Travis Bazzana collects four hits, steals base

Bazzana is still drawing walks, but he’s hitting .189 with only one extra-base hit in his last 21 games, leaving him at .235/.332/.372 overall. There might be a slight chance of the Guardians sending him down at some point, clearing the way for Angel Genao to play second base regularly.

Bazzana has sat against two of the three lefties the Guardians have faced since the callup of Angel Genao, who is playing second base and batting seventh tonight. It seems like it’ll be a trend unless an injury opens up more time for Genao at other positions. Bazzana is hitting just .192/.302/.240 against southpaws thus far.

Genao takes a seat with Travis Bazzana at the keystone and Brayan Rocchio at shortstop. The 22-year-old top prospect has made some serious waves, hitting .368 (7-for-19) with one homer and two RBI in five games since being promoted from Triple-A Columbus last week. He boasts impressive contact skills and has shown some impressive over-the-fence pop over the last few months. He’s seeing the ball extremely well at the moment and should be rostered in all fantasy formats, even if he’s going to cede the occasional start to Bazzana at second base when Rocchio is in the lineup.

The 23-year-old rookie infielder has seen his production fall off dramatically after his hot start, slashing a troublesome .216/.312/.358 with six homers, 25 RBI and nine stolen bases over 237 plate appearances since the start of June. He’ll get a day to clear his head with left-hander Noah Schultz on the mound for the White Sox.

It’s strange to see DeLauter taking a seat against a right-handed starter, especially since he’s hitting .344 (11-for-32) with four RBI and two steals in eight games since the All-Star break. With Angel Martínez back in right field, it’ll be rookie Travis Bazzana at DH with Gabriel Arias handling second base on Saturday evening.

Bazzana also walked twice before his walkoff shot off Dennis Santana in the bottom of the ninth gave the Guardians a doubleheader sweep. Throw in his RBI triple in the matinee, and it was a big day for a rookie hitting just .158/.241/.197 in his previous 19 games. He’s at .253/.337/.410 overall in 67 big-league games.

Bazzana supplied Cleveland’s lone run during the front-end of the twin bill when he drilled a 101-mph RBI triple into the right-field corner off Pirates starter Jared Jones with two outs in the third inning. It was his lone hit in four at-bats out of the leadoff spot as the Guardians managed just six hits combined in their second-half lid-lifter.

Bazzana has been removed from Cleveland’s leadoff spot after hitting .198/.280/.362 with four homers and four steals over his last 30 games. The 23-year-old rookie has been struggling recently, hitting just .238 (5-for-30) over his last seven games. It’ll be David Fry getting a look atop the lineup against Twins rookie lefty Connor Prielipp in this one. It could be a one-game decision, but fantasy managers should prepare for Bazzana to hit lower in the Guardians lineup against lefty starters moving forward.

Bazzana led off the home half of the first with a single but wound up stranded at third. He then opened the scoring with an RBI double in the third inning and scored as Brayan Rocchio worked a bases-loaded walk. Bazzana also walked in the fourth and sixth innings, but the Guardians couldn’t cash him in. The 23-year-old phenom is slashing a solid .251/.346/.420 with seven homers, 26 RBI and 12 stolen bases over 240 plate appearances across his first 56 MLB contests.

Bazzana started the game with a lead-off home run off Spencer Arrighetti and then extended the Guardians’ lead to 6-1 with a three-run home run off Arrighetti in the fifth inning. Bazzana is hitting .274 with seven home runs, an .845 OPS and 23 RBI after his monster game. It came at the right time as he entered play Saturday 10-for-55 (.182) in June.