Travis Mattair Stats & Scouting Report

AB	2967
AVG	.245
OBP	.316
SLG	.372
HR	65

Full name Travis Mattair
Born 12/21/1988 in Kennewick, WA
Profile Ht.: 6'5" / Wt.: 210 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Southridge
Drafted in the 2nd round (83rd overall) by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2007 (signed for $395,000).

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While Washington prep righthanders Greg Peavey and Julien Sampson (breaking ball went backward) vexed scouts this spring, Mattair came off the basketball court and onto the baseball diamond and emerged as the state's top high school prospect. He's athletic to a fault, in that he's never focused on baseball, and he was good enough as a basketball point guard to attract Division II scholarship interest. His power potential makes him a much better prospect in baseball. He has leverage and obvious strength in his swing and has shown power to all fields. His lack of experience was exposed at showcase events by pitchers with consistently better stuff than any he had seen in southeast Washington, but scouts are confident his athleticism will allow him to adjust once he focuses on baseball. He's a shortstop now who profiles as a third baseman as a pro. He's committed to Oregon State.

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Mattair was the Phillies' second-round pick in 2007, signing for $395,000. His athleticism and power potential motivated the Phils to lure him away from Oregon State, and he has the leverage in his swing to project above-average power. His inexperience has shown since signing, however. He played basketball in addition to baseball in high school, attracting Division II scholarship offers. His lack of wood-bat experience has led to a long swing and a resulting long adjustment period, but he made progress after a slow start at Lakewood in 2008. He's finding his swing and his athleticism helped him shorten up a bit. He has the bat speed to overcome some holes in his swing caused by his long levers. Defensively, Mattair should be an average third baseman at least, with arm strength and solid range, and could be a plus defender with work. While Mattair made progress as the year went on, he needs to get stronger and add some polish. The Phillies expect him to repeat low Class A in 2009 and turn some of his flashes of power into more consistent production.
Mattair was considered a better basketball player for much of his high school career, but once he decided to concentrate on baseball full-time, he took off and emerged as Washington's top prep prospect for the 2007 draft. A series of strong workouts for clubs helped his stock, and he went 83rd overall and signed for $395,000. Strong and extremely athletic, Mattair has outstanding leverage in his swing that could produce 25-30 homers annually. He has plus bat speed with a lot of strength. His lack of experience showed when he had problems hitting with wood bats during his debut, but he still has enormous upside. The natural comparison in Philadelphia is to that of Scott Rolen for Mattair's outstanding athleticism, arm strength, power and work ethic. He's a potential plus defender on the corner and could be the Phillies' third baseman of the future, though it could take him time to develop. Mattair's struggles offensively will play a part in where he starts 2008. He wasn't much better with the bat during instructional league, and might wind up in extended spring to open the season.