Scott Long
10/9/20
Travis d’Arnaud was a first round pick in 2007, and was hyped up to be one of the league’s best catchers for years to come. However, for much of his career that has not been the case, until recently as he is finally living up to the hype with the Atlanta Braves.
After being drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2007, he was shipped to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2010, as the centerpiece of a trade that netted the Phillies former Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay. However, that wasn’t it for d’Arnaud, who made more headlines when he was the centerpiece of the R.A. Dickey trade with the New York Mets in 2012, along with Noah Syndergaard, making this the second time in two years he had been traded for a Cy Young Award winner, despite still never having played a major league game yet.
Once arriving on the Mets, the hype for d’Arnaud grew even more as he was expected to be the team’s catcher of the future. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out that way for d’Arnaud and the Mets, despite showing flashes of stardom throughout his tenure with the Mets. Every time d’Arnaud looked like he was getting ready to take the next step, an injury would come, forcing him to miss significant time, and all the past progress would seem to disappear when he’d return. After seven disappointing seasons with the Mets, d’Arnaud was designated for assignment on April 28, 2019.
d’Arnaud then signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a brief period, but was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays after appearing in only one game for cash. In 92 games with the rays, d’Arnaud hit 16 home runs with 67 RBIs, making several teams think he might still have a chance to live up to his once widely sought-after potential.
The Atlanta Braves were the team who decided to take a flier on him, signing him to a 2-year $16 million deal after the 2019 season, and the move has paid off. d’Arnaud had his breakout this season this year in the pandemic shortened year, hitting .321 with 9 home runs and 34 RBIs. But it hasn’t stopped there, as d’Arnaud has been a force to be reckoned with in the postseason hitting in the middle of Atlanta’s lineup and coming up in the clutch, batting .600 with 2 home runs and 7 RBIs, leading them to the National League Championship Series.
Despite taking longer than expected to make an impact, the Braves have seen firsthand just how talented d’Arnaud truly is. Atlanta hopes d’Arnaud can continue swinging a hot bat for the rest of the postseason, in order to make a run towards a World Series ring.