BWDIK: Jenkins, Lopez, Naylor, Romano, Soroka, Toro

Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team alum Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) has six home runs this season for the Cleveland Guardians.

April 21, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Some Canadian baseball news and notes from the past week:

–Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) belted his sixth home run of the season for the Cleveland Guardians in their 6-3 win over the Oakland A’s yesterday. That number represents the most he has hit in the season’s first month during his big league career (His previous high was three in 2023). The Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team grad is leading the Guardians in on-base percentage (OBP) (.400), slugging percentage (.630) and on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) (1.030) this season. The reigning Tip O’Neill Award winner is in his sixth major league season.

–Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) was roughed up for five runs in 4 2/3 innings in his start for the Chicago White Sox in their 9-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park yesterday. That marked the third consecutive start in which he has allowed four earned runs or more in less than five innings. “I tried to keep battling, keep finding it,” Soroka told MLB.com after his start on Saturday. “I thought I was trusting my stuff a lot better tonight. Compared to the last outing, I’m in a better place. But it still wasn’t good enough.” The 26-year-old right-hander is now 0-3 with a 7.50 ERA in five starts, spanning 24 innings this season. Soroka was traded to the Sox by the Atlanta Braves on November 16 after posting a 6.40 ERA in seven big league games last season. Those were his first major league appearances since he tore his right Achilles tendon for the first time on August 3, 2020. The Junior National Team alum spent the bulk of 2023 with the triple-A Gwinnett Stripers, going 4-4 with a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts.

-Former Toronto Blue Jay Otto Lopez was claimed off waivers by the Miami Marlins from the San Francisco Giants on April 4. The Marlins then assigned Lopez, who spent part of his youth in Montreal, to the triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and he proceeded to go 15-for-27 (.556 batting average) with four doubles and two home runs in seven games before being recalled by the Marlins. On Monday, Lopez started at third base for the Marlins and went 1-for-4 with a single and a run in their 4-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants. He also had a pinch-hit single in the seventh inning on Friday when the Marlins were defeated 8-3 by the Chicago Cubs. Lopez’s tenure with the Marlins marks his first big league action since 2022. Last season, he batted .258 in 84 games with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons, but he missed a large chunk of the season due to a left oblique strain. He joined the Bisons after going 5-for-17 (.294 batting average) with a home run and a team-leading six RBIs in four games for Canada at the World Baseball Classic. Born in Santo Domingo, D.R., Lopez was signed as an international free agent by the Blue Jays prior to the 2017 season.

Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team grad Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) turns 31 today.

-Happy 31st Birthday to Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.)! The hard-throwing right-hander celebrated by throwing a scoreless ninth inning and recording his second save of the season last night in the Blue Jays’ 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres. After beginning the season on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, Romano returned on Monday and recorded the save in the Blue Jays’ 5-4 win over the New York Yankees. He also tossed a scoreless ninth in the Blue Jays’ 5-1 victory over the Padres on Friday night. In 59 games last season, the Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team grad recorded a 2.90 ERA and matched his career-high with 36 saves. Originally chosen in the 10th round of the MLB draft by the Blue Jays in 2014, Romano is in his sixth major league season.

-Fifty-eight years ago today, the Chicago Cubs traded veteran pitchers Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson to the Philadelphia Phillies for Adolfo Phillips, John Herrnstein and a young pitcher named Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.). The rest, we will say, is Canadian baseball history. Jenkins would pitch 10 seasons with the Cubs and set franchise pitching records in WAR (53.1), starts (347) and strikeouts (2,038). While with the Cubs from 1967 to 1972, he registered six consecutive 20-win seasons and never tossed less than 20 complete games in any of those campaigns. For his efforts, he became the Cubs’ first Cy Young Award winner in 1971. His No. 31 was retired by the team in 2009 and two years ago a statue of him was erected outside Wrigley Field.

Great Lake Canadians and Junior National Team alum Calvin Ziegler (Heidelberg, Ont.) will undergo Tommy John surgery.

-Great Lake Canadians and Junior National Team alum Calvin Ziegler (Heidelberg, Ont.), who had struck out 13 batters and not allowed an earned run in six innings for the New York Mets’ High-A Brooklyn Cyclones to start the campaign, will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery, according to Mike Mayer of the Metsmerized blog. Earlier this spring, Ziegler had picked up the save for the Mets prospects team in their 4-2 Spring Breakout game victory over the Washington Nationals. The 21-year-old right-hander struck out two of the three batters he faced in his scoreless inning. Ziegler was hoping to bounce back after an injury shortened 2023 campaign in which he made just one appearance with the low-A St. Lucie Mets in September. Prior to the 2023 season, Ziegler had surgery to remove bone spurs from his right elbow. Unfortunately, while recovering from that injury, he suffered a torn quad. The 6-foot righty was the first Canadian pitcher selected in the 2021 MLB draft when he was chosen in the second round by the Mets. He made 16 starts for St. Lucie in 2022 and posted a 4.44 ERA.

-Happy 76th Birthday to Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Allan Simpson! When the coverage of minor league baseball, college baseball and the draft was reduced in The Sporting News, Simpson (Kelowna, B.C.) came up with the idea for the magazine that would become Baseball America. He began producing a bi-weekly publication out of his garage in White Rock, B.C. in 1981, but he established post office boxes in Blaine and Bellingham, Wash., so people would think Baseball America was an American production. The publication originated with 1,500 subscribers and 30 years later, it had approximately 250,000 readers. After 25 years, Simpson left Baseball America to become vice-president and director of national scouting with Perfect Game USA. In recent years, Simpson has chaired the selection committee for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

–Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) clubbed his second home run of the season for the Oakland A’s on Friday. It was a solo shot in the first inning off Guardians right-hander Triston McKenzie. In his past 12 games, Toro is 14-for-48 (.292 batting average) with two doubles and six RBIs. Acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers on November 15, Toro signed a one-year, $1.275-million contract with the A’s just two days later. Toro was impressive in his limited major league action with the Brewers in 2023, batting .444 with two home runs and nine RBIs in nine games. This is his sixth big league season.

-Happy 82nd Birthday to Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ray Carter! Born in Nanaimo, B.C., Carter was the president of Baseball Canada for 16 years, from 2000 to 2016, which makes him the longest-serving president in the organization’s history. During Carter’s reign, the men’s and women’s national teams enjoyed unparalleled success, securing 13 international medals, including the men’s Senior National Team’s first two gold medals at the Pan Am Games in 2011 and 2015. Carter helped to establish the women’s National Team in 2004 and the women’s team has since won six Baseball World Cup medals – including two silvers. Among the other Baseball Canada programs Carter helped spearhead was Challenger Baseball, which allows children with disabilities to participate in the sport and be part of a team. Prior to becoming president of Baseball Canada, Carter was the organization’s vice president in 1998 and 1999. His name has become so synonymous with baseball in this country that the Canadian 15 and under Boys Championship tournament has been renamed the Ray Carter Cup.

A 1985 Syracuse Chiefs International League champions pennant — check out the names on the Chiefs’ roster.

-If you’re wondering how the Toronto Blue Jays were so consistently good from the mid-80s to the early 1990s, check out the pennant above. This pennant showcases the roster of their 1985 triple-A International League champion Syracuse Chiefs. Read the names on this pennant. This pennant is part of Kenny Hillyard’s extensive Fred McGriff collection. I wrote about his collection last year. You can read the article here.