BWDIK: Axford, Naylor, O'Neill, Pivetta, Sabrowski, Smith

Langley Blaze alum Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) leads Canadian big leaguers with 30 home runs this season.

September 15, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Some Canadian baseball news and notes:

–Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) belted a three-run walk-off home run against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park on Wednesday to give the Boston Red Sox a 5-3 win. It was also his 30th home run of the season. The Langley Blaze and Junior National Team alum also clubbed 34 home runs for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021. According to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, O’Neill is just the sixth Canadian to have multiple, 30-home run seasons in the big leagues. Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, B.C.) and Jason Bay (Trail, B.C.) are tied for the most 30-home run seasons by a Canadian with four (See post below).

-On Monday, O’Neill had yet another two-home run game for the Red Sox to propel them to a 12-3 win over the Orioles. It was O’Neill’s seventh multi-homer game of the season. According to Sportsnet Stats, this is the second-most multi-homer games by a Canadian in a major league season to Walker who had eight in 1997.

-Also, with his 30th home run, O’Neill moved past Cleveland Guardians slugger Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) for the major league lead in home runs by a Canadian this season. Naylor has 29 and Toronto Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.) has 28. There’s a good chance that all three will hit 30 home runs this season. So, have three Canadians ever hit 30 home runs in the same major league season? The answer is yes, according to Scott Crawford at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. He reminded me that in 2021, Guerrero Jr. socked 48 homers, while Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont.) hit 36 and O’Neill clubbed 34.

-Speaking of home runs, Bo Naylor belted his 12th round-tripper of the season for the Guardians on Monday to set a new career-high. It was a solo shot in the fourth inning in the Guardians’ 5-3 win over the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. Naylor also stole two bases in that game, which according to Guardians’ historian Jeremy Feador (see below) made him just the second Cleveland catcher to hit a home run and steal two bases in the same game.

-Guardians reliever Erik Sabrowski (St. Albert, Alta.) has thrown six scoreless innings in four appearances to start his big-league career. The Canuck southpaw has allowed just three hits, while striking out eight. He has fanned at least two batters in three of his four appearances. To me, his call-up is one of the best Canadian baseball feel-good stories of the year. The 26-year-old Alberta-born lefty has persevered through two Tommy John surgeries to pitch in the majors.

-Meanwhile, Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.), Sabrowski’s Guardians’ bullpen mate, continues to put his name in the conversation for the American League Rookie of the Year award. He had four more scoreless outings this week and has lowered his season ERA to 2.03 in 70 appearances, which are the fourth-most in the American League. He also owns a 6-1 record and has fanned 96 batters in 71 innings. In past columns when I have mentioned Smith, I have not recognized how important the Chilliwack Minor Baseball Association was in his development. I apologize for this. Hopefully, this gives the organization some much overdue recognition.

-With nine strikeouts in his start against the Orioles on Wednesday, Red Sox right-hander Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) has 156 this season. Canadian baseball historian Tyler Partridge pointed out that Pivetta now has four consecutive 150-strikeout seasons on his big-league resume. The only other two Canadian pitchers to accomplish this are Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.) and Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, B.C.). In Pivetta’s start on Wednesday, he allowed just one run on four hits, but did not receive a decision in the Sox eventual 5-3 win. For the season, the Junior National team grad is 5-10 with a 4.24 ERA in 129 1/3 innings in 24 games (23 starts).

–Charles Leblanc (Laval, Que.) socked a three-run home run for the Los Angeles Angels last Sunday in their 7-4 loss to the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington. That represented Leblanc’s first major league home run in almost two years. The 28-year-old infielder’s last big-league homer came with the Miami Marlins against the Chicago Cubs on September 19, 2022 when he clubbed a two-run shot off fellow Canadian Rowan Wick (North Vancouver, B.C.) in the eighth inning in the Marlins’ 10-3 win at loanDepot Park. On September 1, Leblanc was called up by the Angels for the second time this season. In total, in seven games with the Angels in 2024, he is 2-for-16 with three runs and three walks. In triple-A this season, the ABC grad hit .254 with a .379 on-base percentage (OBP) with 12 home runs and 52 RBIs in 98 games.

-On Friday, Marlins infielder Otto Lopez homered for the second time in six days when he hit a solo shot off Washington Nationals lefty DJ Herz in the fourth inning in the Marlins’ 4-1 loss at Nationals Park. Lopez, who spent part of his youth in Montreal, is batting .323 with two home runs, 10 doubles and 11 RBIs in his last 26 games for the Marlins. On February 13, Lopez, who has played for the Canadian national team, had his contract sold to the San Francisco Giants by the Blue Jays. He spent spring training with the Giants before he was designated for assignment and claimed on waivers by the Marlins. Born in Santo Domingo, D.R., Lopez was signed as an international free agent by the Blue Jays on July 4, 2016.

-There haven’t been many updates about Seattle Mariners right-hander Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) since he underwent Tommy John surgery on May 8. But MLB.com reported on Friday that the Canadian reliever joined the Mariners in Seattle this week to ramp up his throwing program in front of pitching coach Pete Woodworth. The same report says Brash had also been in Seattle in August to meet with Woodworth and director of pitching strategy Trent Black. Brash will continue his rehab program in the off-season and is projected to return to the Mariners in June 2025. Last season, in his second big league campaign, Brash 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.

-Happy 75th Birthday to former big league pitcher Dave Pagan (Nipawin, Sask.)! Signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees in 1970, Pagan is the only Canadian to make their major league debut on Canada Day. He started the second game of a doubleheader for the Yankees against Cleveland at Yankee Stadium on July 1, 1973. Pagan proceeded to pitch parts of five seasons in the majors with the Yankees, Orioles, Mariners and Pittsburgh Pirates. You can read my detailed feature article about him here.

-Fifteen years ago today, John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.) made his MLB debut with the Milwaukee Brewers. He pitched the eighth inning for the Brewers in their 13-7 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Axford struck out Kosuke Fukudome, the fourth batter he faced, for his first MLB strikeout.

–Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont.) may have retired before playing a regular season game with the Blue Jays, but that didn’t stop Topps from releasing this baseball card of him in their Chrome series:

–According to MLB.com, the Colorado Rockies are expected to activate Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) from the 15-day injured list today to start against the Cubs. The 29-year-old right-hander has been sidelined with right triceps inflammation since September 1. The Ontario Terriers and Junior National Team alum leads all Canadian big-league pitchers in starts (26) and innings pitched (138) this season. He owns an 8-9 record and a 4.63 ERA. Now in his sixth major league campaign, Quantrill is set to become a free agent following the season.