May 12th, 2016

Baseball Canada sets junior roster for Dominican Summer League tour

By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
OTTAWA - Baseball Canada has selected the 29 players invited to take part in the Junior National Team’s annual Dominican Summer League camp that will run from May 19-28.

The team is scheduled to play 14 games over 10 days against Dominican Summer League clubs from the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds.

The highlight of the trip will come on May 28th at Estadio Temistoclez Metz in San Cristobal when the juniors take on some of the Dominican Republic’s top prospects that are eligible to sign with MLB clubs on or after July 2, 2016.

Extended Spring Training Roster Highlights:
- Six players named to the roster (Josh Burgmann, Cooper Davis, Mathieu Deneault-Gauthier, Adam Hall, Luke Van Rycheghem and Andrew Yerzy) are holdovers from the team that represented Canada at the 2015 WBSC U18 World Cup in Osaka, Japan last September.

- RHP Conor Angel (Lachine, QC) was named to the roster, but is unable to attend due to a school commitment.

- OF/LHP Terrell Rogers (Aldergrove, BC)) will be participating with the Junior National Team program for the first time and is the youngest player in camp at 15 years and nine months. All other players on the roster were named to the Extended Spring Training Camp roster that took place last month in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Manager Greg Hamilton (Ottawa, Ont.) leads the coaching staff that includes coaches Hyung Cho (Scarborough, Ont.) and Chris Begg (Uxbridge, Ont.).

“This Dominican Summer League camp is a very important component to our Junior National Team program and provides invaluable experience to our players,” said coach Greg Hamilton “Players will be challenged with an intense schedule, while dealing with elements in the Dominican Republic that they don’t face at home. The strides taken at this camp will better prepare our team for success going forward.”

With MLB’s First Year Player Draft scheduled for June 9-11, the trip to Dominican will provide draft-eligible Canadian players an opportunity to perform in front of MLB scouts and personnel.

The Dominican Summer League camp is the first of two remaining events for the Junior National Team program in the 2016 season. In July, the team will travel to Havana, Cuba for an exhibition series against the Cuban U-18 National Team.

Roster
Schedule