CBN Player of the Week - Tanner Kirwer

Edmonton Prospects alum Tanner Kirwer (Sherwood Park, Alta.), of the Seattle Mariners’ double-A Arkansas Travelers, has been named the Canadian Baseball Network’s minor league Player of the Week.

June 8, 2022

By George Farelli

Canadian Baseball Network

Tanner Kirwer hasn’t been everywhere yet, but he is making some stops as he climbs the minor-league ladder.

After he started with the Sherwood Park Dukes, Team Alberta and the Edmonton Prospects, he headed east to Niagara University in New York state. Then, the Toronto Blue Jays drafted OF Kirwer (Sherwood Park, Alta.) in the 20th round of the 2017 draft.

The Jays sent him to Dunedin after he signed and then he headed west to class-A Vancouver, BC, east to rookie-ball Bluefield, W. Va., the Midwest League with class-A Lansing, Mich., to Vancouver after COVID-19 cancelled the 2020 season then back east to double-A New Hampshire.

And in December of 2021, Kirwer was left unprotected by the Jays. He was scooped up by the Seattle Mariners in the Rule V draft. The M’s sent him south to play for the double-A Arkansas Travelers.

And while he has had good weeks -- not many like this one -- as he batted .417 to earn Canadian Baseball Network Player of the Week honours for Week IX. His week that was which made him the best of the 126 Canucks, consisted of ...

_ Batting ninth and playing left field, he went 1-for-3 in a 9-4 Arkansas win over the Springfield Cardinals before 4,117 fans at Hammons Field in the opener of the five-game series. He singled to right in the two-run fourth, as well as walking and scoring in the sixth. RP Mike Brettell (Fonthill, Ont.) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the Cardinals allowing two runs on two hits and a walk.

_ Playing left and hitting ninth, he was 2-for-5 driving in four runs as Arkansas scored a 16-5 win against Springfield. Kirwer hit a three-run homer to left on a 1-0 pitch to put the Travelers ahead 5-1 in the second, walked in the sixth and had a run-scoring infield single in the ninth.

- Batting ninth and playing centre field, he was 2-for-4 in an 8-3 win against Springfield in front of 5,470 fans. Kirwer singled to centre in the third and doubled in the three-run seventh. The win went to RP Ben Onyshko (Winnipeg, Man.) who entered in the fifth and put up a zero. He struck out a pair and is now 2-1, lowering his ERA to 1.96.

_ Didn’t play in a 1-0 win against Springfield before 4,046 fans.

He went 5-for-12 (.417) with a homer and five RBIS.

Best Offense of the Week

Player/Class/Team AB R H HR RBI AVG

Tanner Kirwer - AA Arkansas 12 4 5 1 5 .417

* Tyler O’Neill - AAA Memphis 13 3 5 1 1 .385

Denzel Clarke - A Stockton 12 1 4 - 1 .333

Francisco Hernandez - A Peoria 25 5 8 1 3 .320

Tristan Peters - A Wisconsin 22 3 7 - - .318

Jordan Nwogu - A South Bend 19 4 6 1 3 .316

Andy Yerzy - AA Amarillo 16 3 5 1 2 .313

Miles Gordon - IND Evansville 20 5 10 1 8 .500

Canice Ejoh - IND Tr. Rivieres 14 6 7 1 8 .500

Jake Sanford - IND Ottawa 23 12 11 2 9 .478

Brendon Dadson - IND Ottawa 15 5 6 1 4 .400

David Glaude - IND Quebec 23 7 9 3 10 .391

Marc Lebreux - IND Quebec 23 6 9 - 3 .391

Raphael Gladu - IND Tr. Riviers 19 6 7 - 6 .368

(Minimum 10 ABs)

(* O’Neill on rehab assignment)

Best Pitching

Mitch Bratt RHP - A Down East Wood Ducks

GM W SV ER ERA H IP K WHIP

1 - - - 0.00 3 4.0 6 1.316

Mitch Bratt was selected in the fifth round by Texas Rangers in the 2021 MLB Draft and at the age of 17, he began his pro career with their Rookie affiliate in the Arizona Complex League. This season, Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.) is in the starting rotation with Down East Wood Ducks, in the Single A Carolina League. Although not involved in the final decision, he made a very good start this week on June 4 in a 5-0 win over Charleston RiverDogs, when he pitched four scoreless innings allowing three base hits, while striking out six hitters. His overall record with the Wood Ducks, in six Carolina League appearances, is currently 0-1 with a 2.84 ERA, and includes 27 strikeouts in 19 innings. Based on his youth and the inexperience, I would hazard a guess that the Texas Rangers development people would be pleased with these results.

David Tongue RHP Traiskirchen Grasshoppers

David Tongue had an outstanding performance in his last start for Traiskirchen Grasshoppers in Austria. He pitched a no-hitter against the Schwechat Blue Bats.

Tongue (Kelowna, BC) pitched a complete-game no-no walking four and striking out 13.

GM W -L ERA IP R ER BB K WHIP

1 1 -0 0.00 9.0 - - 4 13 0.444

All the details in the game story can be found on the Austrian site.

Minor League Player of the Week

Week I - INF Charles Leblanc (Laval, Que.) Marlins

Week II _ OF Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.) A’s

Week III _ OF Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.) Brewers

Week IV _ RHP Landon Leach (Pickering, Ont,) Braves

Week V _ RHP Indigo Diaz (North Vancouver, BC), Braves

Week VI _ OF Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) Cubs

Week VII _ C Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) Guardians