Cleveland Guardians top prospect Travis Bazzana was enjoying a highly successful season so far in Double-A Akron.
He was hitting .252/.362/.433 with four homers, eight stolen bases, and a 135 wRC+ in 33 games and 149 plate appearances before being removed from a game last week with soreness in his right side flank.
The injury occurred six days ago, but the Guardians took their time to send him for an MRI and for him to be evaluated by their physicians.
The verdict? An internal oblique strain, and a long recovery ahead.
“Travis Bazzana suffered an internal oblique strain last week and is expected to miss 8 to 10 weeks,” Guardians insider Tim Stebbins posted on X.
Travis Bazzana suffered an internal oblique strain last week and is expected to miss 8 to 10 weeks
— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) May 20, 2025
The news is obviously not the one Cleveland wanted to hear.
There was some optimism that the strain was mild, but that’s obviously not the case.
Bazzana had a non-zero chance of making his MLB debut at some point this year, but if his odds were 50-50 on a potential 2025 call-up, they are now 85-15 leaning on not getting the call this year.
The optimistic end of the offered timeline would be mid-to-late July, and the Guardians hadn’t even bumped him to Triple-A yet.
It’s hard to envision an organization willing to reinstate a top prospect coming back from a long-term injury at a higher level than the one he had been playing before getting hurt.
It looks like Bazzana’s arrival in the majors will have to wait until next year.
Right now, the priority must be getting fully healthy and finding his way to Triple-A before the end of the year.
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