Travis Bazzana

Travis William Bazzana

Bats Left, Throws Right
Height 6' 0", Weight 199 lb.
School Oregon State University
High School Turramurra High School

Born August 28, 2002 in Hornsby, New South Wales Australia

Biographical Information[edit]

2B/OF Travis Bazzana was the first overall pick of the 2024 amateur draft, taken out of Oregon State University by the Cleveland Guardians. Born and raised in Australia, he was the highest drafted player from that country, and the highest pick ever from outside North America. The Guardians had won the draft lottery in spite of long odds to secure the pick, and it was the first time in franchise history that they were picking first overall.

At Oregon State, Bazzana had hit over .300 in all three of his seasons, playing over 60 games all three years and topping up at .407 in 2024, with 28 doubles and 66 RBIs. At one point that season, he hit a lead-off homer in four straight games to draw national attention, and he obliterated the school's record for homer in a season, which was previously 21. Prior to college, he had played three seasons in the Australian Baseball League while still attending high school, although he only saw very limited action as a raw teenager playing among grown men, but the experience was invaluable from a development point of view. He represented Australia at the 2019 U-18 Baseball World Cup in South Korea, where he had just turned 17 and was among the youngest players at the event (a number of those who starred there were already established major leaguers by the time he was drafted). In addition to bis brilliance in college, he was the MVP of the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2023. He was widely mentioned as a potential number one pick, even a year prior to the draft itself, and as a player who was certain not to last beyond the first two or three picks given his exceptional talent as a hitter. The only question was whether he would stick as an infielder in the pros, or be moved to the outfield.

He has cited former major leaguer Ryan Rowland-Smith as being a long-time mentor, who encouraged him in his decision not to turn pro early but to go to a U.S. college instead, a path not normally taken by talented Australian players: only two Australians who had been drafted out of a U.S. college had made it to the majors: Mark Ettles, who was drafted in 1989, and Josh Spence, drafted in 2010. He was almost certain to be the third. As a youth, he played various sports in addition to baseball, including cricket, which he had credited with helping his bat-to-ball skills, but baseball was his favorite sport from the age of five. Former major leaguer Glenn Williams, now CEO of Baseball Australia, explained that he had known him from that tender age through baseball clinics sponsored by the country's national baseball program.

He signed quickly with the Guardians, doing so on July 19th for a reported bonus of $8.95 million, which was under slot value, and headed to the Midwest League to start his pro career with the Lake County Captains. He played his first minor league game on July 27th, and quickly got his first RBI, hit, run, extra-base hit and multi-hit game in his first two games. He was the first player from the 2024 draft to appear in a minor league game, a result of his having come to terms with Cleveland so quickly. His first professional home run came in his next game, and it was a grand slam against the Beloit Sky Carp on July 31st.

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Oregon State bio

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Travis Bazzana

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