Travis Bazzana has already vindicated Guardians’ 2024 Draft decision 

For the first year-plus of Travis Bazzana’s time in the Guardians’ organization, it seemed like there was a chance Cleveland had made a draft mistake. 

While Member after member of the 2024 MLB Draft class made their MLB debuts, Bazzana sat churning his way through the various minor league levels. It looked like the Guardians were going to be left behind while the rest of baseball profited from a great first round. 

But a lot has changed since Bazzana made his MLB debut a month ago. In that time, Bazzana’s gone from minor leaguer to bonafide big leaguer, and now has a .302/.407/.458 slashline after recording a 2-for-4 showing against the Angels on Wednesday. 

Not only has Bazzana entrenched himself as the Guardians’ leadoff hitter of the future, but he’s also begun to make his case for being one of the best players from the 2024 draft class. 

Travis Bazzana has become a key player for the Guardians

It’s hard to believe, but Bazzana is the 11th player taken from the first round of the 2024 Draft to appear in MLB. 

The Astros’ Cam Smith (No. 14 pick) became the first player from the first round to debut on Opening Day last season before being quickly followed by The Athletics’ Nick Kurtz (the No. 4 pick who ended up winning American League Rookie of the Year winner). 

The Royals also threw their hat in the ring by promoting Jac Caglianone (No. 6), while the Pirates extended Konnor Griffin (No. 9 pick) not long after he made his MLB debut earlier this year. 

While Bazzana has the least amount of MLB action as his fellow first round compatriots, he’s already recorded the seventh-most bWAR (1.1) of the group. By no means is that the end all be all, but it’s a good statistic to show just how well he’s played since being recalled by the Guardians. 

Kurtz leads the way with 7.1 bWAR, while Reds starting pitcher Chase Bruns is second (3.2) and Cardinals infielder JJ Wetherholt is third (2.6). 

Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto touched on this very topic in a recent column, where he praised the Guardians for slow-playing things with Bazzana while he battled injuries and the pressure of being the No. 1 pick. 

Both of those things were likely true, as he missed the end of last season with an oblique injury after being recalled to Triple-A and it took him a second to find his footing in some of the lower levels of the minors. 

But he’s looked the part since getting called up, and manager Stephen Vogt confirmed that yesterday by saying he “knows (Bazzana) belongs in the big leagues.” 

The Guardians are set to be well-represented in this year’s American League Rookie of the Year voting thanks to strong seasons from Bazzana, Chase DeLauter and Parker Messick, but it seems like there’s a good chance that Bazzana could be at the top of that list once the season ends. 

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