October 7, 2021

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

It was Canadian right-hander Nick Pivetta whom Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora called upon in the ninth inning in his club’s final regular season game, with a Wild-Card game berth on the line.

The Sox led the Washington Nationals 7-5 when the hard-throwing Victoria, B.C., native, who had been used exclusively as a starter, entered the contest. He promptly got Lane Thomas to fly out and Alcides Escobar to ground out before striking out 2020 National League batting champ Juan Soto to secure the win. That strikeout not only elevated the Red Sox into their Wild-Card game against the New York Yankees, it also ended the Toronto Blue Jays’ 91-win season.

Earlier in that day, the Blue Jays, aided by Montreal-born Vladimir Guerrero’s 48th home run of the season, defeated the Baltimore Orioles 12-4 in front of a sold-out crowd at Rogers Centre. But the Blue Jays needed either the Red Sox or Yankees to lose to advance to a tie-breaker game. The Yankees had already defeated the Rays 1-0 on a walk-off single by Aaron Judge.

So now that Blue Jays fans have had a few days to recover from the sting of their club falling just short and the Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals have been eliminated by the Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers in the Wild-Card games, who should they cheer for in this year’s postseason?

Who is the most “Canadian” club left in this year’s playoffs?

We researched that question, and here’s your answer:

1. Atlanta Braves

It was just over six years ago that Blue Jays fans were chanting “Thank you, Alex!” to their GM, Alex Anthopoulos, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards as the Blue Jays clinched their first American League East division title since 1993. The Montreal native has since moved on to the National League and his Braves have won four consecutive division titles during his reign as general manager and president of baseball operations.

Unfortunately for the Braves, they enter this postseason without their Canadian ace and PBF Redbirds and Junior National Team alum Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) who reinjured his Achilles’ tendon this summer. But even without Soroka, the Braves will have their share of Canadian content. On top of Anthopoulos, Braves slugger Freddie Freeman, whose parents were born in Canada, will man first base, while Calgary, Alta., native Mike Frostad is the team’s assistant trainer.

Players: RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.), 60-day injured list; Freddie Freeman (Fountain Valley, Calif.) - WBC eligible

Executive: Alex Anthopoulos (Montreal, Que.), president, baseball operations and general manager

Assistant trainer: Mike Frostad (Calgary, Alta.)

Minor league players: RHP Indigo Diaz (North Vancouver, B.C.), LHP Adam Shoemaker (Cambridge, Ont.)

Minor league coach: David Chavarria (Burnaby, B.C.), rehab pitching co-ordinator; Michael Saunders (Victoria, B.C.), manager, class-A Augusta GreenJackets

Off-field Canadian talent: Michael Copeland (Whitby, Ont.), developer and data architect, baseball systems

2. Milwaukee Brewers

When Doug Melvin (Chatham, Ont.) was the general manager of the Brewers from 2002 to 2015, and Gord Ash (Toronto, Ont.) was his assistant GM, the Brewers consistently seemed to have the most (or close to the most) Canadian players in their system. This seemed to change under current GM David Stearns, but it has rebounded somewhat this year when thanks to input from the club’s assistant director, scouting/international player development, Taylor Green (Comox, B.C.) and scout Pete Orr (Newmarket, Ont.), the Brewers selected Stouffville, Ont., native Tyler Black 33rd overall in the 2021 MLB draft. Six rounds later, the Brewers chose outfielder Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.).

The Brewers also briefly added a Canadian to their big league roster when they acquired John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.) from the Blue Jays on August 2. Unfortunately, the right-handed reliever, who enjoyed his best seasons with the Brewers from 2009 to 2013, sustained a season-ending elbow injury after pitching just 1/3 of an inning in his sole appearance with the club.

Player: RHP John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.), 60-day injury list

Minor league players: INF Tyler Black (Stouffville, Ont.), OF Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.)

Minor league coaches: Jim Henderson (Calgary, Alta.), pitching coach, triple-A Nashville

Executives: Doug Melvin (Chatham, Ont.), senior advisor; Gord Ash (Toronto, Ont.), director, baseball projects; Taylor Green (Comox, B.C.), assistant director of scouting/international player development

Scouts: Tyler Hollick (Calgary, Alta.), Marty Lehn (White Rock, B.C.), Doug Mathieson (Langley, B.C.), Pete Orr (Newmarket, Ont.), Jeff Simpson (Nashville, Tenn.), Taylor Frederick (Ottawa, Ont.)

3. Boston Red Sox

The aforementioned Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) continued to be somewhat of an enigma on the mound in 2021. After going 6-0 through the first two months of the season, he finished with a 9-8 record and a 4.53 ERA in 31 appearances, including 30 starts. But if you look past his ERA, you’ll find evidence that the Victoria Eagles and Junior National Team alum can be downright overpowering. He struck out 175 batters in 155 innings and allowed just 137 hits. The 28-year-old right-hander also had five starts where he tossed at least five scoreless innings and held the opposition to two hits or less. On the flip side, he also had 65 walks, which were the third-most in the American League.

But it’s a testament to the faith Red Sox manager Alex Cora has in Pivetta that he went to the Canadian righty in the ninth inning of the final game of the season, with a Wild-Card berth at stake. So if the Red Sox advance deeper into the postseason, I suspect Pivetta will be part of their rotation.

Player: RHP Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.)

Executives: David Beeston (Toronto, Ont.), chief strategy officer

Scouts: Ray Fagnant (East Granby, Conn.), Chris Mears (Victoria, B.C.), pitching cross checker

Minor league players: C Kole Cottam (Knoxville, Tenn.) of the Burlington, Ont. Cottams, WBC eligible.

4. San Francisco Giants

Even in Farhan Zaidi’s wildest dreams, he couldn’t have predicted that the Giants would set a franchise record with 107 wins and finish ahead of the reigning World Series champion Dodgers this season. Now in his third campaign with the Giants, the Canadian executive, whose title is president of baseball operations, seemed to pull all the right punches in 2021. Working with GM Scott Harris, Zaidi constructed a starting rotation anchored by veterans Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood - none of whom were considered top-tier starters at the beginning of the season. Zaidi also helped patch together one of the league’s top bullpens led by veterans Jake McGee, Tyler Rogers, Jose Alvarez and Dominic Leone.

Offensively, the Giants were led by shortstop Brandon Crawford who enjoyed his best season at the plate and a solid comeback campaign from catcher Buster Posey. Zaidi’s best move, however, may have been hiring Gabe Kapler as his manager who seems to have struck all the right notes in the clubhouse.

So while there are no Canadian players on the Giants, their roster has a Canadian’s fingerprints all over it.

Executives: Farhan Zaidi (Sudbury, Ont.), president of baseball operations

Part-Owner: Jeff Mallett (North Vancouver, B.C.)

Scouts: Raimondo Callari (Côté St-Luc, Que.)

Minor league players: C Max Wright (Toronto, Ont.)

5. Tampa Bay Rays

With the fifth lowest payroll in baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays need to find any advantage they can to compete in the tough American League East division. This is where Toronto native Jonathan Erlichman, the club’s process and analytics coach comes in handy. The Princeton math major worked five-plus years in the Rays’ front office, including 2017 and 2018 as the club’s director of analytics, before being promoted to his current role.

The Torontonian, who interned with the Blue Jays, wears a uniform as part of manager Kevin Cash’s coaching staff and is going to go over every statistical detail to help the Rays find an edge this postseason.

Coach: Jonathan Erlichman (Toronto, Ont.), process and analytics coach

Minor league players: RHP Conor Angel (Lachine, Que.), RHP Trevor Brigden (Toronto, Ont.)

6. Houston Astros

Forty-one years ago, Melville, Sask., native Terry Puhl set a then National League Championship Series record with 10 hits in 19 at bats (.526 batting average) in the Astros’ epic five-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Until Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) had a pinch-hit at bat in last year’s American League Championship Series, Puhl was the last Canadian to appear in a postseason game with the Astros.

Toro, an ABC alum, won’t, however, be part of the Astros’ playoff run this season. He was dealt to the Seattle Mariners on July 27, along with veteran reliever Joe Smith, for right-handers Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero. So there’s not a Canuck on the Astros’ postseason roster this season.

Scout: Jim Stevenson (Leaside, Ont.)

Minor league player: RHP R.J. Freure (Burlington, Ont.)

7. Los Angeles Dodgers

It still seems strange to have a major league postseason without Russell Martin (Montreal, Que.) playing in it. In October 2019, the Canadian catcher starred in the Dodgers’ 10-4 win over the eventual World Series champion Nationals in Game 3 of their National League Division Series when he went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs. It was the fourth different season that Martin suited up for the Dodgers in the playoffs, and his 10th trip to the postseason overall. But Martin didn’t play in 2020 or 2021, so there are no Canadian players on the Dodgers.

They do, however, employ Beeton, Ont., native Ellen Harrigan who is one of Major League Baseball’s most respected executives. After beginning her career with the Blue Jays as an administrative aide in player development in 1981 and later becoming the general manager of the club’s New York Penn League affiliate in St. Catharines, Harrigan moved on to the Dodgers and has risen through the organization’s ranks to hold a number of key executive positions. Now in her 21st season with the club, she is currently the team’s senior director, baseball administration.

Executive: Ellen Veronica Harrigan (Beeton, Ont.), senior director, baseball administration

Minor League Player: Max Hewitt (Midhurst, Ont.)

8. Chicago White Sox

The last Canadian to play for the White Sox in the postseason was Kirk McCaskill (Kapuskasing, Ont.) when the right-hander made three scoreless relief appearances in the club’s 1993 American League Championship Series’ loss to the eventual World Series champion Blue Jays.

The White Sox do not have a Canadian player on their current big league roster, nor do they have one in their minor league system. They also don’t have any Canucks in their front office or scouting ranks that we know of.