One Year Wonder Pt. 30: Travis Lakins

Our next recent One-Year Wonder is reliever Travis Lakins.  Lakins was drafted by the Red Sox in the sixth round of the 2015 Draft out of Big 10 power house Ohio State.  Lakins moved steadily through the minors, accumulating impressive pitching numbers.  His best season was in 2018 when he had a 2.32 ERA in 54.1 innings pitched over 36 games.  

Lakins made his Major League debut in a doubleheader against the Tigers.  He pitched 2.2 innings, giving up a run and striking out two while walking none.  Lakins came up a couple of times throughout  the season.  He started three games as an opener, which Boston experimented with heavily in 2019 and 2020.  Lakins made it into 16 games in 2019, throwing 23.1 innings.  He had a record of 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA.  He struck out 18, while walking 10.  He looked like a potential bullpen piece going forward.

Lakins was traded to the Cubs in January of 2020 for Jhonny Pereda, mostly in order to open up a roster spot.  He never pitched for the Cubs as he was placed on waivers ten days later.  The Orioles snatched him up and were able to keep him on their roster.  He had a very good season in 2020, pitching to a 2.81 ERA in 22 games.  Boston definitely could have used him that year as their bullpen was in shambles.  Unfortunately, he has not been able to replicate that success in the next two seasons.  He pitched in just six games in 2022 and has yet to catch on with a new team.

His one season in Boston was decent, but it was definitely not enough to unseat All-Time One-Year Wonder Right-Handed Reliever Takashi Saito.