arizona State's best player and leading hitter at .389. He's handled the expectations of being in the limelight, but he hasn't hit for the same power he's shown in the past and his run production is down, a factor of being pitched around. He's still a hitting machine who sprays line drives to all fields and handles lefthanded pitching. His present power is below-average but he has power potential if he gets stronger. He shows respectable wood bat power in batting practice and had little difficulty hitting with wood for Team USA. He has all the actions and other tools to play in the big leagues, though his speed is just average. He can play all three outfield positions and gets good jumps, though he will likely end up in left field as his arm strength has decreased slightly each year at ASU. A baseball rat, he'll do whatever it takes to win, which is why he agreed to take a turn at third base this spring when the Sun Devils had a gaping hole at the position.
Top Rankings
Organization Prospect Rankings
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The 2006 season was more of the same for Buck, who has been an elite prospect since high school. He was part of a banner class of Washington state prep players in 2002 that included Red Sox lefthander Jon Lester, Pirates farmhand Brent Lillibridge and Giants prospect Travis Ishikawa, among others. Buck fell from top-round consideration in the 2002 draft after a modest senior season, going in the 23rd round to the Mariners, so he went to Arizona State. He had been an infielder but played outfield exclusively his first two seasons with the Sun Devils, then saw time at third base in 2005, when he helped the team reach the College World Series. Since signing with the Athletics as the 36th overall pick that year for $950,000, he has hit .328/.399/.511 with a staggering 53 doubles in 497 pro at-bats. He was leading the minors with 39 two-baggers in 2006 when he went down with an abdominal injury in July that ended his season. He returned briefly in the Arizona Fall League before being sidelined again, and his injury was finally diagnosed properly as a sports hernia. While hitting comes naturally to Buck, he works hard at his craft, with an inner drive to be a great hitter. He has quick hands, strong wrists and outstanding pitch recognition. He has the bat speed to turn on good fastballs, yet trusts his hands enough to wait out breaking balls. The result is that he stays balanced, uses the whole field with a repeatable, low-maintenance swing and lashes line drives from foul line to foul line. As he gets stronger and learns to use his lower half better, many of his doubles should start going over the fence. Oakland conservatively projects Buck to produce Rusty Greer-like numbers with .300 batting averages and 15-20 homers annually. He covers the plate well and isn't afraid to take a walk. A solid athlete, Buck is a good baserunner who's improving as a basestealer. Scouts long have projected home run pop for Buck. One scout projected his power as a 65 on the 20-80 scouting scale when he was in high school. Yet he hit just 19 homers in three years at Arizona State and has just 10 in 125 pro games. The A's believe Buck's power will emerge as he continues to fill out and gain experience. Their theory is that players such as Buck, Daric Barton and Kurt Suzuki--their top three prospects--develop more home run power because they hit the ball hard consistently and control the strike zone. Buck's defense is just OK. His speed plays better on the bases than in the outfield, and his fringy arm fits best in left field. He compensates for his lack of arm strength with good accuracy. Buck should be fully recovered from his sports hernia and at full strength for spring training. It was his presence that made his former Sun Devils teammate, Andre Ethier, expendable in the Milton Bradley trade in December 2005. Buck is a bigger version of Ethier with similar tools but more projected power. While more minor league at-bats wouldn't hurt--he should start the year at Triple-A Sacramento--Buck should be big league-ready midway through the 2007 season. -
Buck entered 2005 ranked as one of the top college hitters available in his draft class, but he hit just .246 in his first 15 games. He rebounded to hit .419 afterward, helping Arizona State to the College World Series, but his early slump and disappointing power (six homers) dropped him to the A's with the 36th overall pick. After signing for $950,000, he hit .346 in pro ball. Buck has a knack for hitting, using a compact, line-drive swing to tag balls to all fields. He makes good adjustments from at-bat to at-bat and understands the value of a walk. He's a good outfielder with solid range and arm strength. He draws praise for his work ethic. Buck hit just three home runs in his debut, and needs to get more loft into has swing while incorporating his lower half better. Oakland thinks he can hit 20-25 homers annually once he improves his ability to recognize which pitches he can drive. The A's have a glut of good-hitting corner outfielders in their system, but Buck's bat was too good to pass up. He'll begin the year in high Class A.
Minor League Top Prospects
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Buck played just a month and a half in the Cal League before getting a promotion to Double-A, barely staying long enough to qualify for this list--but he made plenty of noise in his brief stint with Stockton. Though he hit just three homers in 126 at-bats, Buck proved to be a doubles machine and posted a 1.003 on base-plus-slugging percentage. A pure hitter who laces line drives to all fields and has excellent plate discipline, Buck can turn on quality fastballs or wait and square up breaking balls just as easily. He never showed as much home run power at Arizona State as scouts expected, and he has just 10 homers in 497 pro at-bats, but the A's continue to believe the power will come as he incorporates his lower half into his swing more. Defensively, he has solid range and a good arm for a left fielder. -
The third 2005 first-round pick among the league's top five prospects, Buck came to the TL in May after just 34 games in the high Class A California League. His season ended in mid-July, however, when he developed a sports hernia. The Athletics decided not to try to rush him back, focusing instead on getting him healthy for the Arizona Fall League. Buck made a strong impression in his two months. He's a well-rounded lefthanded hitter who handled lefty pitching, didn't strike out too much and spread the ball all over the field. Most managers expect him to add power as he matures. Buck's arm is his weakest tool, but his overall defense in left field was solid. "Your first impression is that he's a big slug who can hit and not do anything else," said a scout with a National League club, "but he runs better than you expect." -
Six 2005 first-rounders played in the MWL this summer, and Oakland's duo of Pennington and Buck stood out the most. Beloit righthander Matt Garza also made the top 10, and Wisconsin catcher Jeff Clement would have ranked near the top had he qualified. Fort Wayne lefty Cesar Ramos and Quad City righty Mark McCormick would have missed out even if they had logged enough innings. A baseball rat like Pennington, Buck is a pure line-drive hitter who controls the strike zone. He has some strength and a quick bat, so he just needs to add loft to his swing to develop more home run power after going deep just once in 32 MWL games. His speed and arm are just average, so his bat will have to carry him and he may wind up in left field.
