Last night in the World Baseball Classic, Travis Bazzana gave Guardians’ fans a glimpse of what is possible for him as the team’s future second baseman.
You may be tempted to dismiss Bazzana’s 2-4 with a home run performance because it came against Chinese Taipei and not a major league team, but don’t be so quick to rain on parades. Consider the context: opening night of WBC play, Bazzana leading off for an underdog and playing in front of the biggest crowd of his career – 40K+ – in a stadium in which
the vast majority of fans were cheering against Bazzana’s team.
In the first inning, Bazzana put up a four-pitch at-bat and got jammed on a curveball on the inside of the plate. In the third, Bazzana put up an EIGHT pitch at-bat and rapped a 102.8 mph single to right field. Bazzana got this first hit of Hsu Jo-Hsi, the best pitcher on the Chinese Taipei team who put up a 2.05 ERA in the Chinese Professional Baseball league last season and features a fastball that comes in 94-98 mph and a sharp slider.
Po-Yu Chen was the next victim for Bazzana, who has 500 or so innings of minor league experience and put up an FIP around 4.5 last season from Double-A to Triple-A. Those numbers aren’t great, but Chen got Bazzana in the fifth on a curveball that Bazzana swung over on the fourth pitch of the at-bat, grounding out. Second time Chen saw Bazzana, though, he threw a well-located (seemingly!) 94 mph fastball on the inside of the plate first pitch and Bazzana was ready for it:
The aftermath of this bash was a reminder of why Bazzana was such a special player to watch in college as he turned to his dugout flexing and yelling to fire them up. He is a tremendous competitor who isn’t afraid to wear his emotions on his sleeve. It was hard not to imagine him doing the same thing in Cleveland someday, after getting a look at a pitcher the first time, then dialing in for success in a second chance as is his pattern.
Bazzana also looked good defensively, including a sparkling play where he dove in the hole to stop a sharp grounder and got up to retire the runner.
I realize that we are probably going to get Gabriel Arias at short and Brayan Rocchio at second for a month or so, and then Rocchio will swap to short while Juan Brito gets a chance at second. But, if there was ever a time for the Guardians to explore buying out the arbitration years of a player who has yet to debut and trying to add a couple years of free agency on to it, I would say it is Travis Bazzana. Is he a “can’t miss” prospect? He would seem to have the solid floor of a decent defender who will get on base and slug a solid number of homers, but there are certainly still questions about his passivity at the plate and ability to get to his power, consistently. Because of that risk, it is a chance for the Guardians to offer Bazzana some security and gain themselves a chance at having the peak years of a potential all-star on a team friendly deal. If that deal could be reached, then Bazzana’s service time would no longer be a concern and the team could simply start him at second base to begin the season. I’d love for the Guardians to consider this option.
I realize some Guardians’ fans are feeling a certain way after seeing Nick Kurtz dominate in his rookie season last year and realizing that, in hindsight, every team in MLB would have drafted Konnor Griffin first if they could have a do-over. But, this mindset is sure to eliminate joy from your life, if indulged. Bazzana put up a 137 wRC+ last season, despite two oblique injuries. Bazzana is a great kid who is unfailingly fun to watch. His draft choice still has a good chance of being a ridiculously good one for the Guardians and their fans, regardless of what Kurtz, Griffin, JJ Wetherholt, Chase Burns and Charlie Condon do.
With that aside, I hope last night was a reminder to Guardians’ fans of another reason to look forward to the season ahead – if healthy, Travis Bazzana WILL debut on the Guardians this year and he is going to be must-watch TV. Get your Australian-themed banners, flags, cheers and merch ready, folks. It won’t be long until the Bazzmanian Devil is stalking pitchers in the big leagues.
