Shushkewich, Canucks chasing milestones: Guerrero, Pivetta, Quantrill, Romano

Former Ontario Blue Jays 1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Cleveland Guardians, the 2023 Tip O’Neill award winner.

December 31, 2023

By Tyson Shushkewich

Canadian Baseball Network

During the 2023 season, 17 Canadian-born players suited up in the big leagues with dozens more finding success in the minors.

The group of players who showcased their talents at the major-league level varies, with a few players getting only a taste of what the biggest stage is like while some are fixtures on their respective squads such as 1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.), the 2023 Tip O’Neill Award winner.

Two players also debuted in 2023, 2B Edouard Julien (Quebec, Que.) and RHP Jordan Balazovic (Mississauga Ont.), both of whom suited up for the Minnesota Twins as the club went on to win the AL Central Division and advance into the ALDS before bowing out to the Houston Astros.

As the calendar year turns over into 2024 and a new season moves closer, there are a few Canadian-born players that fans should be keeping a special eye on this season, as some are slated to find themselves moving up the Canadian-born leaderboards or surpassing significant personal milestones that should be celebrated.

1B Vladimir Guerrero

Born in Montreal, Que. when his dad was playing for the Expos, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has carved out an impressive career for himself since making his big league debut for the Toronto Blue Jays back in 2019. For his career, the right-handed slugger owns a .279/.355/.490 slash line with 130 home runs, 404 RBIs and a .844 OPS while playing 660 games.

He was an AL MVP finalist during the 2021 season when he tied for the league lead with 48 home runs and had 123 runs scored while posting a 167 OPS+, the highest in the American League.

Guerrero is entering the 2024 campaign 96 RBIs away from the 500 mark, which would put him ahead of Terry Puhl (Melville, Sask.) for 13th amongst Canadian-born players. He is also 20 homers away from 150, which would keep him in the eighth spot and still behind Russell Martin (Montreal, Que.), who has 191. The Blue Jays slugger will likely need at least two more full seasons before passing Martin and Jeff Heath (Fort William, Ont.), who has 194 homers, to move into the sixth position.

There are a few other hitting statistics that will likely see Guerrero shoot up the rankings if he is healthy. Another season of 150+ games will see him pass some household names for Jays fans, including OF Rob Ducey (Cambridge, Ont.) and OF Michael Saunders (Victoria, B.C.), who sit 22nd and 21st on the list respectively. Should he suit up in all 162 games, Guerrero will finish the 2024 season in the 21st spot just 40 games behind George Selkirk.

Josh Naylor – 1B-DH

Josh Naylor won the Tip O’Neill Award after posting a .308 average with 17 home runs and .842 OPS through 495 at-bats last year. For his career, the lefty-batter now boasts a .270/.325/.439 slash line with 53 home runs, 235 RBIs and a .763 OPS through 446 games.

If Naylor, who is playing alongside his brother Bo with the Guardians, appears in at least 120 games next year (which is on track from his 2022 and 2023 campaigns), he will move from 36th overall into the 27th spot on the Canuck listings, 22 games behind former Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC). Should he hit at least 19 homers, he will also pass Lawrie (71) on the home run leaderboard while chasing outfielder Tyler O’Neill, who enters next season with 78 homers and just three behind Saunders.

In regards to RBIs, Naylor could enter the top 20 rankings if he drives in 112 runs to surpass George Gibson (London, Ont.), which would be a career-high over the 97 he amassed last year.

Joey Votto – 1B-DH

The most veteran Canadian who played at the big league level in 2023 was Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont.), who has spent the past 17 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds. The first baseman is currently looking for a new home after the Reds declined his option for next season.

With 2,056 regular season games under his belt, Votto already leads all Canadian-born players in that category as well as at-bats (7,252), and walks (1,365). Should Votto find a team to play for next season, the left-handed hitter is in a position to overtake Hall of Famer Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, BC) in some prominent categories.

Votto is 27 home runs (356 compared to 383), 12 doubles (459 to 471) and 25 hits (2,135 to 2,160) behind Walker on the all-time Canadian leaderboard and with a solid campaign, with full-time at-bats, Votto could pass his fellow Canuck in the hits and doubles category. Votto would need to find his power bat to surpass his fellow countryman in home runs, as injuries limited his playing time in 2022 and 2023.

The former Etobicoke Ranger has showcased his ability to hit the long ball as recently as 2021 when he belted 36 round-trippers. First and foremost, Votto needs to find a team to play for, with the Toronto Blue Jays potentially in the mix as they need a veteran bat that ideally swings from the left side.

Nick Pivetta – RHP

Entering his eighth season in the big leagues, Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) has worked in different roles throughout his career. The past four seasons with the Boston Red Sox have seen the right-hander be a member of the rotation and work out of the bullpen. The 30-year-old will enter the 2024 season with a 4.86 ERA in 883 2/3 innings.

With the Red Sox trading Chris Sale to the Braves on Saturday, Pivetta likely slots into the rotation next year, which will bode well for his stance on the Canadian-born pitchers’ leaderboards. He is 116 1/3 innings away from the 1,000 mark and is four appearances away from hitting 200 outings, which would make him the 19th Canadian to reach that number.

Pivetta is also just 33 strikeouts away from hitting 1,000 for his career, which would put him just three behind Kirk McCaskill (Kapuskasing, Ont.) and 36 behind John Hiller (Toronto, Ont.) on the all-time Canadian leaderboard, where they rank sixth and fifth respectively. A solid season from Pivetta could see him overtake both and see him slot behind only LHP Erik Bédard (Navan, Ont.), RHP Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, BC) and Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.).

Cal Quantrill – RHP

The 2023-24 offseason has been a whirlwind for the Port Hope, Ont., native. The former first-round pick was designated for assignment by the Cleveland Guardians earlier this winter and the team later traded him to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for catcher Kody Huff.

Slated to earn $6.5 million in arbitration per Spotrac, Quantrill is two seasons away from free agency but should earn a berth in the rotation alongside Kyle Freeland after starters Antonio Senzatela and Germán Márquez underwent Tommy John surgery last season.

For his career, he owns a 3.83 ERA through 570 2/3 innings and 132 outings (94 starts). He has a 6.7 K/9 with 427 strikeouts since making his big league debut in 2019 with the San Diego Padres and owns a 2.6 BB/9.

On the Canadian-born pitchers’ leaderboards, Quantrill sits 26th all-time in innings pitched but if he can find his way to at least work 150 innings he could hit 720 innings for his career. If he does this, he would jump to 21st on the all-time Canadian leaderboard with Claude Raymond (721) just ahead of him.

His 94 starts currently have him sitting 15th overall, however, he could pass Oscar Judd (London, Ont., 99) and the late Rheal Cormier (Cap Pele, N.B., 108) while chasing Pivetta and James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.), who have 152 and 156 starts respectively and will continue to climb the rankings in 2024.

For his career, Quantrill has averaged 128 strikeouts per season (when working out of the rotation) and he is currently 73 K’s away from hitting the 500 mark, which would slot him into 16th overall, just ahead of Raymond. A fresh start in Colorado could see the son of former big leaguer Paul Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) gain some serious ground on the Canadian leaderboards. For bragging rights, Cal has already surpassed his father in games started but his father holds the high ground in innings pitched (1,255 2/3) and strikeouts (725) while he leads all Canadian pitchers in appearances, with 841 through his 14 seasons in the big leagues.

Jordan Romano – RHP

Turning our attention to the bullpen, Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) has been one of the game’s best closers since taking the role with the Blue Jays in the 2021 season. Since 2019, Romano has authored a 2.67 ERA with a 1.120 WHIP, an 11.3 K/9, and 272 strikeouts through 216 innings. As a closer, the right-hander has amassed 97 saves and finished 149 games for the Jays.

Romano is just three saves away from the 100 mark and currently sits fourth overall in the all-time Canadian pitcher rankings. He needs 28 saves to overtake Hiller for third but still has a bit to go to catch John Axford (Port Dover, Ont., 144) and Éric Gagné (Mascouche, Que., 187). Similarly in the game-finished rankings, Romano sits eighth and 37 behind Dempster. He needs to complete one more game to hit 150.

Working as a reliever, Romano doesn’t rank high in innings pitched or strikeouts, but a season with at least 55 strikeouts will see him pass the likes of Judd and Paul Spoljaric (Kelowna, BC) to move from 29th to 24th, overtaking LHP Ted Bowsfield (Vernon, BC). Should Romano remain healthy and surpass 50 appearances for the fourth consecutive campaign, the former Ontario Blue Jay will have more than 250 career outings and could catapult past Dick Fowler (Toronto, Ont.), Bédard and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame LHP Jeff Francis (Vancouver, BC), who made 254 career appearances, on the all-time Canadian leaderboard.

Honourable Mentions

_ RHP Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) is six outings and seven starts away from hitting the 50 mark as he battles for a spot on the Chicago White Sox rotation this year.

_ LHP James Paxton is 149 1/3 innings away from hitting the 1,000 mark as the southpaw looks for a new opportunity.

_ 2B Edouard Julien is 11 hits away from hitting the 100 mark.

_ C Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) is three hits away from the 50-hit threshold.

_ INF Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) is 66 plate appearances away from 1,000.

_ OF Tyler O’Neill is 23 games away from 500, 36 at-bats from 1,500, and 22 homers from 100.