The 2024 WBSC Premier12 Tournament is just getting underway and will pit the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world against one another to see who comes out on top.
The tournament was postponed from 2023 due to COVID-19 and will take place in Taiwan, Mexico, and Japan.
It’s an unknown tournament to many baseball fans, but for Cleveland Guardians fans, it would be wise to tune in as 2024’s No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana will be playing and already looks to be off to a strong start.
Guardians Prospective shared a clip on X of the 22-year-old second baseman ripping a double deep to right-center field in an exhibition game for Team Australia.
Cleveland #Guardians 22yr old (2B) prospect Travis Bazzana rips a double to right center in exhibition action for team Australia facing in Tokyo getting ready for the upcoming WBSC #Premier12 tournament.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/quebVYkGWX
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) November 10, 2024
The last WBSC Tournament was held in 2019 and the format consists of two groups of six teams each playing five games in the opening round in a round-robin format to determine the top two teams in each group, who then advance to the next round.
Bazzana mashed for Oregon State this year and hit .407 with 28 home runs in 60 games to make himself the top pick in the draft.
He then began his pro career in High-A ball at Lake County where he hit .238 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 27 games.
This tournament will be a good experience for Bazzana and get him some much-needed reps against great competition, and hopefully for Guardians fans, this will help set him up for a strong year in the minors in 2025.
The team doesn’t want to rush him through the system, but his bat might make sure he is up in the big leagues sooner rather than later.
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