Travis Bazzana has never been known as a plus defender, but he's doing his best to change that narrative.
Even when Travis Bazzana was considered a consensus top pick heading into the 2024 MLB Draft, there was still one flaw on a largely impressive resume: the infielder has never been known as a great defender.
Heading into the draft, MLB Pipeline graded Bazzana’s fielding a 50 out of 80.
Even during Bazzana’s rise through the Cleveland Guardians’ farm system and his first few months at the big-league level, he showed why there were some concerns with his run prevention. This even sparked conversations about whether he had more of a future as an outfielder rather than on the dirt.
However, Bazzana has also always had a reputation as an incredibly hard worker, which is one reason Cleveland chose him in the first place.
Bazzana has made adjustments and worked tirelessly on his defense since being called up, and the advanced metrics and statistics are beginning to reflect his growth.
From the time Bazzana was promoted until the end of June, he had a fielding run value of -1, which ranked at the bottom third among American League second basemen.
The second half the season has been a different story, though.
Jul 31, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians second baseman Travis Bazzana (37) throws to first base for an out against Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Nolan Arenado (not pictured) during the fourth inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn ImagesThrough July up to this point in August, Bazzana’s field run value has been +1. Bazzana has objectively been one of baseball’s better defensive second basemen over the last few weeks.
His overall defensive metrics in the 2026 season are still below average, but what they don’t show is all the growth the infielder has made at the big-league level this year. Given that Bazzana only turned 24 on Friday, he has the potential to make even more growth throughout his promising career, and manager Stephen Vogt believes that, too.
Cleveland’s skipper said that as Bazzana continues to make more plays at second base, he’ll continue to gain more confidence, which is a key piece to being a solid defender.
“Travis has worked tremendously hard on his defense since he's been here,” Vogt said Friday pregame.
“I think he's just gaining more and more confidence. I think as you start to make new plays or you start to do something with a new technique that you've been working on that, ‘Okay, yes I can do this,’ and then you start diving in more, diving in more and the more plays you make the more opportunities you get, you just keep building on that and that builds your confidence.”
Just as Bazzana has gone through ebbs and flows at the plate this season, it’s been the same story defensively, but these growing pains are clearly paying off to make him a better overall player.
