Travis Hughes

Travis Wade Hughes

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 240 lb.
• School Cowley County Community College
• High School Elwood High School
• Debut September 26, 2004
• Final Game August 20, 2006
• Born May 25, 1978 in Newton, KS USA

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Biographical Information

Pitcher Travis Hughes was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 19th round of the 1997 amateur draft. He was signed by scout Mike Grouse and made his pro debut the next summer. He reached the majors with Texas in the final days of the 2004 season, and gave up 2 runs in 1 1/3 innings spread out over two appearances. The next year, he was placed on waivers by the Rangers at the end of spring training and was claimed by the Washington Nationals, who had just made the move from Montreal that winter, on April 7, 2005. He was assigned to the minor leagues at first, not being called up until June, when he made 4 appearances without allowing a run before being sent back down. He earned his only career win in his first outing, on May 19th against his former team, the Rangers, when he relieved Sun-Woo Kim with two outs in the 4th and Washington holding a 3-1 lead. He picked up 3 strikeouts in 1 1/3 inning, without allowing a run as Washington went on to win the game, 8-2. He came back in late August and finished the year in the Nation's Capital, pitching in a total of 14 games and 13 innings with an ERA of 5.54. He suffered his only career loss on September 25th against the New York Mets, and allowed a lot of traffic in his time on the mound, with 18 hits and 8 walks, while striking out 8.

He started the 2006 season in the minors, but was called up to Washington at the end of July. He pitched 8 times with no decisions and an ERA of 6.35. He had more success in the minors, as he had gone 2-5, 3.02 with 13 saves in 52 games for the AAA New Orleans Zephyrs in 2005, and 2-6, 2.32 with 4 saves in 51 outings for the same team in 2006. Following that season, he signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox and spent 2007 in AAA with the Pawtucket Red Sox, going 7-6, 1.91 with 24 saves. The major league Red Sox had a very strong team that season, winning their second World Series in four years, and did not give him a call. As a result, he signed with the Yokohama BayStars for 2008 as a replacement for closer Marc Kroon, who left via free agency. He split that season between Yokohama and their minor league squad, the Shonan SeaRex of the Eastern League, going 1-1, 4.91 with 1 save in 21 games at the top level. He was back in North America in 2009, but his final two seasons were in the independent leagues. He retired after pitching 16 games for the Brockton Rox of the Can-Am Association in 2011.

In his only big league at-bat, Hughes collected a single off of Randy Wolf. That came in his final major league game, on August 20, 2006, a 12-10 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.