What to expect from Guardians top prospect Bazzana in the big leagues
The 2024 Draft already looks like one of the best classes in years.
Nick Kurtz (No. 4 overall pick) was a runaway AL Rookie of the Year pick after mashing 36 homers last year. Konnor Griffin (No. 9) is the game's much-ballyhooed top prospect with a $140 million deal. Trey Yesavage (No. 20) played the role of postseason hero with the Blue Jays while Chase Burns (No. 2), Jac Caglianone (No. 6), JJ Wetherholt (No. 7), Christian Moore (No. 8), Cam Smith (No. 14) and Carson Benge (No. 19) have all quickly made it to the Majors.
Now comes the first player selected in that Draft, one whom many believed to be the most pro-ready in the class.
According to a club source, the Guardians are calling up Travis Bazzana, their top prospect, less than 22 months after they made the Australia native the first player taken first overall who was born outside the United States.
MLB’s No. 16 prospect has surged through Cleveland’s system, with only injuries slowing him down. Bazzana missed two months last summer with an internal right oblique strain, and then his season ended a week prematurely with left flank soreness.
When he’s been on the field, though, Bazzana has been as advertised since signing for $8.95 million. The second baseman has an extremely disciplined approach, a quick left-handed swing and an aptitude for putting balls in the air to maximize his power.
Across 84 games last season largely between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus, Bazzana slashed .245/.389/.424 with nine homers and eight steals. In a vacuum, those stats may not jump off the page, but considering the time he missed, the year was quite the developmental success.
“The eight-week stretch where I was out between May and June, I got a lot of out of that,” Bazzana said on last week’s episode of the MLB Pipeline Podcast. “I think one of the biggest things was getting back and resetting in Arizona. … We broke down where I was lacking in approach and how I was moving in the box against lefties in professional baseball and Trajekt for multiple weeks with that approach, with the movement stuff in mind while I'm rehabbing. … I feel like I was able to flip into ‘develop to be better when I get back’ mode pretty quickly, which was good."
The 23-year-old had an outside chance of earning an Opening Day roster spot this spring -- even while competing for Team Australia in the World Baseball Classic, where he hit a clutch home run. And although the Guardians optioned Bazzana to Columbus after he went 8-for-21 with three homers in Cactus League play, it was only a matter of time before he’d join the big league club for good.
The surface-level numbers at Columbus this season have been great. Bazzana compiled a slash line of .287/.422/.511 with nearly as many walks (21) as strikeouts (25), but the underlying numbers showed even more improvement.
The Oregon State product's hard-hit rate ticked up to 40.6 percent and his whiff rate dropped to 18 percent. He was better able to handle elite velocity -- yes, we're dealing with tiny sample sizes, but he was 1-for-20 against 95+ mph velocity last year and already 5-for-14 in 2026.
Bazzana’s arrival comes at a key time as the Guardians are at .500 and just a half-game behind the Tigers in the AL Central race. The club's second basemen have been performing at a replacement level (.202/.312/.330) as Brayan Rocchio has had to slide to shortstop to fill in for the injured Gabriel Arias and Guardians No. 16 prospect Juan Brito has just a .505 OPS.
How will Bazzana fare compared to his stacked class of 2024 draftees? It’s too soon to know for sure. Being a first overall pick is no guarantee of success. Adley Rutschman is the only hitter in the past decade to go No. 1 who has become a consistent MLB contributor. There's still time but Spencer Torkelson, Henry Davis and Jackson Holliday have been up and down, while Royce Lewis has been hurt and Mickey Moniak has served as more of a backup.
Still, Bazzana’s combination of offensive tools and athleticism give him every chance to become a franchise cornerstone and one of the best players in a Draft loaded with future All-Stars.