Travis Bazzana Reveals What Minor League Affiliate He’ll Start At, Cleveland Guardians News

Travis Bazzana will be assigned to Cleveland Guardians High-A affiliate, Lake County Captains.

Jul 19, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians number one draft pick Travis Bazzana, right watches batting practice before the game between the Cleveland Guardians and the San Diego Padres at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians made franchise history last Sunday by selecting Travis Bazzana with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. He officially signed with the organization on Friday and was introduced at a press conference ahead of the Guardians' game against the San Diego Padres.

During that press conference, Bazzana revealed that he’ll start his minor league career and journey to the big leagues with the Lake County Captains, which is Cleveland’s High-A affiliate. Bazzana went on to say that he anticipates that he’ll play his first game out in Lake County sometime at the end of next week.

“We talked about it today, I think I’m going to head out to Lake County, High-A," said Bazzana.

"Probably start, yeah, playing my first game at the end of next week sometime. But, yeah, next couple of days, I’ll be around here. Hopefully, workout and meet some more people, start to build those relationships that are going to be growing long into the future, and then join some ex-teammates and people I’ve played against already and hopefully take that team and hopefully go win and move into the postseason and see where it goes.”

One of the biggest questions fans wanted to know after Cleveland drafted Bazzana was where he would be assigned after he signed. He was regarded as one of the best hitters coming out of the draft, hitting .407/.568/.911 with an OPS of 1.479 during his final season at Oregon State. 

Jul 19, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians number one draft pick Travis Bazzana, right, shakes hands with third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) before the game between the Cleveland Guardians and the San Diego Padres at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Immediately following Cleveland’s selection of Bazzana on Sunday, President of Baseball Operation Chris Antonetti said that Bazzana would come up through the organization as a second baseman. With this in mind, it would make sense for Bazzana to debut at second during his first game. 

While fans are eager to see Bazzana step in the box at Progressive Field, he still has to some developing to do in the minors before reaching that major league level. From here, it’ll be interesting to see how long it takes for him to get promoted to the next level.