Guardians make Aussie star Bazzana No. 1 overall pick
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The Guardians selected Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft on Sunday.
The 21-year-old Australia native is a five-tool player and arguably the most talented prospect in this year's Draft, befitting his status as MLB.com’s No. 1 Draft prospect. The lefty hits for average and power, has excellent speed and projects to be a strong defender, whether at second base or elsewhere, given his athleticism.
Though he grew up in a country much more known for cricket, soccer and rugby -- all of which Bazzana played at Turramurra High School, along with track and field and basketball -- baseball ultimately won out as what he loved the most, as he quickly took off as an elite prospect. Seeking the best competition, he played some games in the professional Australian Baseball League (ABL) against people twice his age while he was still in high school.
He was offered a contract by the Tigers at age 16, but he chose to bet on himself by taking the college route to boost his stock. To say that gamble paid off would be an understatement.
In 2022, Bazzana was named a First Team Freshman All-American by the likes of Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), thanks to his .902 OPS. One year later, he took his game to a higher level, hitting a team-high .374 and being a Collegiate Baseball Second Team All-American. Bazzana’s junior season was the best of all, as he finished with a preposterous .407/.568/.911 batting line, finishing second nationally in OPS behind Georgia’s Charlie Condon and being a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, which Condon won.
Beyond the sheer numbers, though, what makes Bazzana “the most interesting man in college baseball” according to his agent, Chase Brewer, is his analytical mindset. For example, during his first year at OSU, he conducted research that showed that his chase rate was significantly higher in hitter-friendly counts, leading to his OBP jumping from .423 as a freshman to .500 as a sophomore. In 2023, Bazzana delivered a 90-minute presentation to Oregon State’s pitchers on what pitches they should be throwing in certain situations. That same season, he reached out to conference rival Rodney Green of Cal for advice on his “walking leadoff” tactic -- one which led to Bazzana finishing with a school-record 36 steals in 2023.
Only one Australian-born player in MLB history has more than 30 home runs (Dave Nilsson, who hit 105 in his eight-year career), and according to Baseball Australia, only 38 Aussies have appeared in an MLB game.