Guardians takeaways: Timeline for Travis Bazzana, Daniel Espino; bullpen's shaky start

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Perhaps team president Chris Antonetti will tip his hand. “One, what’s the opportunity up here, both in the immediate and the long term?” Antonetti said Sunday, when asked what goes into such a decision. “And then the individual’s readiness to come up and help contribute at the major-league level. Those are the two considerations we weigh.” Bazzana was the No. 1 pick in 2024 out of Oregon State. Six of the eight players taken immediately after him have already debuted in the majors. The other two are Charlie Condon, who’s off to a blistering start at Triple A for the Colorado Rockies, and Hagen Smith, who is pitching well for the Chicago White Sox Triple-A affiliate. Bazzana, meanwhile, has shaken off a so-so start to supply five multihit efforts in his last seven games. In his last eight games, Bazzana is 13-for-32 with seven doubles, five walks, three stolen bases and a home run for Columbus. Of course, that’s a small sample and those are surface-level numbers. Antonetti noted the Guardians will study “underlying indicators” to determine what might translate at the big-league level. Bazzana’s scouting report has long included high-level plate discipline and swing decisions, but lately, it seems as though he has been more aggressive at the plate. It’s one thing to draw a bunch of walks in the minors, but when big-league pitchers attack the zone, will Bazzana be able to inflict damage? He smoked a double and a homer to the opposite field Saturday before getting an off day Sunday. Bazzana in Triple A in 2025: .225/.420/.438 slash line, 24.2% BB rate, 26.7% K rate Bazzana in Triple A in 2026: .278/.374/.481 slash line, 13.0% BB rate, 17.4% K rate The Guardians are past the first stage of service-time manipulation. If they promote him at any point this season, they’ll control him for the remainder of this year, plus six more seasons, unless he finishes in the top two in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting. That’s a crowded field, one that includes Guardians outfielder Chase DeLauter and pitcher Parker Messick. There’s also the Super Two cutoff that typically arrives in mid-June, which grants players who were called up early in the year an additional trip to arbitration. The Guardians haven’t always cared about the Super Two financial ramifications, but they did conveniently wait until mid-June to promote Francisco Lindor in 2015. They didn’t play service time games with DeLauter, and he has repeatedly delivered since Opening Day. When Bazzana demonstrates he’s ready, they should follow the same protocol. Rocchio has asserted himself at shortstop since Gabriel Arias suffered a hamstring injury. Brito’s defense has been rough at second. Schneemann has proven valuable in a super-utility role. Bazzana, in the near future, should simplify things on the middle infield. “He’s continuing to progress and build consistency with his at-bats,” Antonetti said. Before it chipped in 4 1/3 scoreless frames Sunday, the Guardians’ bullpen ranked 26th in the league with a 5.52 ERA. It’s been a shaky start for just about everyone in the group, including closer Cade Smith, though Smith delivered his most effective outing of the season Saturday. It’s not all Emmanuel Clase’s fault, by the way. Cleveland’s relievers posted the league’s No. 1 ERA last season after Clase landed on the restricted list in late July. Plus, there’s a decent chance Clase would have been traded before this season had his alleged involvement in a pitch-rigging scheme not surfaced. This group is different. The Guardians added Connor Brogdon, Shawn Armstrong, Peyton Pallette and Colin Holderman to the mix over the winter. There could be more turnover in time, but it’s a bit complicated to project. Franco Aleman could be an option at any point. He’s off to a great start at Columbus (5 2/3 hitless innings), and he’s on the 40-man roster. Andrew Walters seemed poised to carve out a high-leverage big-league role last year until injuries essentially wiped out his season. He’s on a rehab assignment in Columbus, though Antonetti stressed he’s still building up his volume and intensity. Then there’s Daniel Espino, once a wunderkind ace-in-the-making before he missed nearly four years because of a pair of shoulder surgeries. Also in Columbus, he’s fully healthy, and he topped out at a season-best 100.6 mph Thursday and 100.2 mph Sunday. Since he missed so much time and he’s learning the routines of a reliever, the Guardians are taking a deliberate approach with him. Both he and Walters have had at least three days between each of their appearances. “We’re trying to take it in stages,” Antonetti said. “Daniel’s now getting to a point where he’ll have a little bit less structure to his outings.” They should both eventually join the big-league pen, but Antonetti noted the Guardians have to think about how many innings each pitcher can contribute, how often they can pitch and how their workload limitations might influence the rest of the pen. On Sept. 1, 2013, José Ramírez made his major-league debut as a pinch runner in the ninth inning, wearing a pair of cleats two sizes too big, because he forgot to bring his own. Antonetti remembers Ramírez taking a massive lead off first base. “Like 30 feet off the base, or that’s what it seemed,” Antonetti said. Manager Terry Francona later joked that Ramírez ran the bases as if he were invisible. “He might still think he’s invisible,” Antonetti said, “but it’s obviously served him well.” Ramírez leads the league with 10 stolen bases this season. He’s now 33, and he’s never rated as one of the speediest sprinters, yet he consistently rates as one of the league’s top base runners. He has topped the 40-steal mark each of the last two years, and could be headed for another career high in 2026. Ramírez sits three steals away from 300 for his career. He’d join Kenny Lofton as the only players in franchise history to reach that total in a Cleveland uniform. With three more steals and nine more home runs, Ramírez will become the ninth member of the 300/300 club, joining Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonds, Alex Rodríguez, Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, Carlos Beltrán, Reggie Sanders and Steve Finley. Barry Bonds is the only one with 350 of each, another milestone that seems within reach. Schneemann started in center field on Opening Day. He’s made diving stops at shortstop. He has filled in at second and third base. And he entered Sunday ranked 10th in the American League in OPS. The leaderboard includes Yordán Alvarez, Mike Trout, Aaron Judge … and the 1,003rd pick in the 2018 draft. In 2019, Steven Kwan, another member of that 2018 draft class, was playing for High-A Lynchburg, and Schneemann earned a promotion to the same affiliate. The two were chatting over lunch one day when Schneemann was called into the manager’s office. When Schneemann returned, Kwan joked, “What happened, they send you down already?” That’s precisely what happened. They had promoted Schneemann to replace an injured player, but it turned out the injury wasn’t serious, so they didn’t need Schneemann after all. “That can be really deflating to some players,” Kwan said. “He took it all in stride.” A 33rd-round pick, Schneemann wasn’t on the radar until he overhauled his swing and approach following the 2022 season. That elevated his profile and helped him break through to the majors as a 27-year-old in 2024. Now, he’s roaming center field, patrolling the middle infield and slugging grand slams. “For him to blossom into what he is,” Kwan said, “I think good things happen to good people.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Zack Meisel is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Cleveland Guardians and Major League Baseball. Zack was named the Ohio Sportswriter of the Year for 2021 and 2024 by the National Sports Media Association. He has been on the beat since 2011 and is the author of four books, including "Cleveland Rocked," the tale of the 1995 team. Follow Zack on Twitter @ZackMeisel