Minor league assignment shouldn’t diminish hype for Guardians top prospect 

Just because Travis Bazzana isn’t going to be on the Guardians’ roster on Opening Day doesn’t mean that the sky isn’t the limit for the top prospect. 

Just the opposite, in fact. 

Over the weekend, Bazzana flashed his newfound power by crushing two home runs in the Guardians’ 10-7 spring training loss to the Giants. While that multi-homer performance came after the Guardians had already announced that he’s going to start the season in Triple-A. 

It’s only a matter of time until the Guardians decide to call Bazzana up to the bigs, and the past month-and-a-half have shown exactly how much of an impact he has the potential to make once he gets there. 

Travis Bazzana had a great spring training showing for the Guardians 

While Bazzana only played in eight spring training games with the Guardians because of his trip to the World Baseball Classic, he found a way to make an impression in almost every game he played stateside. 

Bazzana entered Monday slashing .381/.435/.857 across those eight games with three home runs and an eye-popping 11 RBI — five of which came in that multi-homer game against the Giants. 

He recorded his homer with a solo shot in the fifth inning that left his bat at 112.4 miles per hour (his hardest hit ball of the spring). And if that wasn’t enough, the homer came off a two-time All-Star in Robbie Ray. 

His second longball was a towering grand slam to right off Giants pitcher Trevor McDonald that snuck over the wall in right field. 

He also added a homer against the Dodgers at the beginning of spring along with going deep once in the World Baseball Classic.

“I feel like this has been a good steppingstone on the backend of spring training,” Bazzana said of his spring performance, per Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes. “I’m feeling really good right now going into the season.”

That season will start in Triple-A, where he’ll serve as valuable infield insurance alongside fellow prospect Juan Brito.

While Brito has an easier path to get a call-up since he’s on the Guardians’ 40-man roster, Bazzana should be one of the first players called up whenever injuries or inconsistencies hit the Guardians’ middle infield. 

Brayan Rocchio is poised to be the everyday second baseman at the start of the season after putting together another Rocctober-esue performance at the end of the season, but he’s a career .222 hitter. This is the shortest his leash has ever been. 

Bazzana finished last season at Triple-A and posted a .420 on-base percentage before suffering a season-ending oblique injury, but it seems like he’s fully healthy and ready to be an everyday player in the big leagues. 

“I feel I learned a lot. I feel I got a lot out of camp and I’m excited to move into the season,” he said, per Hoynes.