Travis Bazzana's start to the season wasn't great, but the Cleveland Guardians prospect is turning it around.
When Travis Bazzana was promoted to Triple-A at the end of 2025, he immediately took off, logging a 1.163 OPS in 31 at-bats.
This was one of the reasons the overall feeling heading into Spring Training was that Bazzana would spend the first few weeks of the season in the Minors before joining the big-league team shortly after the year began.
However, the start to the 2026 Minor League season has not been so kind to the Cleveland Guardians top prospect, and after a month into the season, there’s a real argument to keep the former No. 1 overall pick might need some more time in Triple-A longer because of his struggles at the plate to begin the season.
Through Bazzana’s first 16 games, he owns a .262/.368/.415 slash line, with more strikeouts (14) than walks (11). Bazzana even went through an eight-game stretch where he was 6-for-34 (.176 AVG) at the plate with a wRC+ of 62.
This slow start could have been one reason the Guardians opted to promote Juan Brito instead of Bazzana when Gabriel Arias was placed on the injured list with a hamstring strain.
Columbus Clippers Travis Bazzana (12) jogs to the dugout during the home opener against the Indianapolis Indians at Huntington Park on Tuesday, March 31, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio.Are those numbers inherently bad? Not necessarily.
Every player goes through slumps. But they’re also not what many were expecting for the organization’s top prospect, especially when so many players from the 2024 class are already making an impact with their respective big-league teams.
There is good news, though, and that’s that Bazzana is really starting to show some signs of progress and getting back in a groove at the plate.
Overall, over the last week, Bazzana has cut down on strikeouts, increased his walks, and is starting to hit the ball much harder, leading to more offensive production. In his last six games, Bazzana has a .273/.385/.409 slashline, including three extra base hits.
On Wednesday evening, he even extended his current hit streak to five games with another double.
Because Bazzana struggled so much to start the year, a big-league promotion likely isn’t imminent, unless another injury occurs to Cleveland’s middle infield.
That said, if he can continue to show progression at the plate, there’s no reason to think that he won’t be up with the big-league team at some point in 2026.
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