Blue Jays prospect Svanson loves pitching in Vancouver
Toronto Blue Jays pitching prospect Matt Svanson, shown here pitching for the Vancouver Canadians against the Hillsboro Hops, loves pitching in Vancouver.
March 25, 2023
By Thomas Chiarot
Centennial Sports Journalism
LAKELAND, Fla. – Matt Svanson thoroughly enjoys pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays’ High-A Vancouver Canadians, as he loves the atmosphere.
Svanson says he has a great time finally playing professional baseball in front of big crowds.
“In Dunedin, we had 50 fans a game,” he said of the Florida Complex League team, “while in Vancouver they sold out pretty much every single game,” filling the 6,500-seat Nat Bailey Stadium. “I’ve never played in front of a big crowd so at first I was nervous. But … this is exactly what I want to do, so this is why I signed up to play professional baseball.”
Svanson said the Canadians’ fans make the city a fantastic environment to play professional baseball, “so Vancouver is one of my favorite cities I’ve ever been to,” he said. “By far, yeah, I’ve visited Toronto once and in my mind it felt like Toronto but with mountains.”
The native of the Chicago of suburb of Lake Zurich, Ill., says coming and going to and from Canada is one of the drawbacks of playing for Vancouver - having to go through customs each time traveling on the road. It’s not ideal for most athletes.
“Obviously it sucked every time at 4 a.m.” Svanson said. “Coming back here you had to get off the bus and get your passport checked. But it was an experience, definitely a fun one.”
The former pitcher for Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University Mountain Hawks said that in Dunedin they were treated like a college team disciplinary wise compared to the Vancouver Canadians who have a more mature team outlook on responsibilities.
“There is, in general, a much different culture and atmosphere there,” said Svanson, comparable to a major league fan base.
“I only spent a little time in Vancouver,” he said. “But that was probably the most fun … baseball lifestyle I’ve had.”