CHICAGO -- Travis Bazzana is one step closer to and one step away from the big leagues.
The Guardians promoted Bazzana (their No. 1 prospect and No. 12 overall, according to MLB Pipeline) from Double-A Akron to Triple-A Columbus on Sunday. The 22-year-old was among a wave of prospects whom Cleveland moved up a level.
The moves were announced after the Guardians (61-56) dropped their series finale to the White Sox, 6-4, at Rate Field, which marked the end of a 5-1 road trip.
Bazzana’s promotion to Columbus comes a little over a year after Cleveland made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. The second baseman (who will turn 23 on Aug. 28) has enjoyed a solid first full professional season, and he has turned it on offensively over the past few weeks.
In his past 18 games with Akron, Bazzana slashed .265/.367/.412 with seven doubles, one homer, six RBIs, 10 walks and 16 strikeouts. That stretch came directly after Akron activated him off the 7-day injured list on July 18, after Bazzana missed nearly two months with an internal right oblique strain.
Bazzana (who played in 27 games with Lake County last summer after the Draft) opened 2025 with Akron. In 21 games with the RubberDucks in April, he slashed .238/.347/.393 with one double, three triples, two homers, 12 walks and 27 strikeouts.
In May, he slashed .279/.392/.512 with four doubles, two homers, seven walks and 12 strikeouts over 12 games, before he went on the IL on May 21 with the oblique issue.
"He went through a period there where he was just not himself offensively,” Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said in May, after Bazzana went on the IL. “There were things he was struggling with with his swing, and it carried over to his mindset. He worked -- like he always does -- exceptionally hard to turn that around.
“We were seeing the benefits of that in the weeks prior to the injury. He shared that's part of what made it frustrating, because he felt he was finally hitting his stride and where he wanted to be offensively and getting locked in, and then the injury provided a setback.”
Just a minor setback, given how Bazzana has hit since he came off the IL. And as the strikeout numbers indicate, his swing decisions have been better since his slow start to the season.
Bazzana had a 27.6 percent K rate with Akron in April, 23.5 percent in May and 17.5 percent in July.
The IL stint cost Bazzana two months of games in affiliated ball, but the Guardians have been optimistic that it did not necessarily have to impact his development.
General manager Mike Chernoff was asked about Bazzana’s rest-of-season outlook after he came off the IL last month.
“We're looking for him to continue his development,” Chernoff said on July 18. “Obviously, he had to deal with the injury setback, which is rough for a guy who's the 1-1 pick and under the spotlight. But these things happen. So the No. 1 goal right now is just get him to a point of durability where he's fully built up and then continue the development.
“He’s working his tail off even while he was on rehab. Not surprising, knowing the guy. But at this point, we're just hoping that he can finish out the season healthy and get as much out of it as possible.”
Bazzana’s next step in that goal will come with Columbus.
His promotion puts him one phone call away from contributing in the big leagues, where things have been good for Cleveland lately. The Guardians have clawed their way back into the American League postseason picture. They’re 21-8 since dropping 10 straight games through July 6.
The Guardians were in fourth place and 15 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central on July 7. They are now second and just six games back of Detroit (68-51).
Cleveland is a half-game back of the Yankees (62-56) for the final AL Wild Card spot.
“It’s awesome,” said first baseman Kyle Manzardo, who delivered his third career mutlihomer game on Sunday with a pair of blasts. “It’s probably what we sort of expect from ourselves.
“[We’re] just showing up every day and just trying to win each day. Just keep stacking wins.”