Bob Lutz: Former Shocker Travis Banwart still reaching for baseball’s pinnacle

Travis Banwart will be 30 next Valentine’s Day. And he’s yet to pitch in the big leagues.

But the fight is not over. The former Wichita State pitcher, who was 27-10 as a Shocker 2005-07, has taken the skirmish to every level of the minor leagues. He’s 37-24 in Triple-A.

It wasn’t good enough, however, to earn a promotion to either the Oakland Athletics or Cleveland Indians.

So in 2014, Banwart decided to get in some jabs in South Korea, joining the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization.

He made 11 starts for SK in 2014 and was 9-1. It earned him a $525,000 salary and $150,000 signing bonus to return to Incheon, a city of nearly 2.9 million people 17 miles southwest of Seoul.

Banwart, from Goddard, wasn’t as good this season for SK, going 5-3 with a 4.63 ERA before suffering an injury to his right wrist after being struck by a line drive. He’s been in Wichita recuperating since July 8.

“I was in Triple-A for five years and never did get hurt,” Banwart said. “I had pretty good numbers in the Pacific Coast League.”

The PCL, with its high altitudes and small ballparks, is not a pitcher’s haven. But Banwart had a 4.30 ERA over his Triple-A career. Still, he’s never been able to catch the kind of break that could get him promoted.

“Unlucky? Well, I don’t want to blame it on luck,” Banwart said. “I don’t know what to really call it. ‘Timing,’ I guess would be a better word for it. Just being in the wrong place.”

Banwart figures he’s just coming into his prime as a pitcher. He has pitched 1,069 innings professionally and would like to hook on with a major-league organization before spring training.

But if he doesn’t, he’d be OK with a return to SK, where the money is significantly better than he’d ever made at the highest level of the minor leagues. He thinks Japan could be another option.

Now that he’s engaged – he and his fiance, April, are getting married in November – Banwart is more about the money than he’s ever been.

“(April) said she wouldn’t mind going back,” Banwart said. “She went over to South Korea three times in the year we were there and enjoyed it. It’s a little hard finding groceries, American food. It was definitely different for her.”

Baseball, though, is baseball.

Banwart compares the Korea Baseball Organization favorably to Triple-A in the U.S. It’s notable that Pittsburgh Pirates rookie infielder Jung Ho Kang played nine years in the KBO before joining Pittsburgh at 28 this season. He’s been one of the Pirates’ top hitters during the second half of the season.

Another veteran of the KBO, Byung Ho Park, figures to be coveted by major-league teams for 2016. Park, 29, is batting .344 with 46 homers and 127 RBIs for the Nexen Heroes.

KBO teams are allowed to carry three foreigners, Banwart said. He, pitcher Merrill Kelly and outfielder Andrew Brown were the foreigners on SK Wyverns this season.

“But last year, I was the only American on the team when I got there,” Banwart said. “I talked a lot to my translator and we got along really well. He’s no longer with the team, he moved on to another job.”

Banwart said he spent his spare time away from baseball playing video games, talking with his family and sight-seeing. He’s been all over South Korea and especially likes Seoul.

“We wanted to get to the DMZ (a demilitarized zone between South and North Korea) but we have never been able to get there.”

Banwart said he was hesitant to go to South Korea, reluctant to pursue his baseball dream in a foreign land.

“There was some influence form my parents and my fiance,” he said. “I initially said no because I was throwing so well in Triple-A with Cleveland. But the head of foreign players for the team got my number and called me.”

Through a translator, Banwart agreed to take the offer.

And with that 9-1 record, you can imagine how popular he became with the SK fans.

Baseball is getting more and more popular in South Korea, Banwart said, and crowds typically approach 30,000.

“I feel like I can get guys out at any level,” Banwart said. “My velocity and my feel are good and my offspeed pitches are way better than they were when I was in the A’s organization. They say a pitcher’s prime is 27 to 35 or so and I feel like my mechanics are starting to jell together perfectly.”

Banwart expects to start throwing a tennis ball in a couple of weeks as he recovers from his wrist injury. He had to completely rest for six weeks.

“SK has shown a strong interest in bringing me back,” Banwart said. “I want to give them every opportunity but also see what my options are. If I was a single guy, I could kind of do whatever. But now I’ve got to make money. I would love to play in the big leagues still. I’ve just got to find the right thing.”

This story was originally published September 1, 2015 at 2:55 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Former Shocker Travis Banwart still reaching for baseball’s pinnacle."