Cleveland Guardians top prospect Travis Bazzana takes the field at the Akron RubberDucks home opener against the Altoona Curve on April 8, 2025, in Akron, Ohio. Julie Vennitti Botos / Canton Repository / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cleveland Guardians Bring Top Prospect One Step Closer to Big Leagues Amid Playoff Push

Originally posted on Minor League Baseball on SI
By Brady Farkas | Last updated Aug 10, 2025 4:56 PM ET

The Cleveland Guardians lost to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon by a score of 6-4, failing to capitalize on a loss by the New York Yankees.

As a result, Cleveland is now 61-56 and they remain 0.5 games back of New York for the third and final wild card spot.

But while the Guardians chase a playoff spot at the big-league level, they've got some exciting news down on the farm, as the organization announced they are promoting top prospect Travis Bazzana to Triple-A Columbus.

The Cleveland Guardians are promoting Travis Bazzana to the Columbus Clippers (AAA). pic.twitter.com/z59omrvQcX
— Milb Central (@milb_central) August 10, 2025

Bazzana, 22, is the No. 12 prospect in the game, per MLB Pipeline. The Guardians selected him with the No. 1 pick in the draft in 2024. He played his college ball at Oregon State.

Between Double-A and a rehab stint in the Arizona Complex League, he's hitting .254 with five home runs this season. Given that he's played just 85 minor league games, it seems unlikely that he'd get a major league promotion this season, but if the Guardians feel he is their best chance to make a playoff run, you never know.

Cleveland #Guardians 22yr old (2B) prospect Travis Bazzana who walked in the 1st inning now with a base hit in the 3rd inning extends his on-base streak to 9 games with Akron.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/i00bawOTmC
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) August 8, 2025

The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:

Bazzana has a compact left-handed swing with quality bat speed and makes excellent swing decisions, leaving him with no obvious weakness at the plate. He rarely chases, makes contact with ease while generating upper-echelon exit velocities and produces against lefties and righties and all types of pitches. His exceptional bat-to-ball skills overshadow his plus raw power, and he gets to most of it while displaying the ability to drive the ball out of the park to the opposite field.

The Guardians will be off on Monday before playing the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night.

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This article first appeared on Minor League Baseball on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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