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Jun 04, 2012 - Jun 06, 2012     
TBD - ,
Travis Jankowski
OF 6-3 190   L/R
FB
60
40
OF
IF
1B
C
Pop
Range
CB
SL
CH
Split
Knuckle
2/23/12: No player in this year’s college class has enhanced his standing for the 2012 draft more than the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Jankowski. Undrafted and lightly-recruited out of a Pennsylvania high school in 2009, Jankowski played a key role for Stony Brook as a sophomore, leading the Seawolves to a school-record 42 wins while enjoying a breakout season of his own. He hit .355-2-38 (compared to .262-0-9 as a freshman), set a new school standard with 30 stolen bases and played a flawless center field. But Jankowski was still a relative unknown nationally when he rejoined the Cape Cod League’s Bourne Braves last summer. He played a bit role in 2010 for Bourne as an end-of-season pick-up, and showed little indication then that he would emerge as a premium talent one year later. But Jankowski got bigger and stronger, and re-tooled his swing as a sophomore at Stony Brook, and the payoff was a surprising MVP season on the Cape. He topped the circuit in runs (31), hits (57) and triples (7), while hitting .329-0-22 with 15 stolen bases. Jankowski’s stock for the 2012 draft skyrocketed off his performance on the Cape, and his game and physical profile have been compared by scouts on many counts to that of a bigger, stronger version of Jacoby Ellsbury at a comparable stage of development. Ellsbury was a first-round pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2005 out of Oregon State, and emerged last season as an all-star outfielder in the American League. Jankowski can run and hit on a par with Ellsbury, and has the same emerging power potential, even as he failed to go deep even once last summer on the Cape and has homered just twice in two years at Stony Brook. His swing is geared more to controlling the strike zone, stroking line drives to all fields and reaching base in his role as a leadoff hitter, but his lefthanded swing has some lift and his raw power potential should materialize as he grows into his live, athletic frame and turns on balls more routinely. Jankowski’s 6.5 speed is his best present tool, and an asset in all phases of his game. He’s an advanced base runner and quality defender in center field, where he has excellent range with his superior reads and jumps. His arm strength is considered just average, and may end up becoming his weakest tool once his power evolves. Led by Jankowski, the 2012 season could be the greatest ever in Stony Brook’s modest baseball history. The Seawolves begin play on Friday and with the return of Jankowski and 19 other lettermen are primed to not only break their school record for wins in a season for the second year in a row, but become a factor in the draft like never before. Stony Brook has produced only 12 draft picks through the years—including ex-major league all-star closer Joe Nathan (Giants/1995, sixth round), but none higher than third-rounder Chris Flinn (Rays/2001)—and Jankowski, along with several of his teammates, should easily change those dynamics this season.