Fantasy baseball has many fans around the world. It allows people to assemble a virtual team of MLB players that receives scoring in accordance with their on-field performance. It’s a popular form of entertainment.
Of course, the best players in the league are picked in the early rounds of the draft. Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Bobby Witt Jr., and similarly talented and productive players often go in the first round. Then you have the sleepers, those who are talented but aren’t being selected early in drafts due to concerns about playing time, a risky profile, or any other reason.
For analyst Chris Towers, Cleveland Guardians top prospect Travis Bazzana qualifies as a deep sleeper this season.
“Bazzana won’t be on the Opening Day roster, but I don’t really think it’s going to take very long. He’s “blocked” by Brayan Rocchio, which isn’t much of a hurdle to clear. He’s having a strong spring, and if he hits well in Triple-A, I think there’s a decent chance we see the former No. 1 overall pick in April,” Towers wrote.
Those who follow the Guardians closely have said that May or June are more likely estimated times of arrival for Bazzana, the No. 1 pick of the 2024 Draft, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see him up in April.
He is supremely talented and has had success in every minor league stop to this point. In 2024, fresh off being taken in the draft, he had a 126 wRC+. Then, in 2025, he posted a 137 wRC+ between the Complex League (where he played a few rehab games), Double-A, and Triple-A.
Bazzana, who hit a home run in the World Baseball Classic, is also sporting a 131 wRC+ in the Cactus League. Any way you slice it, he has hit at every stop. The Guardians, and Towers in this case, have every reason to believe he can produce at the highest level.
His path towards the majors will depend on two things. The first one is obvious: he needs to hit consistently in Triple-A to force the issue. Then, as Towers implies, Rocchio or Gabriel Arias will have to struggle to open up a spot. When Bazzana is called up, he is likely to be a regular.
It wouldn’t make sense for the Guardians, as a team, to remove either Rocchio or Arias from the starting lineup if they are producing. It’s not particularly likely to see both of them giving Cleveland above-average offensive stats at the same time, though, and that’s why Bazzana could earn his place early in the season.
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