CLEVELAND -- Travis Bazzana disposed of his bat and broke out of the batter’s box in a sprint. As he reached first base, he settled into the first of what the Cleveland faithful hopes will be many trots around the bases over the next decade-plus.
Bazzana belted his first career home run on Friday, in his ninth career big league game. The 23-year-old and 2024 No. 1 overall Draft pick went deep in the first inning of the Guardians’ series opener against the Twins at Progressive Field.
Bazzana (who’s ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 13 overall prospect) worked a 1-1 count against Twins starter Connor Prielipp. The lefty delivered Bazzana a slider, and he hit it a Statcast-projected 427 feet at 102.3 mph, as it landed just in front of the visiting bullpen beyond right-center field.
Bazzana entered Friday hitting .192 (5-for-26) through his first eight big league games, but he also carried a .382 on-base percentage behind seven walks in 34 plate appearances. He’s now recorded a hit in five of his past six games.