Travis Jankowski reunites with manager Will Venable, who previously coached him in Texas during the Rangers’ 2023 World Series-winning season. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
PHOENIX – Major League Baseball can be grueling, its 162-game regular season sometimes seeming like an eternity. But the sport can also change as quickly as a lightning flash, as Travis Jankowski learned this spring.
After being signed by the Chicago Cubs to a minor league contract on Feb. 24 and going through spring training with the team before not being selected to go to Tokyo with the Cubs for Opening Day, Jankowski found himself searching for a new organization. He didn’t have to look far or long, as manager Will Venable and the cross-town Chicago White Sox came calling.
On Thursday, Jankowski, a 33-year-old outfielder, was on the White Sox’ Opening Day roster when Chicago kicked off the 2025 season with a home series against the Los Angeles Angels. He appeared in the game as a pinch runner and scored a run.
“Will was my bench coach for two years, an awesome guy, and the transparency he just kinda let me know what they thought coming,” Jankowski said of Venable, who took over the White Sox skipper duties last October. “Meeting the guys early in camp, it seems like a great group of guys, so I think it’s a good fit.”
Venable, a former player, was the Rangers’ associate manager alongside Bruce Bochy when Jankowski played for Texas in 2023, the year the Rangers won it all.
“Well he’s not far removed from the game, so I think he understands the struggles of it,” Jankowski said. “He knows that guys are going to go through it, as a team we are going to go through it, we are going to have hot stretches, we are going to have cold stretches.”
Throughout Cactus League play this spring, that baseball experience was put to use as the White Sox’s outfield depth has been tested – Mike Tauchman, Austin Slater, and Andrew Benintendi have all dealt with injuries. Adding Jankowski to the roster was the right move to give depth for the White Sox, who are coming off a disastrous 2024 season in which they finished with a 41-121 record, setting a new MLB mark for the most losses in the modern era.
“Coming in, obviously there are some injured outfielders, so there could be a spot,” Jankowski said. “Obviously performance is going to play and just come in (and) have a good camp and we will take it from there.”
After joining the White Sox, Jankowski appeared in seven spring training games, starting in five. In those seven appearances, Jankowski had 14 at-bats, three hits and walked four times which was good for an average of .214.
The White Sox hope that the success Venable and Jankowski experienced with Texas will rub off, as the Rangers captured the 2023 World Series for their first title in 52 years when they beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games.
“I love to win, that’s one of the things I think everyone in this clubhouse loves to win,” Jankowski said. “You know coming off of a down year, it’s important we go out and improve.”