Quantrill, Romano had strong springs in MLB camps
Ontario Blue Jays alum Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) did not allow a run and struck out six batters in five appearances with the Toronto Blue Jays this spring. Photo: Amanda Fewer
March 25, 2020
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
While Major League Baseball is on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s take a look at how Canadian pitchers fared in big league camps this spring.
Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, Que.)
Signed to a minor league contract by the Toronto Blue Jays in the off-season, this 6-foot-7 right-hander hurled a scoreless inning in his first outing of the spring. His second appearance didn’t go as smoothly. On February 25, the 31-year-old right-hander pitched the seventh and eighth innings against the New York Yankees at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla. The good news about his performance was that he struck out five batters. The bad news was that he also allowed three runs and was saddled with the loss in the Bombers’ 4-1 win. He finished the abbreviated spring with a 9.00 ERA in two appearances but with five strikeouts in three innings.
Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.)
It was a rough spring for the 27-year-old right-hander with the Philadelphia Phillies. After making extensive changes to his off-season training regimen and rejigging his mechanics, he posted an 8.22 ERA in three appearances. But he also struck out 10 batters in 7 2/3 innings. The Canuck righty was fighting for a rotation spot with the Phillies after a disappointing 2019 campaign – his third in the big leagues – that saw him record a 5.38 ERA in 30 appearances, including 13 starts.
Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.)
This Junior National Team and Ontario Terriers alum made a strong case for a spot in the San Diego Padres’ starting rotation this spring. In three appearances, including two starts, he allowed just one run and two hits and struck out nine in seven innings. That should be enough to land the 25-year-old right-hander a big league roster spot with the Padres when the season resumes. In his rookie campaign with the Pads in 2019, the 2016 first-rounder went 6-8 with a 5.16 ERA in 23 appearances, 18 of them starts.
Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.)
What team had the most hits in an inning off Romano this spring? The answer is the Canadian Junior National Team (JNT), a squad he once honed his skills with. Ontario Blue Jays outfielder David Calabrese (Maple, Ont.) and Ontario Terriers infielder Elijha Hammill (Oakville, Ont.) had singles off him in the first inning of the JNT’s annual contest against the Blue Jays at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla., on March 12. That was the last day of spring training games before the exhibition schedule was cancelled due to the threat of the coronavirus. The hard-throwing Romano was one of the most impressive relievers in Blue Jays’ camp this spring. The 6-foot-4 right-hander employed a fastball that has clocked as high as 98 mph and a nasty slider to strike out six batters in five scoreless innings across five appearances. The soon-to-be 27-year-old, who fanned 21 batters in 15 2/3 innings in 17 appearances in his first taste of major league action last season, has to be one of the leading contenders for a spot in the Blue Jays’ bullpen when the MLB resumes play.
Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.)
After an outstanding rookie season that saw him named to the National League All-Star Team and finish second in the Rookie of the Year award voting, Soroka enjoyed an excellent spring with the Atlanta Braves. The 6-foot-5 right-hander, who went 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA in 29 starts for the Braves last season, posted a 1-0 record with a 3.12 ERA in three starts for the Braves this spring. He struck out seven batters in 8 2/3 innings.
Rowan Wick (North Vancouver, B.C.)
This flame-throwing Canadian, who was experimenting with a new cutter-slider pitch, struggled with the Chicago Cubs this spring, permitting nine earned runs in 4 2/3 innings in five appearances. But when you look at his historical spring training stats, this is probably nothing to be concerned about. His spring training ERAs since 2017 are: 15.43, 22.50, 6.00 and 17.36. But thanks to his strong performance in the Cubs’ pen last season, it’s still likely that he’ll head north with the club when the season eventually begins. According to Foolish Baseball on Twitter, Wick pitched more innings (33 1/3) than any other reliever in MLB in 2019 without allowing a home run. Last season, he made 31 big league appearances and recorded a 2.43 ERA while striking out 35 batters. Wick, a Junior National National Team grad and a converted catcher, made his big league debut with the Padres in 2018.
Injured Canadian Pitchers
John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.)
Canadian Baseball Network alum and current Canadian Press scribe Melissa Couto recently caught up with Axford, who didn’t pitch in 2019 after sustaining a stress fracture in his elbow last spring in Blue Jays’ camp. Axford told her that he trained at the University of California, Berkeley this spring. He had hopes of attracting the interest of a big league team, but an offer never materialized. He has since returned to his home in Burlington, Ont. “It would be great to keep playing and I’d love to continue playing for another few more years, but I’m also at the point of realizing this may not happen this year because of everything that’s going on, so I have to prepare myself for that. But it’s more about looking at the bigger picture of what’s going on here,” Axford said, speaking of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read the full article here.
James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.)
Paxton is the Canadian pitcher who will benefit the most from the delayed start to the season. The Canadian left-hander, who has pitched parts of seven MLB seasons, underwent back surgery in early February and the prognosis was that he would miss three to four months. So if the season were to start in June, there’s now a possibility that Paxton could be ready for Opening Day. The procedure that Paxton underwent was a microscopic lumbar discectomy which included the removal of a peridiscal cyst. The Canuck southpaw is coming off a career-best 15 wins with the Yankees in 2019.