Young Aussie star Travis Bazzana tipped to be first pick in America’s Major League Baseball draft

Travis Bazzana – dubbed the Bazzmanian devil – is set to mark himself as our newest sporting superstar by achieving something no Australian has before. Watch the video.

Exclusive: Travis Bazzana was barely old enough to walk when he started swinging a baseball bat in his suburban Sydney backyard.

Playing in America’s Major League Baseball (MLB) was all he wanted to do since then. Now, the 21-year-old is on the verge of being the first player chosen in next month’s draft, an honour never before achieved by an Australian that will mark him as our newest sporting superstar.

And while going pro will be a dream come true, Bazzana is dreaming even bigger still. He wants to build a powerhouse national team and inspire Australia to fall in love with baseball, just as NBA stars Andrew Bogut and Patty Mills achieved in basketball.

Travis Bazzana could soon make sporting history. Picture: Andrew Green/baseball.com.au

“My why for wanting to be great in the game of baseball has sort of developed over time. I used to want to prove people wrong, and had big goals and passion,” he said.

“I still have the big goals and passion, but it’s less about proving people wrong, and it’s more about paving a path and creating an impact that can change the game in Australia.”

MLB experts say Bazzana is the “best pure hitter” available in the draft, with the Cleveland Guardians tipped to choose him with the first pick that brings a signing bonus of $US10m ($15.15m).

He soared up the rankings after a record-breaking college baseball season for Oregon State University, which he could cap off this weekend with the Golden Spikes Award as the best amateur baseball player in the US.

“The mock drafts, they used to be a big motivation. A year ago, I wasn’t where I am now,” Bazzana said.

“Everyone’s got their own opinion. I’ve shown what I can do … I’ll be really stoked with whatever the outcome is, but I’m excited for the day.

“I feel like I’ve been preparing and envisioning this for a long time, and that makes it easier because you’ve prepared your mind for what it’s going to look like.”

An 11-year-old Bazzana was selected to play for the Australian U13 Baseball team in the Cal Ripken World Series. Picture: Supplied

As a teenager, Bazzana captained Sydney’s Turramurra High School to a state cricket championship, but while he occasionally considered a future as a big-hitting opening batter, he said he always had an “innate passion” for baseball.

“It started very young but it was my own doing – I was just drawn to it,” he said.

“There were a lot of ways I could get better, and I was lucky enough to see that vision myself of how I could improve … Unfortunately some people struggle to see that vision in Australia on the baseball front.”

At Oregon State, where he studied psychology, he pored over analytics of his performance and prioritised sharpening his mental edge over opponents.

Coach Mitch Canham described Bazzana – the university’s all-time home run leader who was nicknamed the “Bazzmanian Devil” – as “part of the 0.001 per cent”.

“He wants to go be a Hall of Famer, he wants to win championships,” he said.

Bazzana in action. Picture: Cape Cod League

Travis Bazzana plays for the Oregon State Beavers. Picture: Getty Images

Bazzana said there was already “a lot of noise” about his meteoric rise, with fans stopping him every day in the Oregon city of Corvallis and inundating him on social media, which he said he only rarely activated on his phone.

“I definitely embrace some of it, and some of it you’ve just got to let go in one ear and out the other,” he said.

“My life has been totally different because of how much noise and attention there is … I try to stay away from that noise and just control the things that are in my control, and not let anything burst that focus.”

Bazzana said his parents – who will join him in Texas for next month’s draft – helped him “grow up a little sooner” with their approach to his sporting ambitions.

“They trusted in me to go out and take opportunities, take risks, and whether I succeeded or failed, I would have learned and grown up,” he said.

As his professional career begins, Bazzana said he hoped to “be someone that people can look up to, and also that pushes the country to win on the world stage”.

“Seeing how that quality crop of NBA players has cared about playing for the national team, Olympics, all those things, and have definitely grown the game back home … it allows me to have a vision for what I want to start and take steps towards in Australia,” he said.

Originally published as Young Aussie star Travis Bazzana tipped to be first pick in America’s Major League Baseball draft