By George Farelli
Canadian Baseball Network
As weeks go, Week XII of the 2016 season was a week to remember ...

_ After having zero Canucks at the Futures Game a year ago both OF Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) of the Seattle Mariners and 1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Florida Marlins were named to the World
roster, which will participate in the SiriusXM 18th annual Futures Game. The game will be played July 10 at Petco Park in San Diego as part of all-star week festivities. Tough to blame the people running the show for zero Canucks -- zero were eligible to be selected. 

_ 1B Jordan Lennerton (Langley, BC) of the Quebec Capitales earned Offensive Player of the Week honors in the independent Can Am League. He batted .542 (13-for-24) with one homer and six RBIs.

_ Eleven more Canucks made their seasonal debuts in pro balls.

_ And there was the usual schedule of games which produced plenty of line drives and scoreless innings for Canucks.

The Canadian Baseball Network Minor League Player of the Week honors goes to Connor Panas (Toronto, Ont.) of the class-A Lansing Lugnuts. The Toronto Mets and Canisius College Golden Griffs grad batted .450 (9-for-20) with four homers and six RBIs.

Blue Jays scout Jamie Lehman selected Panas in the ninth round draft from Canisius, where he earned Canadian Baseball Network College Player of the Year. 

How the week went for Panas as he ...

_ Was 2-for-4 with a solo homer playing left field in a 12-7 Lansing win over the West Michigan Whitecaps before 8,184 at Cooley Law School Stadium. 1B Justin Atkinson (North Surrey, BC) had only one hit, but he made the most of it: knocking in five runs. The former Langley Blaze hit a scoring fly ball in the second to give Lansing a 1-0 lead, hit another one the next inning for a 6-4 lead and in the seventh hit a bases-loaded double to centre field to expand Lansing’s lead from one run to four. Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) started for Lansing and allowed four unearned runs on four hits and three walks, as he fanned a pair as he threw 57 pitches. RP Tom Robson (Ladner, BC) pitched the sixth and seventh allowing three runs on three hits and a walk, while fanning three in his 43-pitch outing.

_ Was 2-for-4 playing left in a 6-0 win against West Michigan in front of 9,092 fans at Cooley Law School Stadium. He singled to right in the sixth to put Lansing up 5-0 with his 19th RBI. 1B Atkinson was 1-for-4.

_ Was 2-for-5 with a solo homer playing right field in a 12-9 win against West Michigan in front of 4,757 at Cooley Law School Stadium. He singled to right in the third and led off the fifth with a solo homer to right putting the Lugnuts ahead 5-2, giving him six homers and 20 RBIs. C Atkinson was hitless but knocked in his 22nd run of the season and caught former No. 1 pick, Jon Harris, who worked 5 2/3 innings allowing five runs -- three earned -- and Starlyn Suriel, who allowed two runs in 2 1/3 innings to gain the victory.

_ Was 2-for-3 playing right in a 6-5 loss to the Great Lakes Loons in front of 2,113 at the Dow Diamond. It was his fourth straight two-hit game. Panas hit a solo shot to right centre in the eighth -- two batters after Max Pentecost went deep -- for his seventh homer putting the Lugnuts up 5-2. The Loons scored four runs off RPs Danny Young, Ryan Cook and Dusty Isaacs ruining a strong outing by Angel Perdomo, who allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings.

_ Was 1-for-3 at first base in a 4-1 win over the Loons before 3,191 fans at Dow Diamond. Panas homered to right in the fourth inning, his eighth, to score Pentecost ahead of him and move the Lugnuts in front 3-0. It was the third straight game he had homered and the sixth straight he knocked in a run giving him 23 on the season. Robson picked up his first save working the final two innings allowing one run on two hits and a walk in his 39-pitch outing.  

BEST OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCES
Player/Class/Team               AB  R  H  HR  RBI  AVG
Connor Panas - A Lansing         20   6  9   4    6   .450
Cole Bauml - A Connecticut       16   5  5   -    2   .313
J.D. Salmon-Williams  AZL Reds     10   3  3   -    -   .300
Josh Naylor - AA Jackson         22   4   6   1    5   .273
Ismael Pena - AZL Mariners       22   -   6   -    5   .273
 
Jordan Lennerton - IND Quebec    24   4  13  1    6   .542
Carter Bell - IND Joliet           22   2   8   -    3   .364
Lachlane Fontaine - IND Quebec   11   2   4   -    1   .364
Sebastien Boucher - IND Ottawa   25   6   9   1    7   .360
Maxx Tissenbaum - IND Quebec   17   6   6   1    4   .353
Chris Robinson - IND Schaumburg  13   3   4   -    2   .308       
(Minimum 10 AB’s required.)          
 
BEST PITCHING PERFORMANCES
SCOTT DIAMOND  LHP  -  AAA BUFFALO BISONS
APP   IP   H  R  ER  BB  K  W-L  SV  WHIP  WK ERA
1   7.0   4  -   -    1   4   1-0   -   0.71    0.00
Being a consummate professional, Scott Diamond did not let his recent optioning by the Toronto Blue Jays back to Buffalo affect his performance in his first start with the Bisons. On June 24th in a 1-0 win over Indianapolis Indians he pitched seven scoreless, gave up four base hits while striking out four Indianapolis hitters, to earn the win. He improved his record in 14 starts with Triple A Buffalo to 5-7 and a 3.56 ERA. 

CHRIS LEROUX  -  AAA  BUFFALO BISONS
APP   IP   H  R  ER  BB  K  W-L  SV  WHIP  WK ERA
2   12.2  11  2   1    2   7   2-0   -    0.98    0.74
After beginning the season somewhat slowly, Chris Leroux has now become a solid starter for the Bisons, and this week he made two more excellent starts. On June 22nd in an 8-1 win over the Louisville Bats he threw six scoreless, gave up four base hits while striking out six Louisville hitters to pick up the win. He followed that up on June 27th in a 3-1 victory over Indianapolis Indians when he pitched six and two thirds innings, scattered seven base hits and one earned run while striking out one Indianapolis batter, to earn his second win of the week. His overall record in 15 Starts with Triple A Buffalo now stands at 6-4 with a 3.15 ERA. 

MICHAEL SOROKA  RHP -  A  ROME BRAVES
APP   IP   H  R  ER  BB  K  W-L  SV  WHIP  WK ERA
1   7.0   2  1   1   1   7   1-0   -   0.43    1.29
Michael Soroka is a second year professional in the Atlanta Braves organization, and the Calgary native is operating under the added pressure of being a highly rated pitching prospect in their system. This week he had an excellent start on June 28th in a 4-1 victory over Kannapolis Intimidators, he pitched seven innings, gave up only two base hits and one earned run while striking out seven Kannapolis batters. By earning the win, he improved his record at Single A Rome Braves to 2-6 with a 2.77 ERA.

 
ROB ZASTRYZNY  LHP  -  AAA  IOWA CUBS
APP   IP   H  R  ER  BB  K  W-L  SV  WHIP  WK ERA
1   7.0   6  5   3    3   3  1-0    -   1.29    3.86
Rob Zastryzny has pitched extremely well since his promotion in late May from Double A Tennessee Smokies, and this week made another great start. On June 26th in a 6-5 win over Oklahoma City Dodgers he threw seven innings gave up six base hits and three earned runs while striking out three Dodger batters to earn his fourth win of the season. This outing improved his current record with the Triple A Iowa Cubs to 4-1 with a 5.05 ERA. His overall record for this season in 16 starts, including the stint at Double A Tennessee, is 7-3 with a 4.35 ERA.
 
PLAYER MOVEMENTS AND TRANSACTIONS
RHP Dustin Molleken (Regina, Sask.) - Optioned by the Detroit Tigers back to Triple A Toledo Mud Hens. 
 
RHP Jesen Dygestile-Therrien (Montreal, Que.) - Sent out on a Re hab Assignment by Philadelphia Phillies at Rookie Class Gulf Coast Phillies. Appeared in one game and was activated off the Disabled List at Single A Clearwater Threshers.
 
INF Joey Hawkins (Whitby, Ont.) - Moved by St. Louis Cardinals to Rookie Class Johnson City Cardinals from the Single A Palm Beach Cardinals.
 
LHP Jeff Degano (Surrey, BC) - Activated by New York Yankees at Rookie Class Pulaski Yankees.
 
OF Tristan Graham (North Vancouver, BC) - Activated by Baltimore Orioles at Rookie Class Gulf Coast Orioles.
 

LHP Kurtis Horne (Sooke, BC) - Activated by the New York Mets at Rookie Class Gulf Coast Mets.
 
RHP Reign Letkeman (Red Deer, Alta.) - Activated by Tampa Bay Rays at Rookie Class Princeton Rays.
 
INF J.D. Salmon-Williams (Brampton, Ont.) - Activated by Cincinnati Reds at Rookie Class AZL Reds.
 
C Owen Spiwak (Mississauga, Ont.) - Activated by the Toronto Blue Jays at Rookie Class Gulf Coast Blue Jays.
 
OF Vladimir Guerrero, (Montreal, Que.) - International Free Agent sign in 2015 activated by Toronto Blue Jays at Rookie Class Bluefield Blue Jays.
 

OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) - 2016 Eighth Round Draft Pick is activated by Detroit Tigers at Rookie Class Gulf Coast Tigers - West.
 
2B Daniel Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) - 2016 Ninth Round Draft Pick is activated by Detroit Tigers at Rookie Class Gulf Coast Tigers – West.
 
RHP Brayden Bouchey (White Rock, BC) - 2016 Thirty Third Round Draft Pick is activated by the Toronto Blue Jays at Rookie Class Gulf Coast Blue Jays.
 
 
RHP Karl Gelinas (Iberville, Que.) - Free Agent re signs with Quebec Capitales IND Can Am League.
 
INF Carter McEachern (Thunder Bay, Ont.) - Free Agent signs with Winnipeg Goldeyes IND American Association.
 
RHP Kyle McKay (King City, Ont.) - Free Agent signs with Trinidad Triggers IND Pecos League. 
 
C  Nic Lecompte (Gatineau, Que.) - Free Agent signs with Ottawa Champions IND Can Am League. Did not appear in a game, and was released.
 
C  Maxx Tissenbaum  (Toronot, Ont.) - Activated from Disabled List by Quebec Capitales IND Can AM League.
 

OF Tyson Gillies (Vancouver, BC) - Activated from the Disabled List by Sugar Land Skeeters, and released.
 
LHP Donovan Feenstra (Calgary, Alta.) - Released by Schaumburg Boomers IND Frontier League.