By George Farelli
Canadian Baseball Network
There was a time when Miles Gordon was perceived as a “little guy.”

That is because he would sometime walk into a diamond in Florida in the spring of 2015 with the Canadian Junior National Team surrounded by the likes of Jackson Wark (St. Albert Alta.) who was 6-foot-6 or Sam Turcotte Toronto Ont.) who stood 6-foot-5.

Or sometimes part of a group which included Michael Brettell (Fonthill Ont,), Demi Orimoloye (Orleans Ont.) Tristan Pompey (Mississauga Ont.), Kyle Ross (Maple Ridge BC), Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) and Nicholas Virdo (Brampton Ont.) who were all 6-foot-4, or the likes of Jean Francois Garon (Terrebonne Que.), Darren Shred (Brampton Ont) and Luke Van Rychegham (Kent Bridge, Ont.) who were all 6-foot-3. 

Finally, the scout saw Gordon alone and he stood 6-foot-1. He stood plenty tall enough. The scout being a scout loved the speedy outfielder but was unable to draft him. 

Bill Byckowski of the Cincinnati Reds pulled the trigger on Gordon (Oakville, Ont.) of the Great Lake Canadians in the fourth round of 2015.

And this week Gordon batted .400 (8-for-20) for rookie-class Billings Mustangs to earn Canadian Baseball Network Player of the Week honours. OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) with the Lakeland Flying Tigers and Luke Van Rycheghem (Kent Bridge, Ont.) of the Rookie-class Diamondbacks.

Gordon gets the nod as the best of the 117 Canadians getting paid to play thanks to his home run and eight RBIs.

How the week that was went for Gordon as he ...    

_ Batting second and playing centre he singled and knocked in a run in an 8-2 win over the Missoula Osprey before 2,907 fans at Dehler Park. Gordon singled right in the four-run fourth, to score a run and stole a base. C Morgan Lofstrom (Kelowna, BC) caught and was hitless, J.D. Salmon-Williams (Brampton, Ont.) pinch hit, walked and scored. C Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.) singled for Missoula.  

_ Batting second and playing centre, he was 2-for-3 with three RBIs in a 15-4 win against Missoula in front of 4,397 at Dehler Park. Gordon singled to left in the first, walked with the bases loaded in the second forcing in Williams, singled to centre in the fourth driving in two runners extending the Billings lead to 6-1 and he walked in the eighth. DH Williams doubled and walked.  

_ Hittinng second and playing centre, he was hitless 1,in an 8-5 win over the Helena Brewers in front of 1,051 fans at Kindrick Legion Field.    

_ Playing right field and batting second he went 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs in a 16-9 loss to Helena before 661 at Kindrick Legion Field. Gordon singled in the third, hit a two-out solo homer to right in the fifth, cutting the Helena lead to 10-5 and hit a two-run single to right in the ninth. Lofstrom caught and was hitless, but scored a run.

_ Batting lead off and playing right, he had two hits, including a double in a 4-2 loss to Helena before 892 fans at Kindrick Legion Field. Gordon doubled to centre to lead off the game and scored, and singled to second base in the third. It was his second double. DH Lofstrom also doubled. 
 
BEST OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCES
Player                             AB   R  H  HR  RBI  AVG
Miles Gordon - Rkie Billings         20   5   8   1    8   .400
Jacob Robson - A Lakeland            20   2   8   -    4   .400
Luke Van Rycheghem - Rkie D’Backs    10   2   4   -    2   .400
Matt Hague - AAA Rochester          23   3   9   1    3   .391
Brett Siddall - A Stockton             20   4   7   3    7   .350
Abraham Toro - A Tri City             20   4   6   2    6   .300
Louis Boyd - Rkie Mariners           10   1   3   -    4   .300
Danny Pinero - A West Michigan       17   4   5   -    4   .294
 
Austin Marcellus - IND California      32   9  15   -    6   .469
Tyson Gillies - IND Ottawa            13    4   6   -    2   .462
Ian Horne - IND Hollywood           21    4   7   2   6   .333
Maxx Tissenbaum - IND Quebec       12    4   4   -   2   .333
Jordan Lennerton - IND Quebec        19   2   6   -    4   .316
(Minimum 10 At Bats required.)            

BEST PITCHING PERFORMANCES
BROCK DYKXHOORN  RHP - AA CORPUS CHRISTI HOOKS
APP  IP   H  R  ER  BB  K  W-L  SV  WHIP  WK ERA
1   6.2   3  2   2   2   5   1-0   -    0.81    2.90
 
Continuing to improve his level of consistency with the Hooks, Brock Dykxhoorn had a very good outing on June 24th in a victory over the Frisco Roughriders. He threw 6 2/3 innings, surrendered three base hits and two earned runs while striking out five Frisco batters, to pick up his second win of the year. His record in 13 appearances with Corpus Christi in the Double A Texas League now stands at 2-4 with a 5.14 ERA.
 
CAL QUANTRILL  RHP - A  LAKE ELSINORE STORM
APP  IP  H   R  ER  BB  K  W-L  SV  WHIP  WK ERA
1   6.2  6   2   2    -   7   1-0   -    0.97    2.90
 
On June 25th Cal Quantrill had another excellent outing in a win over Inland Empire 66’ers. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, gave up six base hits an two earned runs while striking out seven Inland Empire hitters, to earn the win. He improved his record with the Storm in 13 appearances in the Single A California League to 5-5 with a 3.59 ERA.

CURTIS TAYLOR  RHP - A KANE COUNTY COUGARS
APP  IP   H  R  ER  BB  K  W-L  SV  WHIP  WK ERA
1   6.0  5   2   2    2   5   1-0   -    1.17    3.00
 
Following up on the success he enjoyed last week, Curtis Taylor made another excellent start on June 23rd in a win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. He pitched six innings gave up five base hits and two earned runs while striking out five Wisconsin hitters, to earn his second win of the season. This outing improved his record with the Cougars in nine Midwest League appearances to 2-4 with a 3.32 ERA.

PLAYER MOVES & TRANSACTIONS
OF Jim Adduci (Burnaby, BC) - Sent out by the Detroit Tigers on Re Hab Assignment at Triple A Toledo Mud Hens.
 
OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) - Moved by the Detroit Tigers to Single A Lakeland Flying Tigers from Single A West Michigan Whitecaps.
 
LHP Isaac Anesty (Guelph, Ont.) - Activated by the Cincinnati Reds at Rookie Class AZL Reds.
 
RHP Marc Berube (Trois Pistoles, Que.) - Activated by the Oakland A’s at Single A Vermont Lake Monsters.
 
SS Louis Boyd (North Vancouver, BC) - 2017 24th Round Pick activated by Seattle Mariners at Rookie Class AZL Mariners.
 

OF Malik Collymore (Mississauga, Ont.) - Activated by the Cincinnati Reds at Single A Dayton Dragons.
 
LHP Kurtis Horne (Sooke, BC) - Activated by New York Mets at Single A Brooklyn Cyclones.
 
OF Tanner Kirwer (Sherwood Park, Altaa.) - 2017 20th Round Draft Pick activated by Toronto Blue Jays at Rookie Class Bluefield Blue Jays.
 
RHP Reign Letkeman (Red Deer, Alta.) - Activated by Tampa Bay Rays at Single A Hudson Valley Renegades.
 
SS Jake Lumley (Windsor, Ont.) - 2017 33rd Round Draft Pick activated by the Oakland A’s at Rookie Class AZL Athletics.
 

RHP Jake Polancic (Abbotsford, BC) - Assigned by Arizona Diamondbacks to Rookie Class AZL Diamondbacks. Not active yet.
 
INF J.D. Salmon-Williams (Brampton, Ont.) - Activated by the Cincinnati Reds to Rookie Class Billings Mustangs.
 
RHP Austin Shields (Toronto, Ont.) - Activated by Pittsburgh Pirates at Rookie Class Gulf Coast Pirates.
 
1B Luke Van Rycheghem (Kent Bridge, Ont.) - Activated by Arizona Diamondbacks at Rookie Class AZL Diamondbacks.
 
RHP Landon Leach (Pickering, Ont.) - 2017 2nd Round Draft Pick signs with the Minnesota Twins. Assigned to Rookie Class Gulf Coast Twins. Not active yet.
 

INF Adam Hall (London, Ont.) - 2017 2nd Round Draft Pick signs with the Baltimore Orioles. Not assigned yet.
 
RHP Zach Pop (Brampton, Ont.) - 2017 7th Round Draft Pick signs with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Not assigned yet.
 
OF Jonathan Lacroix (Montreal, Que.) - 2017 12th Round Draft Pick signs with the Houston Astros. Not assigned yet.
 
OF Eric Senior (Toronto, Ont.) - 2017 13th Round Draft Pick signs with Washington Nationals. Not assigned yet.
 
OF Raphael Gladu (Trois Rivieres, Que.) - 2017 16th Round Draft Pick signs with the New York Mets. Not assigned yet.
 

RHP Jordan Scheftz (North York, Ont.) - 2017 23rd Round Draft Pick signs with the Cleveland Indians. Not assigned yet.
 
RHP Kyle Thomas (Mississauga, Ont.) - 2017 30th Round Draft Pick signs with the Detroit Tigers. Not assigned yet.
 
RHP Dylan Brooks (Dorchester, Ont.) - Released by the San Francisco Giants from Rookie Class AZL Giants.
 
 
 
LHP Guillaume Blanchette (St. Constant, QC ) - Activated from the Disabled List by Trois Rivieres Aigles IND Can Am League.
 
RHP Jared Mortensen (Abbotsford, BC) - Free Agent re signs with the Texas Airhogs IND American Association.
 
C Maxx Tissenbaum (Toronto, ON) - Activated from the Disabled List by Quebec Capitales IND Can Am League.
 
INF Billy Germaine (Aldergrove, BC) - Released by Southern Illinois Miners IND Frontier League.
 
RHP Curtis Johnson (Sudbury, ON) - Released by Ottawa Champions IND Can Am League.
 

SS Terrance “TR” Doty (Parksville, BC) - Added to listing of Canadians active in Foreign countries. Playing in Sweden - Elite Series.

 

2017 Canadian Baseball Network Players of the Week

Week I _ INF Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) El Paso (Padres).

Week II _ RHP Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) Lehigh Valley (Phillies).

Week III _ INF Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) El Paso (Padres).

Week IV _ 1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) and RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) Lake Elisnore (Padres).

Week V _ OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers).

 

Week VI _ OF Gareth Morgan (North York, Ont.) Clinton Lumberkings (Mariners).

Week VII _ 3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, Que.) Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays).

Week VIII _ 1B Bruce Yari (Waterloo, Ont.) Dayton Dragons (Reds).  

Week VIV _ LHP Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)

Week X _ INF Danny Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers)

 

Week XI _ RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) Mississippi Braves (Braves).

Week XII _ OF Miles Gordon (Oakville, Ont.) Rookie-class Billings (Reds)