Travis Paul Jankowski (born June 15, 1991) is an American professional baseball first base coach and former outfielder. He is currently the first base coach for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and Tampa Bay Rays.
Jankowski was born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He attended Stony Brook University, where he led the Seawolves to a Cinderella appearance in the 2012 College World Series after upsetting the LSU Tigers. As a junior, Jankowski led college baseball in hits, runs scored and triples. That same year, the Padres selected him in the first round of the 2012 MLB draft.
As he rose through the Padres' farm system, Jankowski developed an offensive style of play that favored base stealing. He made his MLB debut in 2015. In his first full season the following year, he led the Padres with 30 stolen bases. He missed significant time to injuries over the next few years and was traded to the Reds following the 2019 season. Jankowski served as the fourth outfielder for the Phillies in 2021 and the Mets in 2022. He had a one-game stint with the Mariners after the Mets released him midseason.
Jankowski signed with the Rangers in 2023 and led the team in stolen bases en route to the franchise's first-ever World Series championship. Following a season-ending injury to Adolis García in the World Series, Jankowski started in his place and had a multi-hit, multi-RBI showing in the Rangers' Game 4 win.
Early life Jankowski was born on June 15, 1991, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His mother, Kelly, played softball, while his father, Paul, was an outfielder for Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Jankowski and his older brother, Tyler, were both coached by their father from a young age. In addition to weight training before school in the morning and team practice in the afternoon, Jankowski would practice batting by hitting into a net that his father built in their basement. As a Pennsylvania native, Jankowski and his family grew up supporting the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB).
While attending Lancaster Catholic High School, Jankowski played on both the baseball team, as an outfielder, and on the gridiron football team, as a wide receiver. He battled a series of injuries during his high school career, including a collarbone fracture, a concussion, and a sprained ankle. Nevertheless, during his junior season, Jankowski had a .471 batting average, with 25 runs scored, 20 runs batted in (RBIs), and 24 stolen bases. The Associated Press named him to the All-State First Team that season, and he helped take Lancaster Catholic to a district championship.
College career Following his high school graduation in 2009, Jankowski committed to play college baseball at Stony Brook University on a partial athletic scholarship. Jankowski's slender frame, standing at and , made him a more appealing candidate for college baseball than football, and Stony Brook was the only NCAA Division I university to offer him a scholarship. Jankowski made his college baseball debut in the second game of the Stony Brook 2010 baseball season, scoring two hits in two at bats against Akron. His first collegiate RBI came shortly afterwards, against Alabama. On March 20, 2010, Jankowski scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of a 3–2 victory over Iona, running home on a wild pitch from Matt Petro. Later that season, he scored the game-winning run in a 3–2 extra innings game against Albany. Defensively, his performance in center field against North Carolina State helped take Stony Brook to its first ever NCAA tournament win. Jankowski finished his freshman season with a .262 average and 20 runs in 47 games, including 23 starts. He also led the team in stolen bases, with 13 in 14 attempts.
The summer between his freshman and sophomore year, Jankowski played collegiate summer baseball with the Marion Bobcats of the Kitty League. In 40 games with them, he led the league with a .484 batting average, 62 hits, and 45 stolen bases. Later in the summer, he was invited to play for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League. In 26 at bats with Bourne, Jankowski scored five runs for a .346 average. He returned to Stony Brook as a sophomore in 2011, starting 53 games in center field. In 115 chances, Jankowski did not make a single error. Offensively, he set a school record for most stolen bases in one season, with 30 in 34 attempts, and he was 14th among all college baseball players in the nation for stolen bases. His .355 batting average was the second-highest in the America East Conference. At the end of the year, Jankowski was named to the All-America East First Team and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Northeast Region second team. He was invited to rejoin the Bourne Braves in 2011, where his run production increased dramatically. Whereas Jankowski had no RBIs for the Braves in 2010, he scored 14 in the first half of the 2011 season. At the end of the season, he was named the CCBL's Most Valuable Player, leading the league with 57 hits, 31 runs scored, and seven triples, and was named to the league's Hall of Fame in 2025.
2012 proved to be a breakout season for Jankowski, who was named a preseason All-American by Baseball America and Perfect Game USA. Throughout the regular season, he led the nation in hits, runs scored, and triples, and was within the top 10 in batting average and stolen bases. In the postseason, Jankowski served as the Seawolves' leadoff hitter during their Cinderella run to the 2012 College World Series (CWS). He scored four hits in Stony Brook's 7–2 victory over Louisiana State to take the Baton Rouge Super Regional and reach the CWS. The team's run came to an end in the CWS opener, when UCLA trounced Stony Brook 9–1. Nevertheless, Stony Brook coach Matt Senk was named national Coach of the Year, and Jankowski became Stony Brook's first ever, first round MLB draft pick when he was drafted 44th overall by the San Diego Padres in the supplemental first round of the 2012 MLB draft. Jankowski was inducted into the Stony Brook Hall of Fame in 2017.
Professional career San Diego Padres (2012–2019) Minor leagues
The San Diego Padres selected Jankowski 44th overall in the 2012 MLB draft. He was the first of four Stony Brook players selected in that year's MLB draft, and the only outfielder. Jankowski, taken in the first round, was the highest MLB draft pick for the America East Conference since Carlos Peña, who attended Northeastern, was selected 10th overall in 1998. He and fellow Stony Brook player Maxx Tissenbaum both signed with the team on June 27, 2012, with Jankowski taking a signing bonus of $975,000.
After signing, Jankowski was assigned to the rookie-level Arizona League Padres. After only two games, in which he went two for eight and scored four RBI, the Padres promoted Jankowski to the Single-A Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Midwest League. Jankowski took some time within his rookie season of Minor League Baseball to find his stride, but began to settle into a rhythm by August, improving both his batting average and stolen base record, and he ended the regular season with a 17-game hitting streak. Jankowski appeared in the postseason for the TinCaps as well, driving in two runs against Noah Syndergaard, then pitching for the Lansing Lugnuts. In the second game of the Midwest League championship series against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Jankowski was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat, fracturing his rib. He attempted to stay in the game, but was replaced by Mike Gallic at the end of the inning. On September 15, Jankowski was officially placed on the disabled list, effectively ending his rookie season. At the time, his hitting streak had been extended to 23 games, the longest in TinCaps history. In 256 plate appearances, Jankowski batted .282 for Fort Wayne, with one home run and 23 RBI, and he stole 17 bases in 59 games.
Jankowski entered the 2013 season as the Padres' No. 21 prospect, as decided by Baseball America. He was assigned to the High-A Lake Elsinore Storm of the California League, where he continued to develop his base-stealing abilities. Through mid-August, Jankowski led all professional baseball players in the United States with 71 stolen bases for the season; internationally, only Freddy Guzmán, who was playing at the time for the Delfines del Carmen of the Mexican League, had more. On August 18, Jankowski suffered a sprained ankle in a swimming pool, ending his season early. In 556 plate appearances for Lake Elsinore, Jankowski batted .286, with one home run and 38 RBI. That September, he was named a California League Postseason All-Star.
The following year, Jankowski was assigned to the Double-A San Antonio Missions. After a strong start to the season, hitting .254 in his first 67 at bats, Jankowski fractured his wrist by running headlong into the outfield fence while in pursuit of a fly ball. He underwent surgery for the injury, which fractured his elbow as well as his wrist, and, after a series of rehab assignments, returned to San Antonio for 10 games in August. Limited to only 46 minor league games in 2014, Jankowski batted .236, with 15 RBIs and 27 runs scored in 165 at bats. Jankowski later admitted that he had pushed himself too hard to return to the field in 2014, and that he continued to hone his technique the following offseason so that he could enter 2015 at full strength. He returned to Double-A in 2015, where he impressed manager Jamie Quirk in the outfield through a series of impressive catches, earning the nickname "Secretary of Defense". In late July, after hitting .316 with 23 stolen bases, Jankowski was promoted to the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas of the Pacific Coast League. In 24 games there, he hit .392, with nine stolen bases and eight extra-base hits.
Major leagues Ahead of the September roster expansion, the Padres called Jankowski up in mid-August, serving as both an immediate replacement for Will Venable, who had been traded to the Texas Rangers, and as a possible future center field option to replace likely trade target B. J. Upton. Jankowski made his major league debut on August 22, 2015, batting ninth in the order against the St. Louis Cardinals. He singled in his first two at bats, joining John Sipin and Wiki González as the third Padre in franchise history to record hits in his first two major league plate appearances. He also became the first Padre since Tony Gwynn to record two hits and an RBI in his debut game. The 9–3 victory ended up becoming the Padres' 500th win at their home stadium of Petco Park. Jankowski's first major league home run came the following month, knocking in three runs against the San Francisco Giants on September 13. Those would be the only runs scored by the Padres that day, in an eventual 10–3 loss. In his first year in the major leagues, Jankowski batted .211 in 90 at bats, with two home runs and 12 RBIs, and stole two bases in 34 games.