Guardians' top prospect Bazzana (right oblique) set for rehab assignment

CLEVELAND -- Travis Bazzana is set to begin a rehab assignment on Saturday as he continues his comeback from an internal right oblique strain.

Bazzana (the Guardians’ No. 1 prospect, No. 16 overall, according to MLB Pipeline) is scheduled to play five innings on Saturday in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League. It will mark the 2024 No. 1 overall Draft pick’s first game action in nearly two months.

Bazzana suffered the oblique injury in the second game of Double-A Akron’s doubleheader against Chesapeake on May 14. The 22-year-old appeared in discomfort after hitting a fourth-inning double, and he exited the game after being assessed by the RubberDucks’ training staff.

A subsequent MRI later confirmed the strain. Bazzana has been rehabbing and building up his progression at the Guardians’ team complex in Arizona, and built up to conducting baseball activities such as running, throwing and hitting.

After announcing that Bazzana was diagnosed with an oblique strain, the Guardians noted that similar injuries have an 8-to-10-week return-to-play timeline. Wednesday marked seven weeks since Bazzana went down, so he appears right in that window to rejoin Akron in the coming weeks.

Bazzana was finding his rhythm offensively after an up-and-down start to the season prior to the injury. In 21 games in April, he recorded a .238/.347/.393 slash line with one double, three triples, two homers, 12 walks and 27 strikeouts.

In 12 games in May before his injury, he had a .279/.392/.512 slash line and had hit four doubles and two homers, with seven walks compared to 12 strikeouts.