Elliott: McDonagh, Hynes, Goodacre all bring it at 95 MPH

Ryan McDonagh (Milton, Ont.) hit 95 MPH in front of four scouts Saturday morning at the Ontario Blue Jays facility.

February 1, 2025

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

The sun rose at 7:34 a.m. Saturday morning in Mississauga.

And within an hour Canadian baseball was edging towards sandlot history.

Now, not one, not two, but three Ontario Blue Jays right-handers have now lit up radar guns at 95 MPH. One arm hit 95 while two others, who have hit 95, sat at 94 MPH on Saturday.

As far as any veteran scouts can remember, the Ontario Blue Jays are the first to have three 95 MPH fireballers heading into the July draft. Granted there is a long way to go between now and the all-star break (when the draft takes place) but this was a historic day in Canadian elite ball history.

The surprise was Ryan McDonagh, who went first off the portable mound throwing to a catcher and hitting 95 inside the club’s facility. He was 89 MPH during the Futures Showcase.

RHP Will Hynes (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Junior National Team.

Next was Will Hynes who hit 94 MPH as he did last year.

And finally it was Ben Goodacre, who was at 94 MPH. It was not any shock as he was clocked in that range after hitting 95.6 to set a Canadian Futures Showcase record last September.

Best of all for the trio, scouts from four teams were there to see it all unfold.

And word has spread ... from one scout to another ... from Quebec to British Columbia and south of the border.

McDonagh (Milton, Ont.), Hynes (Mississauga, Ont.) and Goodacre (Ancaster, Ont.) are names to remember. The three horsemen? The three 95s? Or simply the three studs?

Blue Jays president and 17U coach Corey Eckstein said pitching coach Jared Kennedy and strength coach Conner Morro deserve a lot of credit for the added velocity.

“All three have hit 95 now,” said Eckstein.

McDonagh wasn’t throwing that hard when he joined the Ontario Blue Jays.

“Ryan was probably 83 (MPH) when he came to us in grade 10,” said Eckstein. “On this year’s fall trip, he pitched against Liberty University and Campbell he was 91 MPH. It’s an easy arm. He doesn’t have many miles on his arm.

“He was a two-way guy (also a first baseman) but is concentrating on pitching now.”

RHP Ben Goodacre (Ancaster, Ont.) set a Canadian Futures Showcase record hitting a record 95.6 MPH.

Goodacre (Ancaster, Ont.) has committed to West Virgina, while Hynes (Mississauga, Ont.) is headed to Wake Forest and McDonagh (Milton, Ont.) is bound for Xavier. All three will pitch for 18U coach Darren Shred this summer.