Betts: Albers, Molleken helping pave the way for future Saskatchewan stars

Proud Saskatchewan natives and ex-big leaguers Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.) and Dustin Molleken (Regina, Sask.) are coaching together at the Canadian Futures Showcase. Photo: Greg Brons, Baseball Saskatchewan

September 21, 2023

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Network

There’s something unique about the Team Red dugout at the Canadian Futures Showcase.

As Andrew Albers and Dustin Molleken roam about preparing for their next game, it’s not lost that the two Saskatchewan-born former big leaguers are standing side-by-side throughout the week.

Often the likes of Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec get the bulk of the credit for producing the nation’s top talent. It’s a notion that holds some water considering eight of the 10 Canadians selected in the 2023 MLB draft came from those three provinces. In 2022, it was 12 of 15 and in 2021, they accounted for 14 of 18.

But don’t sleep on Saskatchewan.

Back in August, Greg Brons (Saskatoon, Sask.) led them to consecutive bronze medals at the Canada Cup on home soil in Regina and of those drafts just mentioned, outfield Avery Owusu-Asiedu (Saskatoon, Sask.), right-hander Garrett Hawkins (Biggar, Sask.) and LHP Thomas Ireland (Regina, Sask.) all had their name called.

The success shouldn’t come as a surprise given the rich history of baseball in the province.

Terry Puhl (Melville, Sask.), Dave Pagan (Nipawin, Sask.), Ed Bahr (Rouleau, Sask.), Reggie Cleveland (Swift Current, Sask.), Joe Erautt (Vibank, Sask.) and Alden Wilkie (Zealandia, Sask.) paved the way to the big leagues before Albers and Molleken followed a similar path.

Now the next crop of up-and-coming talent is looking to Albers and Molleken for guidance, led by Muenster right-hander Merek Yeager and Regina’s Tristan Eberle at this year’s event.

Returning to Toronto is just another step in the pairs’ efforts to give back to the game.

Albers (North Battleford, Sask.) was recently named the pitching coach for the newly formed Saskatoon Berries of the Western Canadian Baseball League and Molleken runs his own private instruction in his hometown of Regina.

When asked about his first memory of playing the game, Albers doesn’t hesitate.

“I remember we went down to provincials in Melville, so I was nine or 10,” he said.

“We ended up winning it. I remember getting the last out and at that point in time it was a big deal.”

From that moment on in the sandlots of Saskatchewan, his path to the big leagues, like many, was winding. One that started in North Battleford included stops of his own at the Canada Cup for Team Saskatchewan, several trips with the Canadian national team and the University of Kentucky before being the San Diego Padres 10th rounder in 2008.

Now that his playing career has come to an end, being able to still represent his home province at a tournament like this means a lot.

“I think it’s a big deal,” Albers said.

“In the prairies you carry a little bit of a chip on your shoulder because you don’t get the opportunity to play as much as some of these other guys. When you come to something like this you want to show that you belong and prove you can play with the best players in the country.”

Albers points to the recent success at the Canada Cup as evidence that the state of the game is strong and trending in the right direction back home, fuelled by the fact players like himself, Molleken and returning college players have boosted the crop of coaches.

“I think it’s strong, you’re seeing a lot of guys coming back doing some coaching,” he said.

“The coaching has taken a huge step forward and you’re starting to see the results at the Canada Cup and even the level of play in the cities. The level of play is a lot higher than when I was coming up. So that’s great to see.”

Being back at Rogers Centre is a sort of full-circle moment for Albers, although there’s a few less people in the stands than the last time he was here.

On August 26, 2016, Albers threw 2 1/3 innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit as a member of the Minnesota Twins. He struck out Troy Tulowitzki but gave up a home run to Darwin Barney, one of four Toronto would hit that day en route to a 15-8 victory. A near capacity 42,534 fans went home happy as the Blue Jays took another step toward the postseason.

Returning to Rogers Centre stirs up similar emotions for Molleken. He remembers stepping on the mound as a 16-year-old for Team Canada and would do it again in 2016 as a member of the Detroit Tigers when he tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings against the Blue Jays in a 6-1 loss.

Now he’s tasked with moulding the next round of players looking to take their talents to the next level.

“Our area at home has come so far from 10 years ago,” he said.

“It’s been showing. We have these indoor facilities now and we’ve shown we can hang with players from Ontario and British Columbia.”

While not on Team Red, Molleken is excited to watch one of the players he’s worked closely with ply his trade on a big league mound.

“There’s an arm here from my hometown, Tristan Eberle,” he said.

“I’ve helped him out over the years and I’m excited to see him throw in this ballpark. When pitching, my heart rate was always going but now I just hang out and relax.”