RHP Jordan Balazovic (Mississauga, Ont.) went to the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round. The Ontario Blue Jays ace was scouted by Twins evaluator Walt Burrows, who used to be the Canadian boss of the MLB Scouting Bureau.

June 10th, 2016

By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
OTTAWA - The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft resumed today with rounds three through 10 that saw seven Canadians taken. After Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) and Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.) were selected on day one, a total of nine Canadians have now been drafted with rounds 11-40 slated for the third and final day tomorrow (Noon ET).

UBC right-hander Curtis Taylor (Port Coquitlam, BC) was the first Canadian off the board on day two when the Arizona Diamondbacks took him with the 119th overall selection in the fourth round, and ten picks later, Junior National Team alumnus Charles LeBlanc (Laval, Que.) went to the Texas Rangers. LeBlanc, a draft-eligible sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh, led the Atlantic Coast Conference in hitting with a .409 average and was named first-team ACC shortstop.

The fifth round had two Canadians selected including current Junior National Team right-hander Jordan Balazovic (Mississauga, Ont.) who went to the Minnesota Twins and Greenfield Park, Québec native Abraham Toro-Hernandez who was nabbed by the Houston Astros after a tremendous season at Seminole State (OK) College.

After the fifth and sixth rounds passed with no Canadians selected, Junior National Team alum Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) was taken by the Detroit Tigers in the eighth round out of Mississippi State who are currently hosting an NCAA Super Regional against the University of Arizona.

The ninth round saw a pair of Canadians taken including the second player from UBC as right-hander Alex Webb (Surrey, BC) went to the Cincinnati Reds before Daniel Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) was taken by the Detroit Tigers out of the University of Virginia with the 265th overall pick. Pinero played with the Junior National Team in 2011 and 2012 where he was a teammate of Jacob Robson.

Canadians selected in 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft
*1. RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, ON) – San Diego Padres – 1st Round (8th overall) Stanford University
*2. C Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, ON) – Arizona Diamondbacks – 2nd Round (52nd overall) Junior National Team/Toronto Mets
3. RHP Curtis Taylor (Port Coquitlam, BC) – Arizona Diamondbacks – 4th Round (119th overall) University of British Columbia
*4. SS Charles LeBlanc (Laval, QC) – Texas Rangers – 4th Round (129th overall) University of Pittsburgh
*5. RHP Jordan Balazovic (Mississauga, ON) – Minnesota Twins – 5th Round (153rd overall) Junior National Team
6. 3B Abraham Toro-Hernandez (Greenfield Park, QC) – Houston Astros – 5th Round (157th overall) Seminole State
*7. OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, ON) – Detroit Tigers – 8th Round (235th overall) Mississippi State
8. RHP Alex Webb (Surrey, BC) – Cincinnati Reds – 9th Round (258th overall) University of British Columbia
*9. SS Daniel Pinero (Toronto, ON) – Detroit Tigers – 9th Round (265th overall) University of Virginia

*Current or former member of the Junior National Team program

Taylor, LeBlanc, Balazovic lead seven Canucks on Day II