April 13, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Some Canadian baseball news and notes on Saturday this week (I have a commitment on Sunday):

-Boston Red Sox slugger Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) is tied for the major league lead (with Mike Trout, Mookie Betts and Marcell Ozuna) with six home runs this season. This also represents a personal-best for O’Neill in the first month of the regular season. In 2021, he belted five home runs in the first month for the St. Louis Cardinals. Traded to the Red Sox by the Cardinals on December 8, the 28-year-old outfielder is in his seventh major league season. The Junior National Team alum joined the Sox after enduring two injury-riddled campaigns with the Cardinals.

-Minnesota Twins second baseman Edouard Julien (Quebec, Que.) belted two solo home runs on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Target Field. It was the first multi-home run game of his major league career. The Junior National Team alum has been off to a slow start. Of his eight hits this season, three have been home runs. In 109 regular season games in his rookie campaign with the Twins last year, Julien set a record for most home runs by a Canadian second baseman in a major league season with 16. He also topped Twins’ regulars in walks (64) and on-base percentage (OBP) (.381). For his efforts, he finished seventh in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.

-Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.) improved his 2024 regular season record to 2-0 in two starts when he allowed just two runs on three hits in six innings against the Twins on Monday. He now owns a 1.64 ERA and has struck out nine batters in 11 innings this season. The 35-year-old southpaw signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers in February after going 7-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 19 starts for the Red Sox last season. Prior to that, he had missed almost two full seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The North Delta Blue Jays and Junior National Team alum is in his 11th major league season.

–Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) has continued his dominance out of the Cleveland Guardians’ bullpen. In six appearances this season, he has struck out 12 batters in 7 2/3 scoreless innings. The 24-year-old right-hander has allowed just two hits. Canadian baseball historian Tyler Partridge did some excellent research and shared that Smith’s 7 2/3 scoreless innings to begin his career is the 11th-best by a Canadian pitcher to start their career. So what Canadian tossed the most scoreless innings to begin their major league career? According to Partridge, it’s left-handed reliever Vince Horsman (Dartmouth, N.S.) who threw 19 scoreless innings in appearances with the Blue Jays and Oakland A’s in 1991 and 1992 to start his career. On March 30, Smith became the first Canadian to make their major league debut in 2024 when he struck out five batters in two scoreless innings in relief in the Guardians’ 12-3 win over the A’s. Signed by the Guardians as a free agent in 2020 out of the University of Hawaii, the Junior National Team and Abbotsford Cardinals grad topped all Canuck minor league pitchers in 2023 in appearances, saves (15) and strikeouts per nine innings (13.6).

-Right-hander Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) will not start for the Colorado Rockies in their series against the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre this weekend. On Tuesday, the 29-year-old right-hander had his best start of the season so far. In his first start at Coors Field as a Rockie, Quantrill limited the Arizona Diamondbacks to three runs in six innings and struck out six batters. Unfortunately, the Rockies could only muster two runs and lost 3-2. Quantrill owns a 7.20 ERA in three starts this season. The Canuck righty was traded to the Rockies by the Guardians on November 17 after a rough 2023 campaign in which he was limited to 19 starts by shoulder woes. That came after Quantrill had set career-highs with 15 wins and 186 1/3 innings in 2022. The 6-foot-3 right-hander honed his skills with the Ontario Terriers and the Junior National Team before being selected eighth overall by the San Diego Padres in the 2016 MLB draft.

-Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.), who is working his way back from elbow inflammation, pitched 1/3 of an inning against the Rochester Red Wings on Thursday in his first rehab appearance with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons. Romano is scheduled to pitch for the Bisons again today, and if all goes well, he should rejoin the Blue Jays early next week. The hard-throwing 30-year-old struck out six batters and had a 2.08 ERA in 4 1/3 innings in five Grapefruit League appearances this spring before being sidelined. In 59 games in 2023, he 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 heading into his sixth major league season.

-Forty years ago today, Pete Rose, then with the Montreal Expos, recorded his 4,000th big league hit. His milestone hit was an opposite field double off Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Jerry Koosman in the fourth inning at Olympic Stadium. He had recorded his first major league hit on the same date 21 years earlier. You can watch Rose’s 4,000th hit in this video (starting at 3:30 mark).

-On this date 25 years ago, Jeff Zimmerman (Kelowna, B.C.) made his major league debut with the Texas Rangers. He tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out four in relief against the Seattle Mariners at the Kingdome in the Rangers’ 15-6 win. The 26-year-old Zimmerman, who just two years earlier had been pitching for the independent Northern League’s Winnipeg Goldeyes, struck out the first two batters he faced: Raul Ibanez and Domingo Cedeno. He also fanned future Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez to end the eighth inning.

-Frozen Pond, a longtime autographed memorabilia business in Woodbridge, Ont., will be holding a private signing with former Blue Jays ace Dave Stieb. In recent years, Stieb’s autograph has become difficult to obtain, so, here’s your chance to have an item autographed by the Blue Jays legend. Information on pricing can be found here. Speaking of ex-Jays signing autographs, George Bell and Duane Ward will be among the autograph guests at the upcoming Sport Card Expo to be held at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ont., from April 25 to April 28. Bell and Ward will be signing on April 27. More information can be found here (Click on the link and scroll down).

-Twenty-six years ago today, Ryan Radmanovich (Calgary, Alta.) made his big league debut with the Seattle Mariners against Cleveland at Jacobs Field. Batting ninth and playing right field, he went 0-for-3 but fielded three balls flawlessly. He batted in a Mariners’ lineup that also included Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Edgar Martinez. Cleveland won 6-5 despite Griffey Jr. belting two home runs for the Mariners.