Scouts came to see Tyler Gillies (London, Ont.) on the UBC Thunderbirds annual scout day. Photo: Len Catling.

Fifteen MLB teams look at the 2016-17 Thunderbirds during UBC ‘Scout Day’

By Len Catling
University of British Columbia
VANCOUVER – The 2016 MLB Entry Draft was a historic one for the UBC Thunderbirds.

Pitchers Alex Webb and Curtis Taylor, along with slugger Bruce Yari were all plucked off the board by major league teams, while pitcher Jeremy Newton signed a free-agent contract with the Milwaukee Brewers a couple weeks after the draft. With this kind of penchant for producing pro players it’s no wonder 15 major league teams sent scouts to UBC’s annual Scout Day.

The scouts got a chance to see the 2016 crop of Thunderbirds up close, as they went through fitness drills and batting practice before playing a four-inning intra-squad game. With the vast amount of teams and territory a modern day baseball scout must cover, attending “scout days put on by universities and junior college baseball programs are imperative,” according to UBC head coach Chris Pritchett.

“There’s just so many teams,” says Pritchett. “You think of all the junior colleges, high-school kids in Canada and the Pacific Northwest. You need to know who you are looking at beforehand, so this preliminary work in the fall where you get the list together of who you’ll be looking at is very important.”

Two Thunderbirds who expect to get a lot of looks from scouts this year are right- handed pitcher Tyler Gillies and infielder Mitch Robinson. Several MLB organizations made inquiries about Gillies in the days before and during the 2016 draft. Robinson was previously drafted right out of high school (2014, Miami Marlins, 197th overall) but decided to attend school, first at Florida International and last spring at Central Arizona.

“It was good. The arm felt good and everything was coming out of my hand well,” said Gillies, who was the closer out of the bullpen for last year’s version of the Thunderbirds, but will be at or near the top of their starting rotation in 2016-17. “You just black out everything and go out there and pitch, just like any other game.”

Pritchett, himself a former scout for the Boston Red Sox was impressed.

“I thought they (Gillies and Robinson) handled themselves really well today,” said Pritchett. “Mitch had a couple of at-bats and hit the ball hard once.”

“Tyler Gillies is a guy I got a lot of calls about last year,” added Pritchett. “That kid has worked really hard over the summer and cleaned up his delivery. He showed very, very well today.”

Gillies, Robinson and the rest of Thunderbirds will get a chance to impress the scouts in game action this weekend when UBC welcomes the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack to Thunderbird Park. The two teams will play double headers on Saturday (1 PM) and Sunday (11:30 AM).

Scouts come to see UBC's Gillies, Robinson