Canadian Player of the Week, Week I

By George Farellli

Canadian Baseball Network

Pitt SS Charles Leblanc’s name was in the Canadian diamond news this past week.

When OF Jacob Sanford (Dartmouth, NS) was named Perfect Game Midseason First Team All-American, he became the first Canadian PG Midseason All-American since Pitt Panther SS Leblanc (Laval, Que.) was a Second-Teamer in 2016.

The Texas Rangers selected Leblanc in the fourth round of the 2016 draft. Last season Leblanc hit .274 for the class-A Down East Wood Chucks. He had 27 doubles, four triples, 10 homers and 72 RBIs. In 131 games he had a .761 OPS.

And Leblanc didn’t have any problem adjusting to double-A pitching with the Frisco RoughRiders (not to be confused with the Saskatchewan Roughriders or the late Ottawa Rough Riders). He led the 44 Canadians in the minors with nine hits to earn Canadian Baseball Network Player of the Week honors for Week I.

On the way to Pitt, Leblanc played for Les ailes du Quebec, Georges-Vanier Sport Etudes, Academic Baseball Canada, Watertown Rams for coaches Joe Jordano, Joel Landry, Remi Bertrand and Paul Alteri.

How Leblanc’s week that was went:

_ Batting fifth and playing third base, he went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles on opening night as Frisco lost 3-0 to the Midland RockHounds before 9,306 fans at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. Leblanc singled to centre in the second and singled to centre in the fourth, later stealing second.

_ Hitting second and playing first he was 2-for-4, with two more singles in a 4-1 win over Midland before 7,439. Leblanc singled to centre in the third and singled to right in the three-run eighth.

_ Playing third and batting in the No. 2 spot, he was hitless in three tries in a 4-3 win against Midland before 9,060.

_ Batting second and playing third, he went 3-for-5 with a double while knocking in three runs beating Corpus Christi Hooks 11-2 before 2,068 fans at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. Leblanc doubled to centre in the first for a 1-0 lead, singled to centre driving in the second run of the four-run second and had a run-scoring single to centre in the third, the third run of the four-run outburst. So, three run-scoring singles to centre in his first three at bats.

_ Playing third and batting second, he was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI as Frisco got frisky with Corpus again, this time 12-4 before 2,034 fans. Leblanc singled to centre leading off the fourth and hit a run-scoring double to right, keying a six-run explosion.

Top offensive weeks

Player / Class / Team AB R H HR RBI AVG

Charles Leblanc - AA Frisco 21 4 9 - 5 .429

Otto Lopez - A Lansing 14 2 6 1 4 .420

Demi Orimoloye - A Dunedin 14 5 5 - 2 .357

Jonathan Lacroix - A Quad Cities 19 3 6 - 2 .316

Josh Naylor - AA San Antonio 27 5 8 1 5 .296

Daniel Pinero - AA Erie 18 2 5 - 4 .278

Eric Wood - AAA Indianapolis 11 4 3 2 2 .273

Jacob Robson - AAA Toledo 11 6 3 - 2 .273

Will Thorp - FGN Munchen-Haar 20 6 10 - 3 .500

Mike Blanke - FGN Mainz 14 4 5 1 5 .357

(Minimum 10 ABs)

Top pitching performances

Mike Soroka RHP - Gwinnett Stripers

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

1 5.0 - - - - 7 1-0 - 0.00 0.00

In 2018 Mike Soroka was featured in our Week I - Best Pitching Performances with a win in his first outing of the year, and the 21 year old Braves prospect has done it again in 2019. On April 6, he had an excellent start for Gwinnett Stripers in a 7-0 win over Norfolk Tides, pitching five hitless, scoreless innings, while striking out seven, to earn his first win of this new season.

Jordan Balazovic RHP - A Cedar Rapids Kernels

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

1 5.0 4 1 1 - 9 1-0 - 0.80 1.80

Jordan Balazovic is now 20 years old and entering his fourth pro season in the Minnesota organization, and you can safely say there are high expectations for him, based on the fact this Mississauga native is currently ranked 19th on the Twins list of Top 30 Prospects.

On April 5, he got off to a great start for the new season in a 10-4 win over Peoria Chiefs, pitching five innings he gave up four base hits and only one earned run while striking out nine Peoria batters, to pick up his first win.