Travis Bazzana admits his MLB, Cleveland Guardians debut is something he thinks about.
The next few weeks could be some of the most important and memorable baseball Travis Bazzana has played up to this point in his career.
The 23-year-old has been officially added to the Cleveland Guardians' Major League camp as a non-roster player invitee and has a chance to show the organization he deserves to be part of the big-league roster sooner rather than later.
However, before that, Bazzana is getting an opportunity that doesn't come around every year, and every player does not get to take advantage during their career; Bazzana will be competing for Team Australia in the World Baseball Classic.
“Representing Australia, the opportunity to impact the way a country views baseball is huge, where there's a lot of room for growth and a lot of room for improvement," Bazzana told Tim Stebbins of MLB.com.
"I see the WBC and different tournaments as an opportunity to maybe have someone look up to us in Australian baseball and want to be like that in the future.”
RubberDucks' Travis Bazzana follows a long fly ball to the wall in a game against the Altoona Curve on April 13, 2025, in Akron, Ohio. © Phil Masturzo / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesBazzana is putting a lot of pressure on himself to be an ambassador for baseball in Australia, and he certainly has the talent to do so.
Once he reaches the majors, Bazzana could continue to be an international symbol of the game.
That inevitable promotion is something Bazzana admitted, “I'd be lying if I said you don't think about that."
“I mean, everyone does. I’m just gonna continue to work how I work, and give it everything I’ve got to where I know if I go out and perform and do what I can do, soon enough the [MLB] opportunity may arise. But I’ve just got to keep controlling what I can control, and it's going to be soon enough, hopefully.”
Outside of an oblique injury, which caused Bazzana to miss just over a month, he still had a fairly successful minor league season, recording an OPS of .813 across Double-A and Triple-A.
The 2026 season is bound to be a big year for Bazzana, and it's going to start with some meaningful baseball right away.
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