An exciting and historic week for the Guardians kicked off Sunday with the selection of Oregon State second basemen Travis Bazzana atop the Major League Baseball Draft. It was the first time the Cleveland baseball franchise has ever held the number one pick, thanks to winning baseball's second ever draft lottery.
The team also has five All-Stars, the most in the American League, along with the best record in the AL heading into this week's break.
It's enough to make fans put the team's recent slump in the rearview mirror.
So how did the team decide on Bazzana in the draft?
"I really believe what they did was they looked at this and said 'Who is the best hitter, the most Big League ready, with the best attitude from a top program?'" said Ideastream Public Media sports commentator Terry Pluto. "Bazzana played at Oregon State, same school that produced not only (Guardians All-Star) Steven Kwan, but Adley Rutschman, who's a great player for Baltimore, and a lot of other big leaguers."
Pluto said with the top pick, there is pressure on the organization to not pick a "bust" who will only be a marginal talent in the minor leagues. That might've lead the Guardians to pass on some of the other top prospects, like Georgia's Charlie Condon.
"Some scouts were a little worried there was a "bust factor" with him," Pluto said. "Some of these guys hit a ton of home runs in college. All of a sudden, they get to pro ball and they struggle."
One question for the Guardians is how to handle Bazzana and current second basemen Andres Gimenez, a 2022 All-Star and Platinum Glove winner as the best fielder in the American League. Gimenez signed a seven year contract extension with the Guardians before last season.
Gimenez came up as a shortstop in Venezuela and played that position when the Guardians acquired him in the Francisco Lindor deal in 2021. Pluto said one option is to move Gimenez back to shortstop.
"But (Gimenez) has become so great at second base you don't want to move him off of there," Pluto said. "But if they had to, they could put him at short ... but they're still trying to fill all of these outfield spots ... I know what I would be thinking if I were the Guardians. Look, (Bazzana) can really hit. He's a pretty good athlete, we'll find a spot for him somewhere."
It may take Bazzana longer to reach the big leagues than 2023's top overall pick, Pittsburgh pitcher Paul Skenes, who started for the National League in Tuesday's All-Star game.
Pluto doesn't believe there's a short route for a hitter to the majors.
"(Former Guardians manager) Terry Francona used to believe you needed between 1200 and 1500 at bats in the minors to be big league ready," Pluto said. "Sometimes a pitcher, if he just has overwhelming stuff, he can come up fast. Pitch an inning or two with two pitches."
Meanwhile, after a great start, the Guardians stumbled into the break, losing 11 of 18 games. Pluto mentioned another favorite Francona saying to explain a possible regression to the mean: "Look at the back of the guy's baseball card." That's where the player's all-time stats are.
"For example, David Fry, who made an All-Star team and suddenly seemed to come out of nowhere, since June 1 he's hitting .210. It kind of caught up with him," Pluto said. "Steven Kwan is not going to keep hitting .380 to .400. You know, that kind of stuff."
But the Guardians have stayed atop the American League because of slumps from other top teams like the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles. Cleveland is still ahead of Minnesota by more than four games, but Pluto said the Central Division is better than many fans believe. Teams resume play on Friday.
While Pluto worries about the Guardians overworked relief pitchers, there's another factor for rookie manager Stephen Vogt.
"He hasn't had anything like one of these really big losing streaks," Pluto said. "I still think they've not lost more than three in a row. That's going to be his big test as a young manager. The expectations were zero when he started (the season), and now they're like through the roof."
