![\"No.1](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/f1b961e88c1a1b59b5064d17a0de1ad49a7c36fc.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nThe 23-year-old, who scored a signing bonus worth about $13 million for being the No.1 pick, jumped on a flight to Tokyo after socking a 423-foot (129m), three-run homer against the Dodgers in spring training, MLB\u2019s pre-season period.<\/p>\n
He is the lead-off hitter for Australia and patrolling second base, as he does for the Cleveland Guardians\u2019 minor league affiliate Columbus \u2013 and soon enough, the Guardians despite previous murmurings about him switching to the outfield.<\/p>\n
MLB.com rates him as the No.20 prospect in all of baseball. Baseball America ranks him at No.22.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s Matthew Dellavedova, an NBA champion in Cleveland alongside LeBron James, is among the athletes who have developed a relationship with Bazzana since his life-changing draft selection, while the baseballer also hopes to meet star golfer Jason Day, who lives on a 300-acre estate near Columbus.<\/p>\n
Bazzana can still get around without being stopped every time he leaves home, but would welcome that changing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the pressure, and I love the expectations that I feel like I earned,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been looking forward to being on that stage, and sort of envisioning that, my whole life.\u201d<\/p>\n
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No.1 pick Bazzana hopes to make his Major League Baseball debut in this coming season.Credit: AP<\/p>\n
Being a top baseball prospect is a wildly different experience to other sports. In leagues such as the NBA, top 10 draftees (think Australia\u2019s Josh Giddey and Ben Simmons) regularly make an instant impact for their teams.<\/p>\n
But in baseball, draftees head to their MLB club\u2019s \u201cfarm system\u201d to negotiate the minor leagues and continue dreaming of reaching \u201cthe Show\u201d \u2013 a process that can take years.<\/p>\n
Bazzana will return to spring training after the World Baseball Classic, hoping to convince Guardians manager Stephen Vogt that he is ready to be called up.<\/p>\n
An oblique injury on both sides of his body interrupted his 2025 campaign, but he is healthy now and fresh from a self-described strong off-season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of spring training left to go for things to pan out, but the team\u2019s trying to prepare me best to have a long career in the big leagues,\u201d Bazzana said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s possible for me to make the opening-day roster, but there\u2019s a likelihood they will want to see me get a little more time in Triple A, and then when I\u2019m showing it\u2019s \u2018go time\u2019, there\u2019s an opportunity for me to help the team win at the major league level sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I could help them win now, but there are things that go into it, other than me thinking that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Australia has a modest, but proud, history in the Major Leagues, headlined by two-time World Series champion Graeme Lloyd, and All-Stars Dave Nilsson \u2013 the country\u2019s current manager \u2013 Liam Hendriks and Grant Balfour.<\/p>\n
Another promising player on Australia\u2019s team is Chicago White Sox infielder Curtis Mead, while Hendriks is recovering from elbow surgery but may pitch if Nilsson\u2019s team advances to the knockout stage again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve got a shot to do something pretty special,\u201d Bazzana said.<\/p>\n
The young star also has big plans himself, for this tournament and beyond.<\/p>\n
He insists he is not smitten with the riches that could await him if he realises his immense potential \u2013 and his only splurge from his signing bonus was buying a black Mercedes-Benz.<\/p>\n
![\"Bazzana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/31297e582311191f042df8aefd20ed73b025ac63.jpeg\")
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Bazzana is chasing his baseball dreams in the United States.Credit: AP<\/p>\n
Bazzana instead wants to trigger a surge in baseball popularity in Australia, which the sport\u2019s national body reported in July was already happening, with participation numbers up by 10.6 per cent across the previous two years.<\/p>\n
Call it the Bazzana effect.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI have an opportunity to bring people to the game and potentially give back, to let the growth continue past me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing stopping us as a country from being great at baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n