The Guardians provided a progress report on many prospects, including Travis Bazzana and Chase DeLauter, who has resumed baseball activity amid rehab.
CLEVELAND — As the top prospects in the Guardians farm system, Travis Bazzana and Chase DeLauter represent a great deal of hope.
The Guardians (63-60) could use some hope after the momentum they had built fizzled with a 5-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves (56-68) capping a three-game series sweep Aug. 17 at Progressive Field.
"It was a frustrating weekend for all of us," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.
Whether Bazzana or DeLauter makes a Guardians debut at some point in the final six weeks of the 2025 MLB regular season remains to be seen.
Either way, Guardians vice president of player development and farm director Stephen Osterer spoke to reporters about Bazzana, DeLauter and several other prospects in Cleveland’s organization.
Here are some highlights:
Travis Bazzana stats
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, Bazzana’s progress resulted in the Guardians promoting the second baseman Aug. 10 from the Double-A Akron RubberDucks to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers.
After Bazzana missed nearly two months with an internal right oblique strain, the RubberDucks activated him July 18 off the injured list. He proceeded to slash .265/.367/.412 with one home run, seven doubles, six RBIs, 10 walks and 16 strikeouts in 18 games with Akron. The stretch led him to Columbus, where he slashed .214/.542/.357 with three hits, including a triple, three RBIs, 10 walks and eight strikeouts in five games through Aug. 17.
Travis Bazzana prospect ranking
The 22-year-old Bazzana is the Guardians’ No. 1 prospect and No. 15 overall, according to MLB Pipeline.
“Bazzana has been really good,” Osterer said. “A lot of things go into whether or not we promote a player. Obviously, there's the things that he's doing on the field and his day-to-day [routine] and some of the performance numbers that you see. But there's also the things under the surface that we're trying to consider as we challenge guys with the next level. We're trying to find the best development opportunity for them and the best development environment.
“But Travis has been really good since coming back from injury, and even before that there were a lot of things that he was doing really well that probably more so towards the back end we were seeing the performance numbers kind of keep pace with some of the underlying measures that we would look at to determine whether or not he's going to be successful. There was a lot of excitement around the bat when he came back and what he was doing offensively, and then the defense has been a real trend up and arrow up this year as well.
"Travis has done a nice job. He's a diligent worker and works really hard to get better, and we're seeing some of that play up over the last few weeks specifically.”
Chase DeLauter injury
The Guardians provided the following injury update about DeLauter on Aug. 17:
“Chase is currently three weeks post-operative following a surgery to remove the hook of his hamate bone in his right hand, performed by Dr. Thomas Graham. He is responding well to his rehab program and has resumed baseball activity. Typical return to play timeframes following similar cases is 45-60 days.”
A 23-year-old outfielder, DeLauter had surgery on July 23. In the best-case scenario of a return 45 days after surgery, DeLauter could return to action Sept. 6. In other words, a late-September promotion to the Guardians cannot be ruled out.
Chase DeLauter prospect ranking
The No. 16 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, DeLauter is Cleveland’s No. 2 prospect and No. 56 overall, according to MLB Pipeline. He has endured numerous injuries throughout his career.
“Obviously, Chase with the injury history, it can weigh on a player mentally going through it again, and especially when it's a different part of the body,” Osterer said. “But Chase has been really good. I think his mindset and his growth over the last couple of years and having to deal with those things has been, I don't want to call it a 180, but it's been very professional and very centered around what he can control.
“There's been a lot of commentary about just the professionalism of the day-to-day [approach] and how great he's doing from that standpoint. With any injury, it's a learning opportunity for guys. I think for Chase, he's come a long way in the last couple of years dealing with these things, and he's progressing well so far.”
Chase DeLauter stats
DeLauter played 34 games with Triple-A Columbus this season before undergoing surgery. He slashed .278/.383/.476 with five home runs, eight doubles, a triple, 21 RBIs, 22 walks and 23 strikeouts with the Clippers.
DeLauter began the 2025 season in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League after undergoing core muscle surgery for a sports hernia in March.
“He can still hit,” Osterer said. “There was obviously a little bit of rust that has to come off when you have a considerable amount of time off, but he came back and he hit, and that's what Chase does really well. The quality of work that he puts into the hitting is also exceptional, too. So all in all, it was really exciting seeing him out there and seeing him do the things that we know he can do and doing that with a pretty limited sample size, not a ton of runway to get to where he was. So it's exciting to think about what Chase will be when he's healthy again.”
Guardians VP of player development Stephen Osterer on Juan Brito, Parker Messick and other prospects
Quick hits from Osterer on other Guardians prospects …
- Second baseman Juan Brito, 23, who is six weeks into rehabilitating a right hamstring injury, which is expected to require a total of 8 to 12 weeks for a return: “He's still swinging. He's throwing. He's doing some defense. A lot of the work is just building up the resiliency in the hamstring to be able to run.”
- Left-handed pitcher Parker Messick, 24, who’s with the Clippers: “He came in with the ability to execute his stuff — a really good changeup, a good fastball — but needed to add some velocity. He's done that on an upward arrow for two years now. [He’s] throwing a sinker now and figuring out how to deploy all of his pitches and have the best plan of attack that can hopefully work at the major-league level.”
- Tyler Naquin, 34, who’s transitioning to pitching with the High-A Lake County Captains after playing outfield for eight MLB seasons: “He's only thrown 10[⅔] innings [with Lake County]. It's hard to say what does that actually look like in a larger sample. But I think he continues to work on throwing strikes, and he's got pretty good stuff. It's just the consistency of it. In fairness to Tyler, he hasn't done it a ton, and it has been arrow up and he has gotten a lot better. But, again, 10 innings there, some innings in Arizona, there's still a lot left if he wants to continue doing that.”
- Right-handed pitcher Daniel Espino, 24, who had a revision right shoulder anterior capsule repair 17 months ago and has been throwing bullpen sessions at the player development complex in Goodyear, Arizona: “Daniel's an incredible human being. Anyone who spends time with him feels that right away. … He's gone through a lot personally, he's gone through a lot professionally, and it's just the person that he is to just take that and continue moving forward. His mindset is incredible when you talk to him. … The resilience there is just off the charts.”
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at [email protected]. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians evaluate top prospects Travis Bazzana, Chase DeLauter
Category: Baseball
