North Vancouver native Rowan Wick tosses shutout inning in MLB debut

Junior National Team alum and former Vancouver Cannon Rowan Wick (North Vancouver, BC) pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the San Diego Padres in his major league debut on Friday. Photo Credit: San Diego Padres/Twitter

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Rowan Wick (North Vancouver, BC) pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the San Diego Padres in his major league debut on Friday.

The 6-foot-3, 234-pound right-hander struck out first baseman Ryan McMahon and retired the Colorado Rockies in order in the final frame of the Padres' 7-0 win.

Way to bring the 🔥 in your big league debut, @RowanWick! pic.twitter.com/oBWyPf342H

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 1, 2018

With his MLB appearance on Friday, Wick becomes the third Canadian to make his MLB debut this season, joining Tyler O'Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) and Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) who played their first big league games with the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves respectively.

Overall, Wick is the 10th Canadian to appear in a MLB game in 2018 and, according to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, he's the 12th Canuck to appear in a game for the Padres.

Congratulations to @RowanWick. The 12th Canadian to play for the @Padres. Chris Robinson 2013, Matt Stairs 2010, Shawn Hill 2009, Luke Carlin 2008, Pete Laforest 2007, Paul Quantrill 2005, Jason Bay 2003, Eric Cyr 2002, Kevin Nicholson 2000, Mike Kilkenny 1972, Ron Taylor 1972 pic.twitter.com/xhawiKMSwU

— CDN Baseball HOF (@CDNBaseballHOF) September 1, 2018

The 25-year-old Wick, who honed his skills with the Vancouver Cannons of the BC Premier League and the Canadian Junior National Team, was a hard-hitting catcher when he was originally selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 19th round of the 2010 MLB draft.

Rather than sign, Wick elected to play collegiate ball at St. John's University and then Cypress College before he was selected again in the ninth round of the MLB draft by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012.

This time, Wick decided to sign and would play almost three full seasons as a catcher/outfielder in the Cardinals' minor league system before he was converted into a full-time pitcher in 2016.

After parts of six seasons in the Cardinals organization, Wick was designated for assignment on February 14 and was claimed by the Padres.

Prior to his big league call-up on Friday, the hard-throwing righty had posted a 2.67 ERA and struck out 64 batters and recorded 14 saves in 53 1/3 innings in 49 combined appearances between double-A San Antonio and triple-A El Paso this season.

Wick also toed the rubber for Canada in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.