Guardians' top prospect missing from Arizona Fall League list

Travis Bazzana made a name for himself as a high school student at Turramurra in Sydney, Australia. There, he played both cricket and baseball, playing for the Sydney Blue Sox of the Australian Baseball League and representing his country in the 2019 U-18 Baseball World Cup and the 2022 U-23 Baseball World Cup. 

He would then go on to attend Oregon State University, further making a name for himself. During his sophomore year, he stole 36 bases, breaking a school record while hitting .374. As a junior, he further excelled at the plate, breaking a single-season school record after hitting 26 home runs that year and also breaking the school's career home run record. 

Bazzana would then go on to be drafted first overall in the 2024 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Guardians. He became the first Australian Baseball player to be taken in the spot, and the first second baseman to be drafted in the spot as well. 

He has had little trouble showing off his offensive success in the minor leagues thus far. However, a right oblique strain that he suffered on May 14th this season slowed him down, but he returned to the lineup in late July and was later called up to Triple-A.

Travis Bazzana to skip the Arizona Fall League

Cleveland recently listed the prospects who would be headed to the Arizona Fall League to continue to develop. Unfortunately, Travis Bazzana's name was missing from this list. 

The list includes Daniel Espino, Trenton Delholm, Matt Jachec, Rorik Maltrud, Zane Morehouse, Juan Benjamin, Wuilfredo Antunez, and Chase DeLauter. Bazzana will instead travel back to Australia and focus on recovering and preparing for the 2026 season, per Cleveland.com's Joe Noga.

"Bazzana, the first overall pick in the 2024 draft who is currently having a strong showing at Triple-A, will return to his native Australia for the first part of the offseason before focusing on conditioning and preparation for the 2026 season."

For those attending, the AFL kicks off on October 6 and will conclude on November 8.