Top Prospect Promotions: Travis, Lamet

Here are the latest top prospect promotions of note:

• The Red Sox have announced that first baseman Sam Travis has been called up for his first taste of the majors. The team demoted righty Hector Velazquez to create roster space. Travis, 23, missed much of last year with a torn ACL. He has hit well in 139 plate appearances this year at Triple-A, though, slashing .286/.353/.452 with four home runs while taking 13 walk against 24 strikeouts. Travis, a right-handed hitter, was taken in the second round of the 2014 draft out of Indiana University — where he was a teammate of young Cubs outfielder/catcher Kyle Schwarber — and currently rates third among Red Sox prospects in the eyes of MLB.com.
• Meanwhile, the Padres will get their first look at interesting pitching prospect Dinelson Lamet, per Craig Mish of Sirius XM (Twitter links). He’ll start on Thursday, per the report. Lamet, 24, has shown well in his first full attempt at the highest level of the minors. After streaking through the system last year, he has started the current campaign with 39 innings of 3.23 ERA ball on the back of 11.5 K/9 against 4.6 BB/9. He opened the year rated tenth among Padres’ prospects, according to MLB.com, which noted that his ability to improve his command will likely dictate whether he can stay in the rotation for the long run.