Oregon State Beavers second baseman Travis Bazzana, the preseason favorite to be selected No. 1 in July’s draft by the Cleveland Guardians, continued a torrid run on Sunday, launching a leadoff home run against the Washington Huskies to extend his streak of leadoff home runs to four. In the first three of those games, Bazzana had recorded six hits, four of them home runs, and had driven in seven RBI.
Here’s a look at Bazzana’s latest home run in all its moving picture glory:
Bazzana, 21, entered Sunday’s contest hitting .481/.598/1.013 with 10 home runs, 30 RBI, and 10 more walks than strikeouts in his first 20 games this spring.
CBS Sports had ranked Bazzana as the third-best prospect in this year’s class back in February. At the time, we noted that other front offices believed the Guardians were infatuated with Bazzana. Here’s what we wrote:
With the caveat that a lot can and will change over the ensuing five months, multiple sources identified Bazzana as the preseason favorite to go No. 1. The Guardians are believed to be particularly enamored with his makeup — one source said, in the parlance of today’s young and cool, that they think he’s “built different.” Be that as it may be, a scouting director noted that these things are dictated by 11th-hour bonus demands, not springtime deliberations. But enough about the process stuff. What about Bazzana’s game? He’s another polished left-handed hitter who boasts a double major in Swing Decisions and Barrel Feel. Bazzana doesn’t chase; he doesn’t whiff; and he almost always squares-up. There’s likely to be a disconnect between how his power is viewed by model-heavy teams (like, ahem, the Guardians) and more traditional clubs. His slugging indicators are superior to Wetherholt’s, but, as one scout observed, he may already be optimized in that respect, making it unwise to project much growth. Wherever one lands on the matter, Bazzana should be a defensible choice if he does indeed stay atop Cleveland’s board.
Bazzana will have to wait until Thursday to extend his streak to five. That’s when Oregon State will open a road series against the USC Trojans.
