March 3, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Some Canadian baseball news and notes:

-Free agent slugger Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont.) said on the Dan Patrick Show on Friday that he hasn’t received a firm offer from a major league team this off-season. He has, however, received offers to work in the media. But Votto remains focused on playing in 2024. “I’ll take one or 700 plate appearances,” Votto told Patrick. “My attitude is prepare for the season. Be available for anything that comes my way. And then just work.” Canadian Baseball Network editor-in-chief Bob Elliott landed an exclusive interview with Votto in Etobicoke, Ont., in early February. The veteran first baseman, who has played 17 major league seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, batted .202 with 14 homers in 65 games in 2023 after returning from shoulder surgery. A seven-time winner of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Tip O’Neill Award, Votto has 2,135 major league hits, which leaves him just 25 behind Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, B.C.) for most by a Canadian. His 459 doubles are 12 behind Walker and his 356 home runs trail Walker’s output by 27. Votto already owns Canadian major league records for most games (2,056), plate appearances (8,746), walks (1,365), All-Star Game selections (6) and on-base percentage (.409).

-The news isn’t as bad as feared for Seattle Mariners right-hander Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.). After Brash experienced pain in the throwing elbow last week, there were reports that he would miss an extended period and possibly the entire 2024 campaign. But Ryan Divish, of The Seattle Times, reported on Friday that an MRI revealed that Brash has “medial elbow inflammation” and has been cleared to start playing catch on Tuesday. Divish added that Brash is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day but, overall, this is good news for Brash and the Mariners. 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. Thanks largely to his devastating slider, he fanned 107 batters in 70 2/3 innings, good for a 13.6 strikeout-per-nine-inning rate. His 24 holds were the 11th most in the majors and he topped all Canadian pitchers in appearances and strikeouts per nine innings.

-Boston Red Sox slugger Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) is looking forward to having Fenway Park as his new home stadium. “I always said to my wife it’s my favourite road ballpark . . . Just something about the aura,” he said while he was miked up recently for RedSox.com. O’Neill was dealt to the Red Sox by the St. Louis Cardinals on December 8 for pitchers Nick Robertson and Victor Santos. He comes to the Sox having endured two injury-riddled campaigns with the Cardinals. In 2023, O’Neill batted .231 with nine home runs and 21 RBIs in 72 games. A third-round pick of the Mariners in 2013, O’Neill played parts of five seasons in the M’s organization before being traded to the Cardinals for left-hander Marco Gonzalez on July 21, 2017. The Junior National Team and Langley Blaze alum made his major league debut with the Cardinals in 2018. His finest campaign came in 2021 when he batted .286 with 34 home runs and had a .912 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) and captured his second consecutive National League Gold Glove Award in left field.

-On Thursday, left-hander James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.) struck out four Reds batters in two innings in his first Cactus League start for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He told reporters after the game that he felt “right where I should be right now.” In early February, Paxton signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers that will guarantee him $7 million. After missing nearly two full seasons due to Tommy John surgery and other injuries, Paxton posted a 5-1 record and a 2.73 ERA in his first 10 starts with the Red Sox last season. He finished the campaign 7-5 with a 4.50 ERA, while striking out 101 batters in 96 innings. The 6-foot-4 lefty, who had signed with the Red Sox prior to the 2022 season, was paid $4 million in 2023. He missed the season’s final month with right knee inflammation. A North Delta Blue Jays and Junior National Team alum, the 35-year-old southpaw has pitched in parts of 10 major league campaigns with the Mariners, New York Yankees and Red Sox and owns a 64-38 record and a 3.69 ERA in 156 starts.

-Right-hander Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) retired all six Tampa Bay Rays batters he faced in his first 2024 Grapefruit League start with the Red Sox on Saturday. The veteran right-hander, who turned 31 on Valentine’s Day, made 38 appearances (16 starts) for the Red Sox in 2023 and tied his career-best with 10 wins and topped Canadian big league hurlers in innings pitched (142 2/3), strikeouts (183) and WAR (2.4). His 4.04 ERA was the lowest of any season in his career. The Junior National Team alum is heading into his eighth big league season and his fourth with the Red Sox. In total, he owns 50-59 record and a 4.86 ERA in 196 major league appearances (152 starts) and has 967 strikeouts in 883 2/3 innings.

-Speaking of bobbleheads, someone did a remarkable job in creating this custom Tom Cheek bobblehead that is up for sale on eBay. Too expensive for me, but I hope it finds a good home.

-Trailblazing statistician and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Allan Roth passed away on this date in 1992 at the age of 74. In 1944, Roth, a Montreal native, made a pitch to Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey about the importance of advanced statistics, such as on-base percentage. Rickey grew intrigued with the young Canadian and hired him in 1947, making him the first statistician ever on a major league club’s payroll. Roth would collect and analyze stats for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers until 1964. The mathematically minded Canuck recorded every pitch and wrote his stats out by hand. Roth later wrote a column for The Sporting News and worked the NBC and ABC games of the week until 1990, feeding data to broadcasters such as Al Michaels and Vin Scully. Roth was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame posthumously in 2010.

–  Please take a moment to remember former Blue Jays pitcher Jesse Jefferson who would’ve turned 75 today. In the Blue Jays’ inaugural season, the 6-foot-3 right-hander logged 217 innings for the club, tossing eight complete games and posting a 4.31 ERA. He followed that up by pitching a team-leading 211 2/3 innings in 1978. On May 23, 1978, Jefferson set a franchise record by hurling a 12-inning complete game against the Red Sox. In all, Jefferson pitched in nine big league campaigns from 1973 to 1981 with the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Blue Jays, Pirates and California Angels. After he hung up his spikes, Jefferson returned to his hometown of Midlothian, Va., where he drove a garbage truck. He passed away from prostate cancer on September 8, 2011.