Travis Banwart

From BR Bullpen

TravisBanwart.jpg

Travis Jordan Banwart

BR Minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Starting pitcher Travis Banwart began his professional career in 2007. He played at the Triple-A level from 2009 to 2014 before signing to play in the Korea Baseball Organization.

Banwart was All-State as a high school senior. As a college freshman, he was 8-1 with a 2.09 ERA. Collegiate Baseball named him a Freshman All-American. He tied Ryan Tatusko for 6th in the Missouri Valley Conference in wins and was second to Mike Pelfrey in ERA. He tied Dallas Buck for 19th in NCAA Division I in ERA. He fell to 9-4, 3.87 as a sophomore. He tied for second in the MVC in victories. He was a superb 3-2, 1.06 that summer for the Wareham Gatemen. Had he qualified, he would have been third in the Cape Cod League in ERA. As a junior, Travis had a 10-5, 2.68 record and whiffed 111 in 110 2/3 IP. He was second in the MVC in strikeouts and tied for second in wins; he was named All-Conference.

He was drafted by the Oakland A's in the 4th round of the 2007 amateur draft, just ahead of Charlie Furbush. The signing scout was Jeremy Schied. He made his pro debut with the Kane County Cougars, going 2-1 with a save and a 2.60 ERA, walking only 10 in 45 IP. He split 2008 between Kane County (2-3, 2.38) and the Stockton Ports (2-4, 4.45). In 2009, he was 10-5 with a 4.89 ERA for the Midland RockHounds and allowed 7 runs in 6 innings in a loss to the Sacramento River Cats. He tied Ernesto Frieri and Anthony Lerew for 8th in the Texas League in wins and tied Tyson Ross for fifth-most wins in the A's system. His 13 wild pitches were one shy of TL leader Trevor Reckling.

In 2010, Banwart split time between Midland (5-5, 2.92) and Sacramento (4-2, 4.81), going from 77 K in 2009 to 130. He tied for 7th among Oakland minor leaguers in wins and was 5th in Ks (behind Shawn Haviland, Dan Straily, Ben Hornbeck and Justin Marks). He then had a 4-1, 3.86 fall for the Phoenix Desert Dogs. He tied Scott Barnes, Josh Collmenter, Marc Rzepczynski and Ryan Verdugo for the Arizona Fall League win lead. His first full year at AAA when he was 9-9 with a 4.63 ERA for Sacramento. He tied Jeremy Hefner, Will Inman and Adam Ottavino for 6th in the 2011 PCL with 120 strikeouts. Among Oakland farmhands, he was 4th behind Robert Gilliam, A.J. Griffin and Straily.

The Wichita native had a 9-5, 3.85 record and two saves for the 2012 River Cats. He was 5th in the 2012 Pacific Coast League in ERA (between Verdugo and Greg Smith). Among A's minor leaguers, he was 8th in ERA and tied for fifth in wins. In 2013, he was 10-5 with a 4.60 ERA in 29 games (23 starts) for Sacramento. He tied Chris Dwyer, Sonny Gray and Brian Sanches for 6th in the 2013 PCL in wins and was 5th with 125 strikeouts (between James Paxton and Brian Flynn). He was 5th in the A's chain in whiffs (between Bruce Billings and Raul Alcantara) and tied Gray, Sean Murphy and Seth Streich for 6th in victories.

After going 5-2 with a 3.13 ERA in 16 starts for the Columbus Clippers in 2014, he signed with SK Wyverns of the KBO and went 9-1 with a 3.10 ERA in 11 starts there. Overall, he was 14-3 with a 3.06 ERA in 27 starts that year. Back with SK Wyverns for 2015, Banwart went 5-3 with a 4.63 ERA in 12 starts. He joined the KT Wiz for 2016 and went 6-13 with a 5.88 ERA in 26 starts. In the Cleveland Indians system in 2017, he went 3-5 with a 5.54 ERA in 18 games (10 starts) for the Akron RubberDucks and Triple A Columbus Clippers. He moved to the independent ranks for 2018, going 8-4 with a 2.24 ERA in 20 starts for the Wichita Wingnuts. He played for the independent Long Island Ducks (3-1, 1.91 ERA in 6 starts), the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (1-4, 6.30 ERA in 6 starts) and the Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican League (5-2, 7.15 ERA in 9 starts) in 2019 to wrap up his career.

In the affiliated minors, Banwart went 61-47 with a 4.18 ERA in 212 games (172 starts). In 996 2/3 innings, he allowed 1,022 hits and 345 walks (1.372 WHIP), while striking out 803 batters. At all levels, he went 102-76 with a 4.22 ERA in 311 games (270 starts). In 1,518 innings, he allowed 1,590 hits and 511 walks (1.384 WHIP), while striking out 1,227 batters.

His brother, Dalton Banwart, played at the collegiate level.

Sources[edit]

Retrieved from "https://www.baseball-reference.com/bpv/index.php?title=Travis_Banwart&oldid=1404993"