Cleveland Guardians prospect named the best at his position

MLB Pipeline is revealing their top prospects at each position throughout this week, leading up to their full top 100 reveal on January 23.

The Guardians have a slew of young players with promise, and now, one has been named the top prospect at their position.

Travis Bazzanna's extremely high potential

The number one overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, Travis Bazzana, was named as the top second base prospect in baseball. Bazzana is one of two second basemen to make consecutive appearances on this list, along with Mariners’ Michael Arroyo (#2 overall second baseman).

Jim Callis breaks down the top tools for each prospect, with Bazzana being featured in all but one category. He and Demetrio Crisantes of the Arizona Diamondbacks were dubbed the prospects with the best hit tool. Bazzana straight up knows how to hit. He batted .360 at Oregon State and won the batting title at the 2023 Cape Cod League with a .375 average.

In his time in the minors, however, Bazzana has only hit .243, largely due to injuries he could not get healthy from. It is clear his bat-to-ball skills are there; he will just have to work on getting his timing back this spring to get to where he could and should be.

Bazzana was also named as a prospect with one of the best power tools. Callus says Bazzana is capable of 25+ home runs each season. Bazzana has 12 home runs in his minor league career, but his OPS is what catches the eye. With an average of only .243, having an OPS of .801 in his career shows that he has pop. He can get extra-base hits, and he can hit the long ball. Pair this with his bat-to-ball skill,s and pitchers will be terrified of facing him as he can get on base a litany of ways.

This leads into the next tool: speed. Bazzana was mentioned on this list as well. Bazzana had 12 steals last season in the minors. Being on a team like the Guardians, who thrive off of chaos on the absepaths, and you could see this number approach 20, if not more. Combining the three of these tools and the projections along with them, it seems Bazzana may be set up to be a 20/20 guy at some point, if not multiple times, in his career.

Travis Bazzana also got a shoutout for his fielding. There are seven second basemen on this list that share the top defensive grade, but that grade is not above average. So while Bazzana has high marks in this class for fielding, he is not a world changer on the field, but he is also someone who can be reliable and make the plays he needs to make, with flashes of his athleticism. 

What does this mean for Bazzanna?

The most important portion of this list is the superlatives Callis lists at the end. Travis Bazzana was named the prospect with the highest ceiling and the highest floor.

While it is nice to have a high projected ceiling, having a high floor is arguably more important. As a number one overall pick, being at least average in the majors is expected. Some top picks do turn out to be total busts and hardly see MLB time. Others succeed and win awards right away. Bazzana has the skills to hit the ball, run the bases, and energize his team. He can perform in many different ways; he will prove valuable in several areas.

The high ceiling part is what should excite fans. There is a reason the Guardians did not trade for Ketel Marte and have not been included in Brendan Donovan discussions. That reason is Travis Bazzana. The team clearly sees him as the second baseman of the future and a potential All-Star. 

Sure, Brayan Rocchio may not look sexy on the Opening Day roster, but come May, June, or July, Bazzana will be taking that everyday spot from Rocchio. This team has made it clear they will not block the paths of their young studs, and Bazzana is definitely one of those young studs they want to clear a path for. 

For a team that did not make many moves over the offseason, plugging in their young guys and them having success is equal to signing free agents. If Bazzana and other young players perform to the expectations of the front office, fans will forget that the team was largely silent this winter.

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