CBN Player of the Week, Week III - Andrew Yerzy

Toronto Mets alum Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.), shown on the right, batted .350 with three home runs at two levels in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ organization this week. He is the CBN Player of the Week. Photo: Hillsboro Hops/Twitter

May 27, 2021

By George Farelli

Canadian Baseball Network

When legendary Hall of Fame scribe Michael Farber wrote about Montreal Expos RHP Bryn Smith spending three seasons at double-A Memphis, he mentioned Smith knew all the good places to eat.

And maybe he could have even run for alderman.

Well, Andrew Yerzy is spending part of his third year with the class-A Hillsboro Hops. While Smith went on to pitch nine years with the Expos going 81-71 with a 3.28 ERA in 284 appearances making 193 starts, Yerzy is trying to get promoted to double-A.

If he has many more weeks like this one -- four homers, seven RBIs, .350 average (7-for-20) -- when he earned Canadian Baseball Network minor league Player of the Week honours, he will soon be out of touch with happenings in Hillsboro.

Drafted in the second round in 2016 and signed by Arizona Diamondbacks scout Doug Mathieson (Langley, BC) Yerzy, a former Toronto Met had a week to remember as he

_ Hit a two-run homer for the Visalia Oaks in a 6-5 win over the Stockton Ports before 814 fans at Valley Strong Ballpark. He hit a two-run homer to right centre to give the Oaks a 3-0 lead in the third inning and singled to right field in the fifth.

_ Didn’t play as he was promoted from Low-A Visalia to High-A Hillsboro in a 6-1 loss to the Vancouver Canadians before 825 fans at Ron Tonkin Field. LF Tanner Kirwer (Sherwood Park, Alta.) hit a lead-off homer and singled for the Canadians.

_ Hitting fourth as the DH, he had two hits in a 2-1 loss to Vancouver in front of 825 in Hillsboro. He singled on a ground ball to centre in the second inning and singled on a line drive to left in the seventh. Kirwer was hitless in two at-bats.

_ Batting third as the DH, Yerzy homered to centre field for the first run of the game in a 4-3 win in front of 1,088 fans. Kirwer was hitless for Vancouver.

_ Catching and hitting third, he hit a two-run homer off Adam Kloffenstein, the Jays third round pick in 2018. Hillsboro won 8-3 over Vancouver before 1,354 fans.

_ He pinch hit and was hitless in a 5-4 loss to the Canadians in front of 1,163 fans. RHP Will McAffer (North Vancouver, BC) allowed three runs in 1/3 of an inning.

The difference between Smith and Yerzy is that Yerzy was promoted. On the season, Yerzy is hitting .246 with three doubles, five homers and 14 RBIs. He has a .964 OPS in 17 games.

BEST OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCES

Player/Class/Team AB R H HR RBI AVG

Jacob Robson - Double A Erie 23 7 9 - - .391

Andy Yerzy - Hi A Hillsboro/Low A Visailia 20 5 7 4 7 .350

Jake Sanford - Low A Tampa 22 4 7 1 4 .318

Edouard Julien - Low A Ft. Myers 19 8 6 - 4 .316

Cole MacLaren - Double A Erie 10 - 3 - - .300

Francisco Hernandez - Hi A Peoria 17 4 5 2 3 .294

Otto Lopez - Dbl A New Hampshire 21 4 6 - 2 .286

(Minimum 10 AB’s)

BEST PITCHING PERFORMANCES

Indigo Diaz RHP - High A Rome Braves

APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA

2 3.0 - - - - 6 - 2 0.00 0.00

Indigo Diaz is a 22-year-old Atlanta Braves prospect currently in his second pro season, and this week he made two excellent relief appearances and was rewarded with two wins. On May 22, in a 3-2 win over the Winston-Salem Dash, he pitched two innings, gave up no base hits and no runs while striking out four Dash hitters, to earn his second win of the year. He followed that up on May 25 in a 6-5 win over Bowling Green Hot Rots when he threw one scoreless and again, surrendered zero hits, striking out two Bowling Green batters to pick up his second win of the week, and third of the season. His overall record in six appearances with the Rome Braves in High A-Southeast, is now 3-0 with two saves and a miniscule 0.96 ERA.

Adam Macko LHP - Low A Modesto Nuts

APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA

1 5.0 5 4 4 3 10 1-0 - 1.60 7.20

Adam Macko is a 20-year-old pitching prospect selected in the seventh round of the 2019 draft by the Seattle Mariners, and is currently active in his second pro season. On May 20 this week, he made a very good start in a 10-7 win over the Inland Empire ‘66ers when he pitched five innings, gave up five base hits and four earned runs while striking out 10 Inland Empire hitters, to secure his first win in the pro ranks. His record with Modesto Nuts in three starts now stands at 1-0 with a 4.73 ERA.

* * *

Team Canada’s 25 Man Roster for the upcoming WSBC Qualifying Tournament begins Monday in Florida. By my count 15 players are now on inactive lists with their respective teams. A berth in the Olympics is at stake for the winner, while the second and third-place teams advance to another qualifier in Mexico. The list of these 15 Canadian players.

Players On 2021 Team Canada Roster

On Leave From Current Teams

POS PLAYER PROV TEAM CLASS

LHP Andrew Albers Sask St. Paul AAA

RHP Trevor Brigden Ont Charleston A

OF Michael Crouse BC Chicago IND

INF Wes Darvill BC Winnipeg IND

C Kellin Deglan BC Scranton AAA

3B Jesse Hodges BC Quebec IND

LHP Ryan Kellogg Ont Tennessee AA

RHP Will McAffer BC Vancouver A

RHP Brendan McGuigan Tx Everett A