Travis Bazzana has made Australian sporting history, recruited with the No.1 pick in the 2024 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft.
The big-hitting left-hander from Sydney is the first Australian player to be taken in the first round of the draft, let alone the top choice.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Monday morning (AEST) that the Cleveland Guardians had chosen the second base, currently playing for Oregon State University.
There was no doubt that Bazzana would be recruited in the top five picks.
“It means a lot, it’s hard to put into words, but it means everything,” Baseball Australia chief executive Glenn Williams told ESPN from Oregon.
“I’m just stoked to be with the people that I am, right here, right now.”
Travis Bazzana will play with the Cleveland Guardians, who lead the American League Central standings with a 58-37 record, the second-best across the major leagues. Credit: Amanda Loman/AP
Bazzana, who also played cricket growing up in Sydney, said he wants to raise baseball’s profile in Australia through his career.
“I see a lot of opportunity — an opportunity to make an impact on a lot of (baseballers) and just people back home in Australia, hopefully change the narrative for the sport,” Bazzana said.
“While baseball classics and Olympics are something I want to see on the cards … I just want to give belief to players back home that (they) can go do great things in the US and pursue a major league dream.
“Hopefully this is a step towards that.”
The previous-highest Australian selection was pitcher Josh Spence, taken in the third round of the 2009 draft.
Bazzana had an exceptional .407 batting average this season for Oregon State, with 28 homers and 66 runs batted in.
Baseball’s top pick this year had a slot value of $US10.5 million ($A16 million) under the bonus pools system that began in 2012.
Cleveland had the top pick for the first time since the draft started in 1965, winning a weighted lottery in December despite having a two per cent chance.
The lottery was introduced last year as part of a collective bargaining agreement provision to discourage struggling teams from deliberately trying for a top draft pick by offloading veterans.
The Ku-Ring-Gai Stealers got a real kick out of seeing Travis Bazzana go at No.1 in the MLB draft. Source: AAP / Bianca De Marchi
Teams were to make the first 74 picks on Monday at the Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth.
Manfred was booed by the roughly 2,000 fans in attendance when he emerged on stage through the set’s saloon doors to announce Bazzana as the No.1 choice.
Bazzana’s home club, the Ku-Ring-Gai Stealers, was holding a function on Monday morning to watch the draft.
He will now go to one of Cleveland’s minor league teams and — depending on his form there — could make his major league debut for the Guardians as early as later this season.
The Guardians lead the American League Central standings with a 58-37 record, the second-best across the major leagues.
