On Tuesday, Progressive Field blasted “Down Under” by Men at Work as Travis Bazzana walked up to the plate to make his Major League debut. The Australian-born prospect was called up from Class AAA, the highest level of the Minor Leagues, to the Major League ballclub this week. The highly-touted prospect was the first Australian-born first overall pick in MLB Draft history.
Bazzana was born in Hornsby, Australia, a suburb of Sydney on the north end of the city, where he attended Turramurra High School. Playing baseball his whole life, he’s noted how he fell in love with the game early on and always dreamed of playing in the MLB. He joins a growing list of recent Australian-born big leaguers, including Grant Balfour, Peter Moylan, and, most notably, three-time All-Star Liam Hendriks.
Bazzana moved to the U.S. to attend Oregon State University, a baseball powerhouse, where he excelled. The second baseman flourished in Corvallis during his three years there before declaring for the MLB draft. Bazzana has steadily improved throughout his two-and-a-half-year minor league career, increasing his OPS — on-base plus slugging percentage — every year as he rose up the minor league ranks. This year, through 24 games, the 23-year-old is hitting .287 with a .933 OPS in AAA for the Columbus Clippers.
As it stands 32 games into the season, the Guardians are 26th in the MLB in batting average at .228 and OPS at .685. Desperately seeking a spark plug, the Guardians turned to Bazzana.
“I think the way he was swinging the bat in Triple-A, and with the need on the team, we kind of need a little jolt,” Guardians Manager Stephen Vogt said. “I think we have a lot of people working and evaluating and doing those kinds of things, and it was a consensus that it was time.”
Vogt, in his third year at the helm and coming off back-to-back seasons being named AL Manager of the Year, kept the message simple for Bazzana prior to his big league debut.
“You’ve dreamed of this day since you were a little kid, and with every player that makes their debut, it’s the same message,” Vogt told Yahoo Sports. “Go have fun. You earned it. You’re a big leaguer; no one else ever takes that away from you. Go have fun tonight; help us win a ball game.”
His MLB debut showed a promising look into who he can become. Reaching base twice on two walks, one of them intentional, he went 0–2 in his other two plate appearances. He started at second base and finished the game with six defensive assists, along with one putout and no errors. Bazzana’s debut resulted in a 1–0 loss to the Rays for the Guardians, despite his solid performance.
Bazzana represented Australia in the World Baseball Classic this past winter. He garnered further popularity when he blasted a 380-foot home run off Chinese Taipei en route to Australia’s 3–0 win in the Tokyo Dome. Australia was ousted in pool play by Japan and Korea, ending their WBC run, but with four years of development, a deeper run is in play.
Bazzana represents the growing globalization of baseball in countries that haven’t had consistent historic representation. Perhaps a WBC run is in the near future for Australia — or even a push for the Fall Classic with a new face at second base for the Guardians. Bazzana’s career looks promising after representing a number of firsts already. A very solid debut from the Australian second baseman provides hope for Cleveland’s most highly touted prospect.
