The Guardians are promoting 2024 first overall pick Travis Bazzana, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. He’ll presumably take over as the everyday second baseman.
Cleveland’s middle infield has been in flux since Gabriel Arias went down with a left hamstring strain three weeks ago. The Guardians promoted Juan Brito after the Arias injury, but the 24-year-old rookie struggled after collecting five hits in his first three games. Brito has just four hits in 39 at-bats over his past 12 games. He has also committed four errors across 123 1/3 innings at the keystone.
That opened the door for Bazzana’s first major league look. The Australian-born infielder is out to a strong .287/.422/.511 start over 24 games with Triple-A Columbus. He has taken walks at a huge 17.9% clip against a league average 21.4% strikeout rate. Bazzana only has two home runs, but he has already tallied 11 doubles and a pair of triples. He’s also 8-10 in stolen base attempts.
More to come.
