Big year for Bazzana? Top prospect excited for Classic, possible MLB debut

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Representing Australia in the World Baseball Classic is something that has always been on Travis Bazzana’s radar. It’s a dream that dates to his childhood, when the now-23-year-old would glue himself to a TV to watch his idols play for his native country’s national team.

When the opportunity came along this offseason for Bazzana (the Guardians’ No. 1 prospect and No. 20 overall) to play in the 2026 Classic, it was a no-brainer for him. Once he was a young fan watching his own role models. Now, he’s positioned to inspire those back home.

“Representing Australia,” Bazzana said, “the opportunity to impact the way a country views baseball is huge, where there's a lot of room for growth and a lot of room for improvement. I see the WBC and different tournaments as an opportunity to maybe have someone look up to us in Australian baseball and want to be like that in the future.”

Bazzana’s participation in the Classic will mark a dream fulfilled, and it may only be the first for him this year. The 2024 No. 1 overall Draft pick is trending toward making his MLB debut this season. He finished ‘25 with Triple-A Columbus and earned a non-roster invite to big league Spring Training this year.

Bazzana will likely open 2026 in Triple-A; he only got 26 games under his belt there last year, following an August promotion. But his timeline will be front of mind for Guardians fans this season and a continued storyline around the club. And like any player in the Minors, the thought of a debut has at least crossed his mind.

“I'd be lying if I said you don't think about that,” Bazzana said. “I mean, everyone does.”

For now, Bazzana is focused on making the most of his time in big league camp as he approaches his second full pro season. He’s coming off a 2025 season impacted by injuries, which ultimately influenced his offseason work.

Bazzana was limited to 84 games in 2025. First, he suffered a right oblique strain in May while with Double-A Akron and missed almost two months after. He then missed the final week of Columbus’ season with a left oblique issue. Ultimately, Bazzana slashed .245/.389/.424 with 17 doubles, five triples, nine homers, 39 RBIs, 66 walks and 91 strikeouts over 374 plate appearances.

Bazzana spent October in Australia to visit loved ones and decompress from the season and returned to Arizona in November to begin preparing for 2026. He’s feeling good as camp gets under way, following an offseason that featured two main points of emphasis. Given his oblique issues, his physical work was aimed at helping him stay fresh and maintain the core strength and mobility needed to play a full season.

“That was unfortunate last year, but I feel like I addressed a lot of the things that are going to help me not have that occur again,” Bazzana said.

Bazzana’s second priority was getting offensive reps in different environments and against different pitch shapes, to hopefully help him be more consistent this year. He said when his approach and swing are at their best, he slugs in clumps and continues to get on base. We saw it down the stretch. Bazzana slashed .290/.421/.742 (9-for-31) with one triple, four homers and seven walks over nine games for the Clippers in September.

“Last year, there were weeks or moments where I felt things and my swing clicked and freed up a little bit,” Bazzana said. “This offseason was about building the consistency to where that's just happening all the time, which everyone wants. I feel like I've done a good job of that.”

Bazzana noted there could be many variables to his September slugging surge with Columbus. Sometimes, he noted, a fresh environment gives a player a new feeling. Whatever it was, he felt like he was getting his A swing off with the Clippers.

The experience in Columbus offered Bazzana a smattering of what life could be like at the highest level. Triple-A is full of players with big league experience. And it may not be long before we see him put that experience into practice at the highest level.

“I’m just gonna continue to work how I work,” Bazzana said, “and give it everything I’ve got to where I know if I go out and perform and do what I can do, soon enough the [MLB] opportunity may arise. But I’ve just got to keep controlling what I can control, and it's going to be soon enough, hopefully.”