June 30, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Some Canadian baseball news and notes from the past week:

-Right-hander Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) is leading the Colorado Rockies in WAR (3.2), wins (6), starts (17) and innings pitched (95 1/3). In all, he is 6-6 with a 3.78 ERA on a team with a 27-55 record. Each team has to have a representative at the All-Star Game and Quantrill deserves to be the Rockies’ rep. On top of being the Rockies’ leader in many statistical categories, the Ontario Terriers and Junior National Team alum also leads Canadian major league pitchers in starts, innings and WAR. The 29-year-old is in his sixth big league campaign. He has never been chosen for the All-Star Game.

-Speaking of the All-Star Game, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.) is one of the two finalists (Ryan Mountcastle of the Baltimore Orioles is the other) for the American League First Base position in the fan voting. The second phase of voting starts today. Canadian Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.), who leads all AL first basemen in home runs (20) and RBIs (60), certainly deserved to be a finalist. Naylor’s 20 home runs this season have already tied his career-best that he established in 2022. Like his former teammate, Quantrill, he has never been selected to the All-Star Game.

-Another Canadian who should be considered for the All-Star Game is Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.). The veteran southpaw has allowed just two earned runs in 18 innings in his past three starts. For the season, he is 7-1 with a 3.39 ERA in 14 starts, spanning 71 2/3 innings. His seven wins are the most by a Canadian in the majors this season. He will start today against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Now in his 11th major league season, he, too, has never been selected for the All-Star Game.

-Canadian baseball writer and historian Tyler Patridge pointed out on Twitter this week that Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) has been striking out batters at a rate of 15.49 per nine innings since being sent to the Chicago White Sox bullpen after his start on May 12. In his last three relief appearances, the Junior National Team alum has allowed just one earned run and has fanned 14 batters in 7 2/3 innings. After starting the season with a 6.39 ERA in nine starts, Soroka has a 3.54 ERA in nine relief appearances and has 35 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings.

-Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters on Saturday that closer Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) has been shut down after experiencing elbow soreness. Romano is scheduled to visit with Dr. Keith Meister on Tuesday in Dallas, Texas. Meister is an orthopedic surgeon that specializes in Tommy John Surgery. He performed UCL surgery on Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah earlier this month. Romano has been on the injured list since June 1 with elbow inflammation. The Canuck reliever also missed the first two weeks of the campaign with the same issue. The Blue Jays have said that tests have shown there is no structural damage in Romano’s elbow, but it has been a rocky start to the 2024 season for the 31-year-old closer. In 15 appearances, he has posted a 6.59 ERA and has allowed 10 runs on 16 hits in 13 2/3 innings.

-The 10th season of The Amazing Race Canada begins on Tuesday night and two longtime Canadian professional baseball players, Tyson Gillies (Vancouver, B.C.) and Michael Crouse (New Westminster, B.C.), will be competing as one of the teams. The two Baseball Canada alums are now co-owners of Travail Baseball Development in Vancouver. They each spent more than a decade in pro baseball. Gillies, 35, was selected in the 26th round of the MLB draft by the Seattle Mariners in 2006. The speedy outfielder went on to enjoy a 13-season pro career that included stops in the Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres organizations. He also won a gold medal playing for Canada at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Ajax, Ont. Crouse, 33, was born in New Westminster, B.C., and was chosen in the 16th round of the 2008 MLB draft by the Blue Jays. His 15-season pro career, which ended last year, included seven seasons in the Blue Jays organization, as well as stints in Mexico and Australia. He was part of the Canadian team that captured gold at the 2011 Pan Am Games. Gillies and Crouse will compete against 10 other teams. The winners of the race will receive two 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV RS vehicles, a round-the-world trip for two and a $250,000 cash prize.

-Toronto Blue Jays great Tony Fernandez would’ve turned 62 today (or 63 according to his Facebook page). Signed by the Blue Jays in 1979, Fernandez played 12 seasons in Toronto, winning the hearts of fans with his patented submarine-style throws, unparalleled range and clutch hitting. In 1985, his first year as an everyday shortstop, Fernandez hit .289 to help propel the Blue Jays to their first American League East title. Over the next five seasons, Fernandez established himself as one of baseball’s best all-around shortstops, leading the Blue Jays in batting average twice (1986, 1987), hits three times (1986, 1988, 1990) and triples four times (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990). He was also a three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove Award winner during that stretch. After two seasons in the National League with the Padres and New York Mets, Fernandez was dealt back to the Blue Jays in June 1993. He proceeded to hit .306 in 94 games and play an integral role on the World Series-winning squad. Following one-year stints with the Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees and Cleveland, Fernandez returned to Toronto to hit .321 and drive in 72 runs in 1998 and he followed that up with a .328 batting average in 1999. He retired as the club’s all-time leader in hits (1,583). For his efforts, his name was added to the Blue Jays Level of Excellence in 2001 and he was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008. He passed away on February 16, 2020.

-It was 27 years ago today that the first regular season, interleague game was played between the Montreal Expos and the Blue Jays. The Expos won 2-1 at SkyDome. Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Pedro Martinez and Pat Hentgen faced off on the mound and both threw complete games. Martinez allowed just three hits and struck out 10, while Hentgen was the tough-luck losing pitcher, despite only allowing two runs on six hits. Canadian Baseball Hall of Famers Vladimir Guerrero and Carlos Delgado also homered for their respective teams. The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame has Hentgen’s jersey from this game in their collection (See photo below).

-Fifty-one years ago today, the Houston Astros signed right-hander Gordie Pladson (New Westminster, B.C.) as an amateur free agent. He’d spend parts of seven seasons in Astros’ minor league system before receiving his first big league promotion in 1979. In total, he appeared in 20 games in parts of four seasons with the Astros between 1979 and 1982.