Who is Travis Bazzana, MLB’s first 2B to be selected No. 1 overall in the Draft?

With their selection of the Oregon State’s second baseman, the Cleveland Guardians - much like the player himself - created a bit of baseball history. On the other hand, questions still remain as to just who is this talent and whether or not he’s worth the hype.

Travis Bazzana makes MLB history with No. 1 selection

On Sunday night, the Cleveland Guardians selected Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft. With that, Bazzana becomes the first second baseman in MLB history to be chosen with the first pick of the draft, and moreover, the first Australian-born player ever selected in the first round. While the news is stunning, it’s not surprising in that Cleveland’s desire to have him has been well documented since Spring of this year. Indeed, CBS Sports was clear in its assessment of the situation earlier this year when they stated the following about the former Oregon State star:

Coming into the spring, other front offices believed the Guardians were enamored with Bazzana to an extent that’s seldom heard at that phase of the draft cycle. Assuming there was truth to that perception, Bazzana provided the Guardians no reason to alter their stance. He had a phenomenal year, batting .416/.475/.937 with 28 home runs and 16 stolen bases and 40 more walks than strikeouts. Bazzana has above-average strength and speed (though a substandard arm limits him to second base), an excellent command of the strike zone, and as good of a feel for barreling balls as any player in this class. His makeup gets fawned over at every turn, even if he’s often docked for being maxed-out physically. (One has to wonder what’s more important for a player’s long-term success: physical projection, or the metaphysical capacities for growth?) In recent weeks, the industry is again buzzing that Bazzana is the favorite to go No. 1. Of course, the Tao Te Ching states: “Those who know do not talk, and talkers do not know.” These decisions do often come down to the final hours, when bluffs go out the window and it’s time to do business. Should Bazzana be the pick, he would become the first second baseman to go No. 1.

So, in conclusion, what we can assume here is that the Guardians have got themselves a star. To be clear, the 21-year-old was more than impressive across the 60 games that he played this spring, hitting .407/.568/.911 with 28 home runs and more than twice as many walks (78) as strikeouts (37). It should be said that this is the first time in franchise history that the Guardians found themselves in the possession of the No. 1 overall pick, a fact that matches nicely with the notion that Bazzana himself is in fact only the third top-five pick in the program’s history, alongside Adley Rutschman (No. 1, 2019) and Nick Madrigal (No. 4, 2018). At this point, anticipation is high but something tells us Bazzana won’t disappoint.