BWDIK: Axford, Brash, Guerrero, Naylor, Pivetta, Shulman
Seattle Mariners reliever Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) is aiming to return from Tommy John surgery by the end of April.
February 9, 2025
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
Some Canadian baseball news and notes from the past week:
Brash aiming to return to M’s bullpen in third week of April
Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto told reporters on Monday that reliever Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) should be ready for the start of spring training and that the Canadian right-hander is aiming to return to the club’s bullpen by the third week of April. Dipoto, however, stressed that this timeline was a best-case scenario.
In late November, Brash said he was ahead of schedule in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. He underwent the surgery in May and was originally forecast to return in June 2025.
In 2023, in his second big league campaign, the 6-foot-1 righty developed into a go-to late-inning reliever for the Mariners. He led major league pitchers with 78 appearances and had a 9-4 record and a 3.06 ERA. He fanned 107 batters in 70 2/3 innings, good for a 13.6 strikeout-per-nine-inning rate.
Pivetta still unsigned
It was another quiet week for news about free-agent right-hander Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.). With pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training this week, it seems unlikely that Pivetta will be able to sign with a team and be ready for Opening Day.
Baseball insiders, including the MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, have said the main reason Pivetta remains unsigned is the draft pick a team will have to part with to sign the Canadian righty. The 31-year-old Pivetta declined the $21.05 million qualifying offer made to him by the Boston Red Sox on November 20. That means that the team that signs him will have to surrender a compensatory pick prior to the third round in this year’s draft to the Red Sox.
Early in the off-season, the market for Pivetta seemed strong, with some experts predicting he could be in line for a three-year deal worth more than $60 million. It seems safe to say that won’t happen now. On Friday, Jack Flaherty, who is two years younger than Pivetta and was a combined 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA in 28 starts in 2024, settled for a two-year, $35-million contract with the Tigers.
Pivetta went 6-12 with a 4.14 ERA in 27 games (26 starts) for the Red Sox last season. He struck out 172 batters in 145 2/3 innings. In total, the Junior National Team alum has pitched in eight major league seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Red Sox. He owns a career 56-71 record and a 4.76 ERA in 223 games (178 starts).
Most influential Canadians in baseball
Who is the most influential Canadian in baseball?
Bob Elliott devotes countless hours each year to tackling this question and putting together his top 100 most influential Canadians in baseball list. I helped him write the bios for this year’s edition.
You can, of course, agree or disagree with the rankings (and that’s part of the fun of these lists), but you can’t question Bob’s effort.
Please go and check out the list.
Seven years ago today, Axford signed with the Blue Jays
It was on this date seven years ago that reliever John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.) signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. The deal included an invite to big league spring training.
The veteran right-hander, who already had nine major league seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies and Oakland A’s under his belt, made the Blue Jays out of spring training. He proceeded to go 4-1 with a 4.41 ERA, while striking out 50 in 51 innings, for the Blue Jays before he was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the 2018 trade deadline.
In all, in parts of 11 major league seasons, Axford posted a 3.90 ERA and amassed 144 saves in 544 appearances. He finished his career among the all-time Canadian major league pitching leaders in several categories, including second in saves and games finished (286) and sixth in appearances.
Naylor devours first pitches
If you thought you saw Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) belt a lot of first-pitch home runs in 2024, that’s because he did. He hit eight of them, according to Dalton Feely, a researcher with Jomboy.
On January 30, Feely shared on X that since the start of the 2023 season, Naylor has the second highest percentage of at bats lasting just one pitch. While with the Guardians last season, Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) batted .293 with eight home runs and a .913 OPS on the first pitch of an at bat.
Naylor, 27, is set to begin his first season with the Arizona Diamondbacks after being dealt to them by the Guardians on December 21. He has belted 84 home runs in parts of six big league seasons with the Guardians and the San Diego Padres.
Happy 50th Birthday to Vladimir Guerrero!
Vladimir Guerrero turns 50 today. Born in 1975 in Don Gregorio Nizao, Dominican Republic, Guerrero was a five-tool player during his eight seasons with the Montreal Expos. Signed as an amateur free agent by the club in 1993, Guerrero belted 38 home runs in 1998 and would make his first of four consecutive All-Star appearances in 1999. Two seasons later, he became the first Expo to record 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season, only to outdo himself the following campaign when he narrowly missed becoming the fourth member of Major League Baseball’s exclusive 40-40 club when he finished with 39 home runs and 40 stolen bases in 2002.
In all, in his eight seasons with the Expos from 1996 to 2003, Guerrero was a four-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger Award winner. Guerrero also established all-time Expos records for batting average (.323), home runs (234), slugging percentage (.588) and OPS (.978).
Following the 2003 campaign, Guerrero signed with the Los Angeles Angels and in his six seasons with the Angels, he was an All-Star four times, captured four Silver Slugger Awards and was named the American League MVP in 2004.
In total, in his 16-year big league career, he batted .318, walloped 449 home runs and recorded a .553 slugging percentage.
Mike Johnson’s little talked-about 20-win season
Right-hander Mike Johnson (Edmonton, Alta.) enjoyed a successful 18-season pro career that included parts of five big league campaigns with the Baltimore Orioles and Expos between 1997 and 2001, but his most impressive year came in 2008 in China. That season with the La New Bears of the Chinese Professional Baseball League, the Canadian right-hander went 20-2 with a 2.45 ERA in 27 appearances (26 starts) spanning 183 2/3 innings. He threw three complete games, three shutouts and even registered a save. And as far as I can tell – and someone will correct me if I’m wrong – that’s the only 20-win season by a Canadian in a foreign pro league.
Johnson returned to La New Bears in 2008 and continued to toe the rubber in the pro ranks until 2010. Johnson was also a member of the Canadian national team that won gold at the 2011 Pan Am Games. Since hanging up his playing spikes, he has become a highly respected coach in his home province of Alberta.
Happy Birthday to Dan Shulman!
Happy 58th Birthday to Canada’s gift to baseball broadcasting Dan Shulman! To say it was a busy year for Shulman would be an understatement. The versatile and highly respected play-by-play announcer called 135 Toronto Blue Jays games in his 16th season as the TV voice of the club.
Shulman called Blue Jays games from 1995 to 2001 before returning in 2016 to provide play-by-play for Sportsnet. Starting in 1995, Shulman broadcast games for ESPN where he was the voice of Sunday Night Baseball from 2011 to 2017. He also called postseason games for ESPN Radio from 1998 to 2022, including the World Series from 2011 to 2022. For his efforts, Shulman earned the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Jack Graney Award, for his lifetime contributions to baseball, in 2020 and the Canadian Screen Award as best play-by-play announcer in 2022.