By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Receiving the Stubby Clapp Award at the Baseball Canada National Teams Awards Banquet on Saturday was extra special for North Vancouver, B.C., native Rowan Wick.

The 26-year-old right-hander appeared in 14 games for the triple-A Memphis Redbirds, managed by Clapp (Windsor, Ont.), in 2017, to help the club to a Pacific Coast League championship.

“It’s awesome,” said Wick when asked about receiving the award in Clapp’s name, prior to the banquet. “He’s (Stubby Clapp) a great dude and a great manager. He’s kind of like the 26th player on the team. He definitely knew how to get the troops riled up. And I definitely consider him a friend.”

The Stubby Clapp Award is known as Baseball Canada’s “grinder award” and it was created to recognize a national team player for their hard work, perseverance, positive attitude and strong performance on the field.

The Baseball Canada honour was a nice bookend to an unforgettable year for Wick that saw him make his major league debut for the San Diego Padres on Aug. 31, but also change teams three times.

After suiting up for the Vancouver Cannons of the British Columbia Premier Baseball League and the Junior National Team as a catcher, Wick was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the ninth round of the 2012 draft. The 6-foot-3 Canuck proved that he was capable of hitting professional pitching when he batted .292 and launched 20 home runs between the Cards’ low-A and class-A affiliates in 2014. By that time, however, he had been converted into an outfielder.

“In 2014, I had a good year and I had 20 home runs, but then I came to Instructional League and they brought up the idea of pitching and I was like, ‘Wait, what just happened?’” recalled Wick.

Wick was introduced to former Cards closer Jason Isringhausen who worked with him, but he continued as a position player and hit a couple of home runs the following spring which earned him a promotion to the club’s class-A affiliate in Palm Beach. Unfortunately, when the season began he struggled at the plate.

“I was striking out at a high rate and I just really couldn’t find a groove with the bat,” remembered Wick.

And that was when the Cardinals became fully committed to converting him into a pitcher. From the mound, Wick showed off his strong arm, fashioning a mid-90s fastball and later incorporating a slider and a curveball into his arsenal. As a pitcher, he proved to be a quick study. In 2016, his first full season on the mound, he posted a 2.44 ERA while striking out 57 in 44 1/3 innings between class-A Advanced and double-A.

Following an excellent start in double-A in 2017, Wick was promoted to Clapp’s championship-winning triple-A club to play alongside fellow Canadian Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.). The still fresh-armed righty would strike out 17 in 16 2/3 innings for Clapp’s club.

But prior to the start of spring training last year, the Cardinals signed veteran Bud Norris so they needed a roster spot and tried to sneak Wick through waivers but the San Diego Padres swooped in to pick him up.

Following a strong showing with the Padres’ double-A and triple-A affiliates in which he registered 14 saves, recorded a 2.67 ERA and struck out 64 batters in 54 innings, the hard-throwing right-hander was called up to make his big league debut on Aug. 31.

“It was actually a crazy day,” Wick recalled of his August 31 call-up. “I woke up at four in the morning in Fresno, California and we flew through Phoenix back to El Paso and I was waiting for my bag at the airport and they said, ‘Hey you’re going to the big leagues.’ Then I flew back to the Phoenix airport for the second time in one day and then flew to San Diego and then pitched within two hours of being in San Diego. So the adrenaline was flowing for sure. I don’t even remember the run out to the mound.”

Fortunately he was able to channel his adrenaline into an eight-pitch, 1-2-3 ninth inning in a 7-0 Padres’ win over the Colorado Rockies. In all, in 10 appearances with the Padres, Wick tossed 8 1/3 innings and struck out seven.

The North Vancouver native, who had enjoyed his big league tenure with Padres, was vacationing in Florida on Nov. 20 when he learned that the Padres had dealt him to the Chicago Cubs for minor league infielder Jason Vosler.

“I was actually in Florida on the beach and I saw a tweet earlier in the day because I knew that the deadline was coming for the Rule 5 draft, so the Padres had to make some moves,” he said. “But I didn’t know that I was going to be the guy they’d trade. They actually traded three guys that day. So I got a call from my agent and got a call from the Cubs that I had been traded.”

Wick is looking forward to joining the Cubs organization.

“I’m just expecting to go into spring training and compete for a job and do my best and whatever happens, happens,” he said. “You can only control what you do on the mound . . . I’m just there to compete.”

One thing he is looking forward to is the prospect of facing his first major league organization on a regular basis.

“I guess a dream for me would be to go back to St. Louis and hit a home run against them and prove them wrong for putting me on waivers,” he said. “That would be special.”

But for now Wick is enjoying what’s left of his off-season and that included attending Saturday’s Baseball Canada banquet which celebrated the program that helped him develop into a big leaguer.

“I was a hitter back when I played for the junior team, but just being around the guys and playing for Canada was a great experience. Greg [Hamilton] is the best,” said Wick. “So being in the environment and getting that exposure has helped me tremendously. It was just a great honour to play for my country.”