One of the highest rated players in Texas Tech’s 2022 recruiting class, Travis Sanders got to campus in the fall of 2022, choosing to come to Lubbock over an opportunity with the Boston Red Sox, who selected Sanders with their 14th round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.
Deciding to come to Lubbock instead of the dream opportunity to play professional baseball is something that plenty of highly touted high school baseball players have to deal with, but for Sanders, it was a tough decision.
“Probably one of the toughest decisions I've ever made in my life,” Sanders said. “I made a commitment to myself, this team and these coaches and I just wanted to be here and show out for the city of Lubbock.”
Sanders, out of Copperas Cove, is likely to be a relatively new name for most Red Raiders after earning his first start at Tech since his arrival on Saturday in the 29-3 win over Gardner-Webb, over a year and a half since his arrival in Lubbock.
A 3-5 day with three doubles, three runs scored along with two RBIs and a walk on Saturday was a nice introduction to Texas Tech fans for Sanders, but it’s been a long time coming for the talented infielder.
Sanders missed all of 2023 with a lower back injury that revealed itself just a week before opening day in mid-February, costing him his entire true freshman season.
“I fractured my back a week before the season,” Sanders said. “I didn’t need surgery or anything, but my recovery process was ten weeks, so I was going to miss the whole season, so we decided to medically redshirt.”
Not the only infielder who dealt with a similar situation during the 2023 offseason as Jake Dukart, the uber-experienced Oregon State transfer dealt with something similar to Sanders, but that cost Dukart his collegiate career in his final season of eligibility.
Being one of many pre-season injuries for the Red Raiders, Sanders was held out of the game that he’s played for his entire life, taking a toll on him mentally during an eight-week period where he couldn’t do much more than sit and wait for health to return.
“It was definitely one of the toughest times of my life, I’ve never been injured before,” Sanders said. “I'm blessed every day, I thank God. It was really tough for me. Knowing that, you know, my back was fractured and my back's a big part of your body. And just the recovery, the trainers and you know the coaches and the support I had behind my back made it really easy for me.”
While his teammates were in Gainesville, Florida for the Gainesville Regional, Sanders was cleared for a return to the field, setting up a summer in the California Collegiate League, a wood bat summer league that he, Damian Bravo and Zane Petty played in over the summer.
During his time with the Healdsburg Prune Packers, Sanders used it to get right and get back to playing speed, setting him up for a strong start to the season with the Red Raiders.
“I got my feet up under me again,” Sanders said. “It felt nice, started a little slow the first month or so but the second month, I kicked back in, getting my timing back. It was real nice playing four or five times a week and just getting my feet up and running again and getting prepared to come back out here.”
Sanders looks to continue a solid start to his redshirt freshman season with his health intact.
“I'm blessed. I'm thankful. It's been a long, long recovery and long process to get where I'm at but I’m thankful for it and just excited to be back on the field.”
