Round Rock's Travis Sykora bypasses Texas to sign with Nationals for $2.6 million

Colby Gordon, Austin American-Statesman
Updated
Round Rock pitcher Travis Sykora agreed to a $2.6 million contract with the Washington Nationals, ensuring that the UT pledge won't play college baseball. "It was good to have Texas in my back pocket, but once I heard what they were offering, I couldn’t turn that down," he said.
Round Rock pitcher Travis Sykora agreed to a $2.6 million contract with the Washington Nationals, ensuring that the UT pledge won't play college baseball. "It was good to have Texas in my back pocket, but once I heard what they were offering, I couldn’t turn that down," he said.

As long expected, Travis Sykora will not pitch for Texas.

Sykora, a star right-handed pitcher for Round Rock High School the past two seasons who was committed to the Longhorns, confirmed Thursday that he has signed with the Washington Nationals.

Washington selected Sykora with the 71st overall pick in the MLB draft this month, a spot that has a slot value of slightly more than $1 million. But Sykora said he signed for $2.6 million, which would be equivalent to the slot value of pick No. 32.

“Going into the draft we had a financial number we were shooting for. We ended up getting it from them,” Sykora said.

“It was good to have Texas in my back pocket, but once I heard what they were offering, I couldn’t turn that down. … When you see all your hard work on a piece of paper to sign, that’s pretty neat.”

Along with the Nationals’ other top picks, Sykora flew to Washington on Monday for a signing ceremony, where he got a jersey and toured the team's stadium, Nationals Park.

“As you can expect, it’s superpristine,” Sykora said. “The facilities were really impressive. I actually saw (2016 Round Rock graduate and current Nationals pitcher) Mason Thompson’s locker and took a picture in front of it as kind of a joke. But it was cool to see that, for sure.”

Though it's a blow for Texas not to have Sykora on campus, it's probably something the program foresaw.

The Longhorns' pitching staff is in good shape heading into next season, as Lebarron Johnson Jr. and Tanner Witt both have announced they will return to school. Witt was selected in the 18th round by Baltimore, and Johnson was not picked.

Losing ace Lucas Gordon, the Big 12 pitcher of the year, who was taken by the Chicago White Sox in the sixth round, obviously hurts, but Texas is getting two left-handed pitchers from the transfer portal, Duke's Oliver Santos and Notre Dame's Will Mercer, to bolster the staff.

The 6-foot-6 Sykora was 7-0 with 108 strikeouts and a 0.84 ERA while giving up only 22 hits in 58 innings this spring. He was a big reason the Dragons went 31-7-1 and swept their way to the District 25-6A title. His fastball has hit 100 mph, and he has been on the radar of MLB scouts for at least two years.

Sykora, who was a first-team All-Central Texas selection, is at the Nationals’ spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla.

And though he’s off to a good financial start in life, his goal is to return to Washington.

“Seeing that facility was great motivation,” he said. “Being down here in Florida, now it’s 'I need to get back to D.C.' That’s the plan.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Travis Sykora to start pro career after signing with Nationals

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