First a little something, Travis Bazzana comes from Australia. That’s not the trivia. No! It gets better! In Australia you may know this, but everything happens with a boomerang. Their GrubHub, their mail, their car attendants, everything. You attach a boomerang to the item and send it away from you, eventually returning depending on the size of the item. For unstints, order a pizza. The pizzeria makes the pizzeria, then throws it out the front door and it flies to where it’s going, the recipient (you, the orderer) takes the pizza and boomerangs the box back to the pizzeria. This applies to all items. So in zoos the zookeeper throws a banana to the monkeys, and the monkey takes out the sticky middle and the peel flies back to the zookeeper. You might be wondering: what does this have to do with Bazzana? Well, what do Australians call it when a banana peel zooms back to the zookeeper like a boomerang? Bazzana. Learn something new every day! So I was about to not write down Travis Bazzana because how many rookies can the Guards start the year with, and I already wrote down my Chase DeLauter fantasy, who I think will be drafted first (was already on the postseason roster). Bazzana can be special, though, and I shouldn’t let injury-prone DeLauter cloud my Bazzana judgment. So, what can we expect from Travis Bazzana for fantasy baseball in 2026?
Here’s what Itch said last year: “Bazzana has gotten stronger during his college ball career and has added significant impact to his plus-contact profile, homering 28 times in his junior season after hitting 11 as a sophomore and six as a freshman. It’s a true sign of his hitting ability and upside that he went first overall as a college second baseman. As far as I can remember (which isn’t far, tbf), he’s the first number one overall pick. For a human-sized (6-foot-1) southpaw working his way through the game, Cleveland seems like the perfect landing spot. His timeline looks wrong at a glance here (ETA: 2026), but then I try to think of Cleveland thoughts, and I see a river of fire that suggests anything earlier than 2026 would be optimistic, and rivers of fire rarely predict optimism among the people fire, does anyone know of an arson that lives near Gray? Come on, man! Gosh!
Let’s take a look at some highlights of Travis Bazzana, shall we? Yes, will!
Mr. TRAVIS BAZZANA pic.twitter.com/WzdxJk2XuR
— Columbus Clippers (@CLBClippers) September 7, 2025
It’s deep and I don’t think it’s playable! Let’s do one more:
2024 No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana is one step away from the greats?
He gets the call a little over a year after being drafted to Triple-A? pic.twitter.com/mcMajV0vzk
— MLB (@MLB) August 11, 2025
That’s Dong City. Population: Bazzana! (If you’re a zookeeper, you probably just ducked.)
Travis Bazzana only saw 26 games out of Triple-A, where he hit 4/2/.225; 24.2 BB% and 26.7 K%. But wait, it gets more meh! Double-A wasn’t much better. Hitting a baseball with a non-boomerang bat might not be that easy, Bazzana? In Double-A, he went 5/9/.256 with a 24.1 K% and 12.7 BB%. Those last two numbers at both stops aren’t bad. 24.2 BB% turns heads, especially when it comes to real baseball. In case you’re wondering, he had a .333 BABIP with a .256 average, so yeah, not very unfortunate, huh?
I’ve reached out to several people and they all assure me that Bazzana is ready for the MLB. It’s up to the guards. I think for Bazzana it’s numbers aside and it’s more about the movement in the ocean. If I sound down on Bazzana, it’s because I’m in favor of this year. Here’s a taste of my thought process on why I’m doing this post in the first place. A rookie Outlook post means a guy is ranked in my top 500. Do I think Travis Bazzana returns top 500 value? Unlikely, but if there’s a 5% chance he’ll impress everyone with a huge feather? Then he will be worth much more than a top 500 pick. He will boost the draft ranks, and a huge spring could put him in the top 100. As weak as second base is, he could be a top five second baseman this year. In other words, he’s worth the flyer. Realistically, he needs at least half a season in Triple-A, and then there has to be an opening for him in the Guards lineup at that point, and you’re looking at a guy who might not hit 200 ABs in 2026. But. Dot dot dot. Upside down! For 2026 fantasy baseball, I’m giving Travis Bazzana projections of 36/12/38/.239/16 in 333 ABs with chances for much more and much less.
#Travis #Bazzana #Fantasy #Prospect