Travis Demeritte

Travis Timothy Demeritte (born September 30, 1994) is an American professional baseball second baseman and outfielder for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Career

Texas Rangers

Demeritte was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft out of Winder-Barrow High School in Winder, Georgia. Demeritte made his professional debut with the Arizona League Rangers and spent all of 2013 there, batting .285 with four home runs and 20 RBIs in 39 games. In 2014, he played for the Hickory Crawdads where he batted .211 with 25 home runs and 66 RBIs in 118 games, and began playing second base regularly, having moved from his natural position as shortstop. In 2015, Demeritte returned to Hickory. That June, he tested positive for Furosemide, and was suspended for eighty games. While serving the suspension, Demeritte played in the Dominican Republic and for the Adelaide Bite of the Australian Baseball League, setting the league's single season record for games played (56) and strikeouts (60). Upon his return to Minor League Baseball, Demeritte was demoted to the Spokane Indians, where he finished the season. In 53 games between Hickory and Spokane he batted .232 with five home runs and 19 RBIs. Demeritte began 2016 with the High Desert Mavericks. In a June 2016 game, against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, Demeritte was hit by a pitch, an action which caused a bench-clearing brawl. The next month, he appeared in the All-Star Futures Game.

Atlanta Braves

On July 27, 2016, the Rangers traded Demeritte to the Braves for Lucas Harrell and Darío Álvarez. He was assigned to the Carolina Mudcats. In 123 games between High Desert and Carolina he slashed .266/.361/.554 with 28 home runs and 70 RBIs. Demeritte spent 2017 with the Mississippi Braves where he compiled a .231 batting average with 15 home runs and 45 RBIs in 124 games, and he returned to Mississippi in 2018, slashing .222/.316/.416 with 17 home runs and 63 RBIs in 128 games. During the 2018 season, Demeritte began playing the outfield. At the end of the season, Demeritte was named the Mississippi Braves player of the year. He began 2019 with the Gwinnett Stripers. At midseason, Demeritte was selected to the Triple-A All-Star Game.

Detroit Tigers

On July 31, 2019, Demeritte along with Joey Wentz were traded to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Shane Greene. At the time of the trade, he was hitting .286 with 24 home runs and 74 RBI for the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers. On August 1, the Tigers selected Demeritte's contract and promoted him to the major leagues to take the place of outfielder Nicholas Castellanos, who was also traded on July 31.

Demeritte made his major league debut on August 2 versus the Texas Rangers, hitting a triple off Lance Lynn for his first MLB hit. On August 8 against the Kansas City Royals, Demeritte hit his first major league home run off Josh Staumont. In 169 at-bats for the 2019 Tigers, Demeritte hit .225 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI.