GOODYEAR, Ariz. — If you’re out there thinking that Guardians second baseman prospect Travis Bazzana needs to live up to the pressure of being a former No. 1 overall draft pick, he’ll agree with you.
It all comes with the territory. And in a way, he’s glad it’s there, adding a little heat to each step as he tries to finally break down the door to the major leagues.
The Guardians made Bazzana the No. 1 overall selection in the 2024 MLB draft. He was the likely pick, though they certainly had several options with a clean draft board.
Being a draft’s No. 1 pick comes with some added circumstantial pressure. Bazzana isn’t denying it. In fact, he thinks that’s how it should be.
“The fact that it may seem like pressure or a lot of expectation is fair,” Bazzana said at the club’s spring training complex. “I’m grateful I have that kind of — for lack of a better word — pressure, the expectations. It’s awesome. It’s a cool thing to have.”
After all, it’s difficult to even think about being complacent for a moment when your uniform comes with an invisible target on your back as not just a top prospect, but the top selection from an entire draft class.
“It can push you, it can help you,” Bazzana said. “It’s also just an opportunity where you have a chance to have an impact. For me, I have a chance to use that to continue to impact the game back home and then its the Guardians. It’s a pretty cool pressure to have, I guess.”
Travis Bazzana stats
That pressure especially comes into play when several players taken just after Bazzana have already made their way to the majors, including Chase Burns, the No. 2 selection to the Cincinnati Reds and Nick Kurtz, the No. 4 selection to the Oakland A’s and the 2025 American League Rookie of the Year, among others.
In Bazzana’s case, he was delayed to the majors due to an oblique injury that limited him to just 84 games in 2025, but the comparisons to players drafted in his class, and especially the top-5 or top-10, will continue. When he was on the field, he had a combined slash line of .245/.389/.424 with nine home runs, 17 doubles, five triples, 39 RBIs, 12 stolen bases and an .813 OPS.
“It’s very fair to be the number one pick and have an expectation,” Bazzana said. “I feel like I’m training the right way and I’m going to be able to impact the big leagues soon enough, and I’ve just got to keep controlling what I can control. I’m going to continue to put my best food forward.”
When could Travis Bazzana make his MLB debut?
Bazzana is in line to be the Guardians’ future at second base. The bigger question is the timing on when he gets the call to the major leagues, in which case he’ll have an instant chance to be the everyday lineup in Cleveland.
Brayan Rocchio figures to be the club’s opening day second baseman, along with potentially Angel Martinez (who can move between the infield and center field), Daniel Schneemann and others seeing time there. It isn’t impossible Bazzana puts together a tremendous spring and breaks camp with the major league club, but as camp begins, it’s more likely he opens the season with Triple-A Columbus, both due to service time considerations and that the team wants to be careful not to repeat an injury that leads to a significant absence.
In fact, that has in turn become the club’s main focus with Bazzana in an effort to avoid a repeat injury that might become a recurring problem.
“I mean, priority number one’s been just like, OK, how can we prepare my body [to avoid] the oblique stuff from last year,” Bazzana said.
Bazzana’s debut is coming soon, if all goes well and he can avoid the injured list. Along the way, how he handles the expectations of being a top pick have been, and will continue to be, a major factor in his development.
“Everything in life, when you’re thrown adversity or people ask you questions about how you should view something, the way you choose to respond to it is really important,” said manager Stephen Vogt. “I haven’t sensed anything other than Travis is excited to be in camp. He’s excited to get into a season healthy and play a full six months. So we’re really, really pumped to watch him play this spring.”
