With the 429th overall pick in the 2022 MLB first-year player draft, the Red Sox selected Copperas Cove High School shortstop Travis Sanders.
Sanders, 18, is not regarded by Baseball America as one of the top infield prospects in this year’s draft class. The right-handed hitter is currently committed to play college baseball at Texas Tech University.
As a junior at Copperas Cove in 2021, Sanders batted .437 with 12 doubles, six triples, seven home runs, 30 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases en route to being named the First Team All-State shortstop by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association. As a senior in 2022, he was named the 12-6A Offensive Player of the Year.
Per Prep Baseball Report, the 6-foot-1, 185-pounder has a “quiet, balanced stance” at the plate and uses his hands to spray the ball to all fields with consistently hard contact. Perfect Game USA, on the other hand, notes that Sanders “moves well to the ball with nice balanced and body control throughout.” In other words, he has the tools to stick at shortstop.
Sanders, who turns 19 in December, becomes the fourth high school infielder the Red Sox have taken in this year’s draft, joining first-rounder Mikey Romero, second-rounder Cutter Coffey, and 13th-rounder Gavin Kilen.
The allotted slot value for the 429th selection in the 2022 draft comes in at $125,000. Sanders will have until August 1 to decide if he wants to sign with Boston now or rather go to Texas Tech and re-enter the draft in a few years.
(Picture of Travis Sanders: Texas Tech Athletics)
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