NEW YORK -- Travis Bazzana appreciated the lively atmosphere at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, when a crowd of 41,045 packed the ballpark for the opener of a three-game series between the Guardians and Yankees. Bazzana even found some amusement in banter from the New York faithful aimed at Cleveland’s third-base dugout.
“There were some good chirps above the dugout, which was fun,” Bazzana said.
Whatever may have been said, Bazzana got the final laugh on Tuesday. The 23-year-old tallied a career-high four RBIs to help the Guardians beat the Yankees, 9-4.
Bazzana hit a sacrifice fly off Yankees starter Cam Schlittler in the fifth inning that drew Cleveland even with New York at 4. The Guardians' top prospect then broke the game open in the eighth inning, when he hit a bases-clearing double off right-hander Camilo Doval that pushed Cleveland's lead to five.
Bazzana has made a great impression since the Guardians promoted him from Triple-A Columbus on April 28. He has a professional approach and continually puts together a strong at-bat. Those ingredients inspired Cleveland’s confidence that Bazzana could handle hitting leadoff, which he has in each of his past nine games dating back to his debut there on May 23.
Through 31 games overall, Bazzana is slashing .292/.382/.451 with nine doubles and three home runs, with 15 walks and 25 strikeouts. For all his success, he’s continuing to experience many firsts. He’s playing in each big league ballpark for the first time. Each game could bring his first career matchup with a given pitcher (or a few of them) in The Show.
“There's a lot of funky releases,” Bazzana said. “Everyone's kind of [an] outlier, guys are throwing 100, different stuff. You're still learning how to best plan as a rookie for different pitchers. I’m feeling comfortable and confident. I've just got to keep going.”
Tuesday was a prime example. Bazzana squared off against Schlittler for the first time as a big leaguer. He popped out to shortstop Anthony Volpe in the first inning and flew out to left fielder Cody Bellinger in the third. Schlittler retired him in each at-bat with a four-seam fastball up in the strike zone (which were clocked at 97.3 mph and 97.1 mph, respectively).
In the fifth, Schlittler delivered Bazzana an 0-2 heater lower in the zone, which the second baseman drove out to center field for a sac fly that brought home Steven Kwan.
Bazzana’s biggest moment came in the eighth, when the Guardians led, 6-4, and loaded the bases by playing small ball. Angel Martínez hit a base hit to center field, Daniel Schneemann hit an infield single and Kwan reached with a bunt single. Strikeouts by Patrick Bailey and Brayan Rocchio brought Bazzana to the plate as Cleveland’s last hope to add some insurance.
Doval threw Bazzana three straight sinkers to begin their matchup, all of which were below the zone. Bazzana fouled off the first (102.2 mph), swung through the second (101.5 mph) and took the third (102.1 mph) for a ball.
Doval came back with a fourth straight sinker, which clocked in at 100.9 mph. Bazzana lined it down the right-field line to clear the bases. It had a 73 mph exit velocity, but that was more than enough.
“They’re all nasty,” Bazzana said of Doval’s sinkers. “He got me on the first couple sinkers, and that one was just a little more up, so I got a little more bat to it. Just trying to be on time for 100, 102 and it fell.”
Bazzana is hitting .333 (12-for-36) with eight doubles, one home run, six RBIs and two walks with eight strikeouts out of the leadoff spot. He’s hitting in front of superstar third baseman José Ramírez, who’s been slotting second in the Guardians’ lineup of late.
That’s how much confidence Bazzana has already earned from Cleveland. Moments like Tuesday make it easy to see why.
“Travis, since he's gotten here, has been a professional hitter,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “We knew that before he got here. He takes his walks, makes good swing decisions. He's facing guys with stuff that he's never seen before.
“The learning curve for guys coming up from the Minor Leagues, they've never seen some of this stuff before, so to be able to make adjustments like that [is important]. He's got really good adjustability, he's got really good swing decisions. Travis has been phenomenal.”