MLB Draft: What To Know About Oregon State's Travis Bazzana
Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana is projected to be the number-one pick in the 2024 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Guardians. It's an opinion shared by several of the indusrty's top experts.
MLB Pipeline's number one prospect was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year and slashed .407/.568/.911/1.479 with 28 home runs and 66 RBIs.
The Beavers' second baseman became the seventh player in program history to earn the league's Player of the Year honor. The last to do it was Jacob Melton, who is now in the Houston Astros organization.
“The left-handed-hitting infielder is compact and strong with plenty of bat speed,” is what MLB Pipeline notes about Bazzana. “He has an advanced approach at the plate with a ton of raw power he taps into, though he can occasionally be susceptible to offspeed stuff on the outer half. He’s proven he can hit lefties as well as righties. A plus runner, he’s a legitimate base-stealing threat.”
Baseball America, on the other hand, has Bazzana as the second-best prospect in this year's draft. Ahead of him is Georgia’s Charlie Condon.
Travis Bazzana has done nothing but hit since his college career kicked off ...
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) February 18, 2024
Friday was no different.
He is now viewed as one of the premier hitters in the 2024 class.https://t.co/aa5nysUVNy pic.twitter.com/lbbK09Vq6f
“Before he got to campus at Oregon State, the Australian native played in the West Coast League where he slashed .429/.471/.593 with 18 doubles and 18 stolen bases. He has hit over .300 in both of his seasons with Oregon State and enters the 2023 season as a career .340/.463/.549 hitter with the Beavers and during the 2023 summer won the MVP award in the Cape Cod League where he ranked as the No. 1 prospect of the field... A sizable leg kick and a flat path, but his contact skills are excellent and he pairs that with an advanced approach and standout swing decisions."
- Baseball America
RELATED: Welcome to Oregon State on SI, From the Managing Editor
The Cleveland Guardians hold the number one pick in this year's draft, but if it isn’t the Guardians who select Bazzana, in all likelihood, the Cincinnati Reds who hold the second pick will take him. The worst-case scenario for Bazzana would be going number three to the Colorado Rockies.
Baseball America's most recent mock draft has Bazzana dropping to the fourth overall pick, which the Oakland Athletics hold.
“While the Rockies are linked with pitchers, it has mostly been hitting profiles discussed for the A’s which should mean most of the top-tier college hitters are in play for this pick—though I have heard less discussion about a high school bat like Bryce Rainer or Konnor Griffin quite this high,” notes Carlos Collazo of Baseball America in his most recent mock draft.
MLB Pipeline does indeed believe that Bazzana is the surefire number one overall pick.
“No change here as Bazzana is still the name most often mentioned at the very top,” mentioned Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com Charlie Condon still feels like the next best option as they are the two bats who have separated themselves, though there’s still buzz that Cleveland will look to save money here -- perhaps on a player a bit lower down in the top 10 -- and spread the dollars around.”
The 2024 MLB Draft will take place on July 14-16 during All-Star week in Texas The last player to go number one overall out of Oregon State was catcher Adley Rutschman in 2019.
KEVIN BARRAL