Travis Bazzana has gone through the typical ups and downs of a rookie this season with the Cleveland Guardians. Even though he was considered one of the top prospects in the game as the No. 1 overall pick from the 2024 MLB Draft, those highs and lows are inevitable for any young player.
Bazzana did play well enough to be named to the AL All-Star team, joining pitching teammate Parker Messick as the first Cleveland rookies to be so honored in 36 years. But the second baseman has been struggling lately, with a .192 batting average in August heading into Friday’s contest against the Colorado Rockies.
After having a huge four-hit game at Coors Field, Bazzana revealed a lesson he’s learned this season, saying that he’s adapting better to the down times.
“It’s a lot of learning experiences,” Bazzana said. “Sometimes I felt like I was trying too hard when it started to trend downwards. I’m sticking with it, and hopefully I can keep moving forward with a night like this and do that more often.”
Bazzana learned that hard lesson right away in his MLB career, as he did not have a hit in his first 12 at-bats after making his debut on April 28. The 24-year-old adjusted quickly and had his batting average above .300 near the end of May.
That put him on the radar for the All-Star Game, and he went 0-for-2 in the AL’s 4-0 victory. Since then, the Guardians have fallen out of first place in the AL Central, and they enter play Saturday 4.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox.
Games like the one Bazzana had against the Rockies will be imperative down the stretch. Batting seventh in the order, after flying out in the second inning, Bazzana hit four singles. After a two-RBI hit in the fourth, he had a base hit in the fourth, another in the seventh, and a run-scoring hit in the ninth in a 9-1 Cleveland win.
It was his second four-hit game of the season. He had the signature game of his rookie season against the Houston Astros on June 20, when he went 4-for-4 with two home runs and five RBIs, earning a special bobblehead as a result.
Now, the Guardians have to hope there is more where these came from as they try to earn a playoff berth in the tight AL race.
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