MLB playoffs: Are the Guardians now Canada's team?
Ontario Terriers alum Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) is the likely Game 1 starter for the Cleveland Guardians in their American League Division Series against the New York Yankees.
October 11, 2022
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
Now that the Toronto Blue Jays have been eliminated from the post-season, who should Canadian baseball fans cheer for?
Which of the remaining teams is the most Canadian?
We researched that question, and here’s your answer:
1. Cleveland Guardians
The American League Central-winning Guardians swept the Tampa Bay Rays in their Wild Card Series and are the only team with two starting Canadians on their roster. Ontario Terriers and Junior National Team alum Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) will start Game 1 of the Guardians’ American League Division Series against the New York Yankees on Tuesday. It will be his first playoff start and he’ll become the first Canadian to start the first game of a post-season series since Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, B.C.) did so in Game 1 of the National League Division Series for the Chicago Cubs on October 1, 2008. Quantrill led the Guardians and set a career-high with 15 wins this season. He also hurled a career-best 186 1/3 innings and posted a strong 3.38 ERA.
Playing behind Quantrill for the Guardians will be Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team alum Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.). He went 2-for-9 in the Wild Card Series against the Rays. During the regular season, he established several career-highs, belting 20 home runs and driving in 79 in 122 games, playing primarily first base and DH. It will be tough for Naylor to top his 2020 Wild Card Series performance against the Yankees when he went 5-for-7, with three doubles and a home run, for the Guardians.
Naylor’s younger brother, Bo, was also on the Guardians’ Wild Card roster, but the 22-year-old catcher didn’t see any action. He played just five games with the Guardians during the regular season. Like Josh, Bo is an Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team alum and a former first-round pick. In September, he was named the Guardians’ Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America. In 118 games between double-A and triple-A this season, he batted .263 with a .392 on-base percentage. He belted 21 home runs and stole 20 bases.
Players: C Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.), 1B-DH Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.), RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.)
Minor league players: C Zach Fascia (Brampton, Ont.), LHP Erik Sabrowski (Edmonton, Alta.), RHP Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.), LHP Adam Tulloch (Toronto, Ont.), RHP Jacob Zibin (Langley, B.C.)
Minor league coordinator: Stephen Osterer (Ottawa, Ont.), pitching resource coordinator
Right-hander Jameson Taillon, who pitched for Canada at the 2013 World Baseball Classic and whose parents are Canadian, will be a key member of the New York Yankees’ starting rotation in the post-season. Photo: USA Today Sports
4. New York Yankees
Right-hander Jameson Taillon topped Yankees pitchers and set a career-high with 14 wins this season. This should be enough to garner him a start (perhaps in Game 4) in the Bombers’ first playoff series. Though raised in The Woodlands, Tex., Taillon is a dual American/Canadian citizen. Both of his parents were born north of the border and he pitched for Canada in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. His 32 starts in 2022 are the second-most by an American League pitcher. He also tossed 177 1/3 innings and struck out 151 batters.
There’s also no shortage of Canadians working in the Yankees’ organization. The club employs a trio of Canuck scouts - Steve Wilson (Victoria, B.C.), Shawn Hill (Georgetown, Ont.) and Denis Boucher (Laval, Que.). They also boast a Canadian broadcaster in Nancy Newman (Toronto, Ont.), who sits in the same chair Mel Allen once sat.
The Yankees will open their post-season against the Guardians on Tuesday.
Player: Jameson Taillon (The Woodlands, Tex.) WBC eligible
Scouts: Steve Wilson (Victoria, B.C.), Shawn Hill (Georgetown, Ont.), Denis Boucher (Lachine, Que.), Cory Melvin (Doug Melvin’s son)
Broadcaster: Nancy Newman (Toronto, Ont.) New York Yankees Magazine, host, YES Network
Off the field Canadian talent: Jessica (Lack) Ventura (Calgary, Alta.), class-A Tampa Yankees, manager, partnership and community activation; Andrew Wright (Woodstock, N.B.), director of Dominican Republic operations
Rob Thomson (Corunna, Ont.) is the first Canadian to manage a team in the major league post-season since the 19th century. Photo: Twitter
5. Philadelphia Phillies
To find the last Canadian to be a field manager in the major league post-season, you have to go back to the 19th century when Bill Watkins (Brantford, Ont.) led the National League’s Detroit Wolverines to a World Series title in 1887. Rob Thomson (Corunna, Ont.) is hoping he can lead the Phillies to a similar fate. And he’s well on his way after guiding the Phillies to a surprising sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in their Wild Card Series. Thomson also heads in the National League Division Series against the Braves with a new two-year contract extension that was announced on Monday.
The 2019 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, who guided the Phils to a 65-46 record after taking over for Joe Girardi on June 2 during the regular season, has no shortage of post-season experience. During his close to three decades as a coach in the New York Yankees’ organization, he earned five World Series rings and was the Bombers’ third base coach on their most recent World Series-winning squad in 2009. He was also a bench coach on multiple Yankees squads that advanced to the post-season.
Thompson will share his post-season wisdom with his players, but if they’re looking for further inspiration, perhaps they can call former general manager and now senior advisor and part-owner, Pat Gillick, down for a pep talk. He has three World Series rings -two with the Blue Jays (1992-93) and one with the Phils (2008) - on his Hall of Fame resume.
Major league manager: Rob Thomson (Corunna, Ont.)
Executive: Pat Gillick (Canadian citizen), senior advisor and part-owner
Minor league players: C Ryan Leitch (Whitby, Ont.), 3B Ty Penner (Lethbridge, Alta.), INF Anthony Quirion (Dixville, Que.), RHP Noah Skirrow (Cambridge, Ont.),
Scouts: Alex Agostino (St-Bruno, Que.)
Durham Lords alum Chris Kemlo (Bowmanville, Ont.) is a scout with the San Diego Padres. Photo: Durham Athletics
7. San Diego Padres
Prior to the August 31, 2020 trade deadline, the Padres were unquestionably Canada’s team south of the border. But on deadline day that year, they shipped Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) and Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) to the Guardians as part of the package for right-hander Mike Clevinger. Then, on the same day, they swapped Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) to the Mariners for reliever Taylor Williams. Then on Dec. 29, 2020, they dealt outfield prospect Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) to the Cubs as part of the deal for right-hander Yu Darvish. But despite being down these four Canucks, the club is still well-stocked with Canadian prospects thanks in large part to highly regarded scout Chris Kemlo (Bowmanville, Ont.).
The Padres upset the New York Mets in their Wild Card Series and will now take on the Dodgers in their National League Division Series starting on Tuesday.
Scouts: Chris Kemlo (Bowmanville, Ont.), Taylor Bratton (Oakville, Ont.), Lou Pote (Okotoks, Alta.)
Minor league players: RHP Garrett Hawkins (Biggar, Sask.), C Lamar King Jr. (Vancouver, BC), RHP Carter Loewen (Abbotsford, BC).
Jim Stevenson (Leaside, Ont.) has become a key scout for the Houston Astros. Photo: Twitter
8. Houston Astros
Forty-two 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 the 2020 American League Championship Series, Puhl was the last Canadian to appear in a post-season game with the Astros.
There will not be a Canuck on the Astros’ post-season roster this season, but rest assured that Puhl, one of the team’s newly minted Hall of Famers who still lives in the area, will be at Minute Maid Park cheering on his old club.
The Astros will open their National League Division Series against Toro, Brash and the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday.
Scout: Jim Stevenson (Leaside, Ont.)