Canadian McAffer enjoyed "home field advantage" in Jays' system
Toronto Blue Jays pitching prospect and North Vancouver, B.C. native Will McAffer enjoys the backing of his friends, family, and hometown crowd. He appeared in 21 games for the class-A Short-Season Vancouver Canadians last season. Photo: Chris Faria/Toronto Observer
By Chris Faria
DUNEDIN, Fla. - Will McAffer found himself on familiar soil when he took the mound at Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver for the first time last June.
Pitching in relief, McAffer came out during the fifth and threw 1 ⅓ hitless innings in front of his hometown crowd, earning the eventual win for his new club in the process.
“It was really awesome, friends and family come out to watch you play. My parents were at every game I threw at,” said McAffer, of his 2018 campaign. “Just being at home is always nice - being where you're familiar. Definitely couldn't really ask for much more there for your first year.”
The 21-year old North Vancouver native was drafted in the 25th round out of Tulane University by the Toronto Blue Jays before being promptly sent to the Vancouver Canadians of the Northwest Baseball league for his first professional assignment.
He made his initial appearance less than two weeks later.
“The home field advantage definitely helps,” McAffer said. “Instead of having 6,000 people cheering against you, you have 6,000 people cheering for you.”
He went on to pitch in 29 1/3 innings over 21 appearances for the Canadians, posting a 7-2 record with an ERA of 3.68.
McAffer was originally drafted straight out of high school by the Cincinnati Reds in 2015, but opted to go to college instead. Three years later the Blue Jays selected the reliever and it appears he made the right decision.
“It's definitely an honour, growing up being a Blue Jays fan,” said McAffer. “It's definitely kind of a special feeling knowing you're playing for the team that represents your country.”
And the idea of representing his country is not lost on the young reliever. McAffer was one of 19 Canadians drafted in his 2018 class, and he knows firsthand just how good baseball is, and can be, at home.
“It's super cool seeing how Canadian baseball's growing and expanding because people don't really think of Canada as a huge country for producing baseball players,” said McAffer, who played for the Canadian National Junior Team in 2015 and BC Orange at Tournament 12 in 2014.
“But it's got a lot of good players. We already got guys I played with in high school in the big leagues. It's pretty cool how much it's grown, how much better it's getting, and you just hope it keeps on the same trajectory.”