Who is Travis Bazzana? The No. 1 Australian prospect in the 2024 MLB draftÂ
Sydney native and top baseball prospect Travis Bazzana is on the verge of making history by becoming the first player from Australia to be picked in the opening round of the MLB draft. The opening round of the 2024 draft takes place on Sunday, July 14, in Dallas, Texas.
Most mock drafts have Bazzana being picked within the first four overall picks of the draft. Many even have him going No. 1 overall to the Cleveland Guardians while some think he will be going to the Oakland Athletics with the No. 4 overall pick.
Who is Travis Bazzana? Exploring his early connection with baseball
Travis Bazzana's journey traces back to his childhood days when he was just a kid with a tee and a bat. He developed an early interest in baseball, aside from cricket, one of the major and prominent sports in the country.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald's Vince Rugari, his father Gary played for the Norths club in Lismore, where Bazzana's parents are from. After marrying, they relocated to Wahroonga on Sydney's upper north shore and raised three kids.
Travis is the youngest, and because the elder two also played the game, he grew up in an organized baseball environment and had a knack for hitting balls at an early age.
He subsequently joined the Stealers Baseball and Softball T-Ball Program in Sydney, one of the best baseball clubs in Australia.
Aside from baseball, Bazzana also had an interest in cricket, rugby union and soccer as a kid, but ultimately he chose baseball to move forward with.
Travis Bazzana briefly played in the Australian Baseball League for the Sydney Blue Sox, where he connected with several former MLB players from Australia who helped and guided him. One of them was Ryan Rowland-Smith, a former pitcher for the Seattle Mariners.
His junior baseball academy, NxtGen, helped Bazzana land in America to get the taste of the big leagues. Further, Rowland-Smith helped him land a scholarship through a former teammate who is a coach at Oregon State University.
Travis Bazzana started playing college baseball with the program in 2022 and went on to break the program's record for hits and home runs.
In 2022, the Beavers infielder batted .306/.425/.478 with six home runs and 44 RBIs in 63 games. The following year, he slashed .374/.500/.622 with 11 home runs, 55 RBIs and a school-record 36 stolen bases in 61 games.
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