The Guardians are promoting 2024 first overall pick Travis Bazzana, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. He should take over as the everyday second baseman. Cleveland still has an opening on the 40-man roster after waiving Kolby Allard a couple weeks ago. They’ll only need to open an active roster spot tomorrow.
Cleveland’s middle infield has been in flux since Gabriel Arias went down with a left hamstring strain three weeks ago. That moved Brayan Rocchio from second base to shortstop. The Guardians promoted second baseman Juan Brito after the Arias injury, but the 24-year-old rookie struggled after collecting five hits in his first three games. Brito has just four hits in 39 at-bats over his past 12 games. He has also committed four errors across 123 1/3 innings at the keystone.
That opened the door for Bazzana’s first major league look. The Australian-born infielder is out to a strong .287/.422/.511 start over 24 games with Triple-A Columbus. He has taken walks at a huge 17.9% clip against a league average 21.4% strikeout rate. Bazzana only has two home runs, but he has already tallied 11 doubles and a pair of triples. He’s also 8-10 in stolen base attempts.
Bazzana’s advanced hit tool and extremely patient approach have been his calling cards dating back to his college days at Oregon State. He was expected to be one of the quickest players from his draft to the majors. Instead, Chase Burns, Nick Kurtz, Cam Smith, JJ Wetherholt, Jac Caglianone, Christian Moore, Trey Yesavage, Carson Benge and even Konnor Griffin (a high school draftee) were all 2024 first-rounders who got to the big leagues first.
That’s at least partially due to health. A pair of oblique injuries limited Bazzana to 77 games between the top two minor league levels last season (plus seven rehab contests at their Arizona complex). It was understandable the Guardians wanted him to open the season in Triple-A. They probably should have swapped him in for Brito earlier than they have.
It’s a moot point now, as Bazzana now joins Chase DeLauter as touted rookies in Stephen Vogt’s lineup. He has been a full-time second baseman in the minor leagues and could see time at the keystone and designated hitter. They can use the hot-hitting Daniel Schneemann more frequently in left field, where George Valera has started slowly. Brito seems likely to be optioned back to Columbus in the corresponding move, though Valera also has an option remaining.
Bazzana comfortably meets the criteria to qualify for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. He entered the season among the top 25 minor league talents at each of MLB Pipeline, Baseball America and ESPN. He was a little lower on preseason rankings from FanGraphs and Keith Law of The Athletic but still easily a consensus Top 100 prospect.
It’s beyond the point at which Bazzana can accrue a full service year through time spent on the MLB roster. He would earn a full year of service time if he places within the top two in AL Rookie of the Year voting. It’ll be a challenge to compete with Kevin McGonigle, Munetaka Murakami, Carter Jensen and teammates DeLauter and Parker Messick among what could be an excellent AL rookie class. The Guardians would not be eligible for an extra draft choice if Bazzana wins Rookie of the Year because they waited beyond the second week of April to call him up.
More to come.
