CBN Player of the Week, Week XI: Jordan Balazovic
July 23, 2021
By George Farelli
Canadian Baseball Network
Veteran scout Walt Burrows of the Minnesota Twins wasn’t able to land a Canadian in this month’s draft.
That didn’t mean Burrows (Brentwood Bay, BC) didn’t have a reason to stay up late at night or get up early in the morning.
The former head of the Canadian arm of the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau could click on the Wichita Wind Surge and click his heels ... for he saw nothing ... nothing but zeros in two Jordan Balazovic starts. Like 14 zeros. As Dizzy Dean would have said, “That’s some fine ol’ country pitchin’ podnar.”
Balazovic, a former Ontario Blue Jay, pitched seven scoreless against the Tulsa Drillers and five days later he pitched seven more scoreless facing the Arkansas Travellers. One opposing manager pronounced earlier this year: “He’s going to pitch in the big leagues some day.”
Those two outings earned Balazovic the Canadian Baseball Network minor league Player of the Week for Week XI for the second time this season.
A former Mississauga North Tiger, and a teammate of Noah Naylor’s for coach Dwain Ervin, he allowed two base runners in a 9-0 win against Tulsa before 4,017 fans at Riverfront Stadium. Here’s how he set down the Drillers:
First _ Called out on strikes, soft pop up to second and a fly ball to centre.
Second _ Strike out swinging, strike out swinging, walk and a ground ball to short.
Third _ Strike out swinging, ground ball to second and a line drive to right.
Fourth _ Strike out swinging, flies out to right and strike out swinging.
Fifth _ Line out to centre, strike out swinging and strikes out swinging.
Sixth _ Singled to right, out attempting to go to second, ground ball to short and called out on strikes.
Seventh _ Struck out swinging, flies out to left and called out on strikes.
Balazovic threw 90 pitches (61 for strikes) allowed a single, a walk and fanned 11.
Next outing he went seven scoreless in a 4-1 win over the Arkansas Travellers before 3,749 fans at Dickey-Stephens Park. How it went that night:
First _ Ground ball to second, walk, pop up to third and ground ball to third.
Second _ Grounder to second, strike out swinging, single, single and strike out swinging.
Third _ Grounder to third, strike out swinging and grounder to short.
Fourth _ Grounder to third, fly ball to centre and grounder to pitcher.
Fifth _ Grounder to second, double to centre, struck out swinging and struck out swinging.
Sixth _ Pop up to second, pop up to second and strike out swinging.
Seventh _ Lines out to left, singles to centre, ground ball to second and ground ball to third.
Balazovic threw 89 pitches (63 for strikes) allowed four singles, a walk and fanned six.
Week XI Highlights ...
_ 3B John Lantigua (Quebec City, Que) - Named as starting third baseman for the East Division, in the 2021 IND Empire League’s mid season All Star Game.
_ OF Myles Miller (Windsor, Ont.) _ Had a week on offence for Boise Hawks IND Pioneer League, which deserves to be highlighted. In six games, he batted .538 with 14 base hits in 26 at at bats, scoring eight runs and including four hits in a game twice. In the League’s Triple Crown categories, his .389 average now leads the Pioneer league, his five home runs are tied for second and his 27 RBIs are fourth best. Can the opportunity to move up to a higher level be in his future? Based on his performance to date, you would think so.
_ Sam Belisle-Springer (Montreal, Que.) moved back to German Bundesliga - One. In Week V he appeared on roster of Senart les Templiers in France - One, but I was not able to confirm if it was a trade or if Senart acquired his contract. He pitched in two games for them, and won both. Then in Week IX, he appears back on the Roster with the Solingen Alligators in Germany. At first I thought it was a mistake, but now his statistics are being updated and he’s back on Solingen’s roster again. Primarily due to the language problem (and lack of translations on the team sites), I have no idea what kind of transaction or deal if any was involved in this second move, but I’ve placed him back on the Germany - Solingen list.
Best Offensive Performance
Player/Class/Team AB R H HR RBI AVG
Owen Caissie - Rkie ACL Cubs 11 3 5 1 4 .455
Matt Lloyd - Rkie ACL Reds 10 3 4 1 1 .400
Jared Young - Double A Tennessee 24 6 9 1 6 .375
Jake Robson - Triple A Toledo 16 1 5 - 1 .313
Demi Orimoloye – AA New Hampshire 20 5 6 2 3 .300
Myles Miller - IND Boise 26 8 14 - 3 .538
L.P. Pelletier - IND Quebec 19 4 8 - 1 .421
Greg Carrington - IND Roswell 17 3 7 - 5 .412
Miles Gordon - IND Evansville 18 4 6 - 2 .333
David Glaude - IND Quebec 19 3 6 - 5 .316
Mike Crouse - IND Chicago 26 6 8 2 5 .308
T.J. Bennett - IND Chicago 26 5 8 1 8 .308
(Minimum 10 ABs)
Best Pitching Performance
Jordan Balazovic RHP - AA Wichita Wind Surge
STARTS IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
2 14.0 5 - - 2 17 2-0 - 0.50 0.00
Jordan Balazovic did not make his first start in 2021 with Wichita until June 6, and getting a late start has not had any affect on his performance since then. This week he had two more excellent starts, the first of which was on July 15 in 9-0 win over the Tulsa Drillers, when he pitched seven innings gave up one base hit while striking out 11 Tulsa batters, to earn his first win of the week. He followed that up on July 20 in a 4-1 victory over the Arkansas Naturals again throwing seven scoreless, surrendering four base hits and no runs while striking out six Arkansas hitters, to pick up his second win of the week. After nine starts with the Wind Surge in the Double A-Central league, his overall record now stands at 3-1 with a 2.44 ERA.
Player of the Week
Week I _ Noah Skirrow (Stoney Creek, Ont.) Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies).
Week III _ Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.) class-A Hillsboro Hops/class-A Visailia Oaks (Diamondbacks)
Week IV _ Indigo Diaz (North Vancouver, BC) class-A Rome Braves (Braves)
Week V _ Edouard Julien (Ancienne-Lorette, Que.) class-A Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels (Twins).
Week VI _ RHP Logan Hofmann (Muenster, Sask.) class-A Bradenton Marauders (Pirates)
Week VII _ INF-OF Otto Lopez (Montreal, Que.) double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Jays).
Week VIII _ RHP Cade Smith (Abbotsford, BC) class-A Lynchburg Hillcats (Cleveland)
Week IX _ RHP Jordan Balazovic (Mississauga, Ont.) double-A Wichita Wind Surge (Twins)
Week X _ C Kole Cottam (Knoxville, Tenn.) class-A East Greenville (Red Sox)
Week XI _ RHP Jordan Balazovic (Mississauga, Ont.) double-A Wichita Wind Surge (Twins)