EXTRA BASES VI -- Reds instructional league

By BOB ELLIOTT
SARASOTA, Fla. _ Cincinnati Reds scouting director Chris Buckley had a message for his Canadian scouting director Bill Byckowski early in 2007:
“Find us some Canadians!”
Reds owner Bob Castellini watched the Reds Billings Mustangs affiliate in Rookie-Class Northwest League playoffs in 2007.
Castellini was so impressed after talking to RHP Kyle Lotzkar that when he attended the club’s organizational meetings he raved to Buckley and Byckowski about Canadians.
If the names Buckley and Byckowski sound familiar they should. Buckley joined the Jays in 1990. Byckowski was hired three years later. Buckley was the Jays scouting director from 2001 for three years selecting outfielder Gabe Gross, second baseman Russ Adam and shortstop Aaron Hill with his first over-all picks.
“Canadian kids are tough and have a great desire to play,” said Buckley from Tampa, Fla. “The late Bobby Prentice taught me years ago, the first thing you asked a Canadian player was if he played hockey? The Canadian kids were all tough because of their hockey background.
“That was almost 28 years ago, Now, Canadian high schoolers are on good travel teams, they play strictly baseball, but they haven’t lost their toughness.”
Buckley said he remembers before Canadian high school players were included in the 1991 June draft for the first time, then GM Pat Gillick had Prentice sign up as many Canadians as possible -- like in Puerto Rico where the Jays signed Carlos Delgado before he entered the draft.  
The Jays signed LHP Denis Boucher (Montreal, Que.), OF Nigel Wilson (Ajax, Ont.), LHP Paul Spoljaric (Kelowna, B.C.), the Butler brothers, OFs Rob and Rich (East York, Ont.) and others in the final two years leading up to the Canadian inclusion.
From 1985-to-1990 only Canadians attending school south of the border were subject to the draft.
“We scooped a bunch: the Butlers, Boucher and Wilson,” Buckley said. “They all got to the big leagues and could easily been the next Larry Walker, especially Wilson. Nigel had all the tools.
“All the years I worked for Toronto, I saw plenty of Canadians play in instructional league games or Rookie-Class Gulf Coast League. Usually, somehwere along the line I’d think of what Prentice told me way back when.”
In Buckley’s days with the Jays, “the Dodgers and us (the Jays) always had the most Canadians.”
Nowadays, the Milwaukee Brewers have selected the most Canadians for the fifth straight year, thanks to GM Doug Melvin (Chatham, Ont.), assistant GM Gord Ash (Toronto, Ont.), scouts Marty Lehn (White Rock, B.C.), John Harr (Burnaby, B.C.), Mike LaBossiere (Brandon, Man.), Jay Lapp (London, Ont.) and J.P. Roy (Ste-Nicholas, Que.).
The Jays and the Reds are close behind.
“The Canadian kids that we had over the years (with the Jays, the Reds) who didn’t make it didn’t make it, didn’t fail because of a lack of toughness or make up, they were short of major-league ability,” Buckley said. “Canada is not covered as well as some areas in the U.S. draft that’s why we have a full-time scout there in Bill.”
Byckowski has always been on the lookout for Canadian talent since taking over as assistant director of Canadian scouting in 1993 and eventually, becoming Canadian scouting director and then covered a series of eastern U.S. states as well.
Yet, Byckowski seldom landed the top-flight Canadians. He signed Mike Johnson (Edmonton, Alta.) who pitched in the majors with the Baltimore Orioles and the Montreal Expos for five seasons.
“Everywhere I go now scouts ask ‘how come you got so many guys the last two drafts?’” Byckowski says. “It’s a case of having Chris Buckley in my corner.”
Under Byckowski, the Jays had a network of scouts across Canada which quilted the country. The joke was if a prospect burped, a Jays Canadian scouts heard it.
The system was flawed in one respect that no matter how much the Canadian scouts liked a player, how many times they had seen him pitch or play, the prospect still had to be seen by a veteran cross checker from south of the border.
And anything can happen on one day. Jays scouts watched their own people give a thumbs down to the likes of Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, B.C), Justin Morneau (New Westminster, B.C) and Scott Thorman (Cambridge, Ont.).
Both Adam Loewen (Surrey, B.C.) and Jeff Francis (North Delta, B.C.), whom the Jays wanted, were gone before the Jays had their turn in 2003.    
With the Reds, Byckowski selected Kyle Lotzkar, a sandwich pick, chosen 53rd over all, the second Canadian high schooler chosen, Evan Hildebrandt, Jordan Wideman, Michael Henry and Cameron Gray (Toronto, Ont.) in 2007. He signed all but Gray.
In June of 2008 he drafted Carter Morrison, the third Canuck high school player selected and Benson Merritt (Smithville, Ont.). Byckowski signed Morrison.
And so, it was there more Canadians in instructional league with the Reds than any other organization.
The Milwaukee Brewers had four: C Brett Lawrie (Langley, B.C.), LHP Nick Bucci (Sarnia, Ont.), OF Chris Dennis (Amhertsburg, Ont.) and RHP Stosh Wawrzasek (Langley, B.C.).
Each club has roughly 150 players under contract and only the best -- 25-to-30 players -- of the young players get an instructional invite.  
We checked in on the Reds prospects in early October ...  

Name: RHP Kyle Lotzkar
Hometown: Tsawwassen, BC
2008 Team: Class-A Dayton, (2-3, 3.58).    
2007 Team: Rookie Class Gulf Coast Reds (0-2, 3.86); Rookie-Class Billings (0-2, 3.86).
Drafted: 1st round (53rd over-all), 2007, Langley Blaze/Canadian National Junior Team.
Major baseball influences: “My mom, Renie, and my father, Rod. They took me to all my games, paid for my pitching coaches and my athletic trainer and they allowed me to pitch for the Seattle Storm when I was in grade 9. Shawn Corness, who was pitching coach at UBC.”
Favorite Player: “Roy Halladay. I like his sinker. He’s one of the players I always followed growing up. We got mostly Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners games and I tried to model myself after him.”
Best day in baseball: “In the Cal Ripken World Series we played South Korea in the semi-finals and were trailing 3-0 in Altoona, Pa. I hit a grand slam in the sixth and pitched the final three innings.”
Your welcome to pro baseball moment: “I pitched in the Gulf Coast and then in Billings, but my first game in Dayton I was on the mound and there were 9,000 people there. The game sped up quite a bit.”
The day you knew you wanted to play pro ball: “When I was 14 I was playing hockey for the South Delta Storm. I quit because I couldn’t fit it all in. I had to chose one or the other and I chose hockey.”
Buckley says: “He’s a young kid with a real good delivery, plus fastball, plus real good projection with his frame. He has all the tools you look for, he was a real young high school senior. Had he been in the U.S. in high school he would have been a junior his draft year. So, he’s real young. He looks a little like Dustin McGowan, a good hard, young thrower with great physical ability.”

Name: RHP Mike Henry
Hometown: Sombra, Ont.
2008 Team: Rookie-Class Gulf Coast Reds (1-4, 7.76).
Drafted: 48th round, 2007, Intercounty Terriers.
Major baseball influences: “My parents Charlie and Linda. They drove me 2 1/2 hours from home to Guelph and Cambridge for both games and practices.”
Favorite Player: “A.J. Burnett. His stuff is filthy. He finally was healthy this year and almost won 20 games.”
Best day in baseball: “When the Terriers beat the Cincinnati Sharks to win the 18 and under World Series in 2006 at Nashville, Tenn. I didn’t pitch that game, but just to be a part of the winning atmosphere was amazing. I pitched another game at the Nashville Sounds stadium and pitched four innings in a game we won.”
Your welcome to pro baseball moment: “In spring training seeing Ken Griffey, Aaron Dunn and Joey Votto walking around the complex. Bronson Arroyo, Aaron Harang and David Weathers all came down and talked to us and seemed like nice guys.”
The day you knew you wanted to play pro ball: “When Terriers coach Danny Thompson phoned to say I’d made the team. I’d been playing hockey with the Mooretown Storm and had been re-habbing my knee. I played another year. I was hoping to maybe get a baseball scholarship. I never ever knew there was a draft on the day it was held until Bill Byckowski phoned to say he had drafted me.”
Buckley says: “He has a solid average fastball, he was a kid who wanted to sign, he was very interested in becoming a pro player. He has a solid, average fastball (at 91 MPH). He’s a lower draft with a solid chance to compete. We’re happy to have him.”

Name: RHP Evan Hildenbrandt.
Hometown: Abbotsford, BC.
2008 Team: Rookie-Class Gulf Coast Reds (4-2, 2.67), Rookie-Class Billings (0-1, 5.00).
Drafted: 6th round, 2007, Abbotsford Cardinals/Canadian National Junior Team.
Major baseball influences: “My parents Wes and Kathy. They supported my dream, where ever I wanted to go and they paid for everything.”
Favorite Player: “Cal Ripken, because he was the model player, he came to the park every day to play every inning of every game.”
Best day in baseball: “My first win in the minors. We played the Pirates at Bradenton. I pitched six innings and allowed one hit and struck out four. It was June 23.”
Your welcome to pro baseball moment: “Giving up a bomb to Casey Kelly, a first-round pick with Boston Red Sox. His father Pat (formerly with the  Jays) is one of our coaches.”
The day you knew you wanted to play pro ball: “When I was 16 all I did was either watch or play baseball. That was my game. I stopped everything else.”
Buckley says: “He has a good projection to his frame, he has an average fastball with a plus curve. He needs to get bigger and stronger. He competes -- like all the other Canadian players. When I first saw him he reminded me of Pat Hentgen. Pat wasn’t a huge stuff guy he was a fastball, curve ball type guy. That’s not saying he’s going to be someone like Hentgen, but we’d be real happy if he did.”

Name: OF Carter Morrison.
Hometown: Langley, BC.
2008 Team: Langley Blaze/Team Canada National Junior Team.
Drafted: 16th round, 2008, Langley Blaze/Team Canada National Junior Team.
Major baseball influences: “My parents Scott and Leanne, they’d always come to my games and support me baseball wise.”
Favorite Player: “Manny Ramirez. I like the way he plays.”
Best day in baseball: “At the world juniors in July of 2008 we played Puerto Rico in the first game and we were losing 6-3 in the top of the ninth. I worked the count, got it to 3-1 and he threw an inside fastball and turned on it for a three-run homer to right. We scored three more to win 9-6.”
Your welcome to pro baseball moment: “My first game this fall over at Ed Smith Stadium against the Orioles. I had two hits and made a diving, game-saving catch. I phoned my father and asked ‘I have good news and bad news, which would you like to hear first?’ My father asked for the good news. I told him about the two hits and the catch. And then I gave him the bad news that I had dislocated my elbow. He was pretty concerned because he’s a chiropractor.”
The day you knew you wanted to play pro ball: “I was playing Little League and had an invite from Langley to play. I made the team and played there three years.
Buckley says: “He projects as a solid position player. He has a nice, loose left-handed swing. He needs to fill out some. He looks a little like Shawn Green physically when he signed.”

Name: C Jordan Wideman.
Hometown: Mississauga, Ont.
2008 Team: Rookie-Class Billings (.254, one, 22).
2007 Team: Rookie-Class Gulf Coast (.213, one, six).
Drafted: 11th round, 2007 from the Ontario Blue Jays.
Major baseball influences: Damon Topolie, a catching instructor with the Ontario Blue Jays, helped me with the defensive aspects of the game and Greg Hamilton helped me with the offensive side of the game.”
Favorite Player: “Mike Matheny, he was a defensive guy I enjoyed watching. We have the same style.”
Best day in baseball: “I was the back-up catcher with Team Canada in 2006 at the World Juniors in Cuba. I went in for Chris Dennis in the third inning and hit a game-winning double to beat Mexico in the 13th. Phillippe Aumont got the win in a game we had to win.”
Your welcome to pro baseball moment: “My first game in Missoula (Mon.) I came up with men on second and third. I was already 3-for-3. After the previous two guys struck out three or four drunks were chirping at me behind the first-base dugout. I had my fourth hit to knock in a run and they clapped for me. That didn’t happen a lot at Bishop’s Cross field where we played in Pickering.”
The day you knew you wanted to play pro ball: “When my brother Aaron was drafted in 2003. Going into the 2003-04 season I was going to play hockey in Streetsville. I decided it was pretty exciting what my brother went through and I wanted the same.”
Buckley says: “He has good leadership, he’s a solid catch and throw guy, he needs to swing the bat better. It shows how much Canadian baseball has improved. He had caught some good pitchers with the Canadian National Junior Team. His fate will be decided how he swings the bat. He’d be a little like Mike Matheny excellent at a premium defensive position. Baseball is getting back to the basics, hitting and running, stealing basis. You are going to have people to throw them out.”