By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

From his bantam days with the North York Blues, to his time with the Toronto Mets, to the all-star game junior home run derby to signing and turning pro ...

C-1B Andy Yerzy has always looked larger than whatever team picture he was in.

And that was the case again this summer as Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.) played for the Hillsboro Hops of the class-A Northwest League. Yerzy was listed as the 15th best prospect on the highly-respect Baseball America’s Top 20 list for the league.

Coached by Chris Kemlo, Ryan McBride and Honsing Leung with the Mets and Greg Hamilton with the Canadian Junior National Team, Yerzy was selected in the second round of the 2016 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, choosing him 52nd over-all in North America.

Scouts Doug Mathieson (Langley, BC) and Tim Wilken did a lot of the work on Yerzy, choosing him as the first Canadian high school player. The Diamondbacks gave him had a signing bonus of $1,214,100 Million US, which at the time was the 11th highest bonus for a Canadian. That was enough to turn down to a scholarship to Notre Dame University.

After the draft, Yerzy took batting practice with the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Rogers Centre. Then Jeffrey Royer, co-owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks and a member of the Shaw Communications board, entertained Patricia Wong and David Yerzy -- the catcher’s parents -- in a box at the Rogers Centre as DBacks scored a 4-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Yerzy batted .297 with 11 doubles, a triple, eight homers and 34 RBIs in 63 games as he compiled a an .834 OPS.

What Baseball America had to say ....

Northwest League Top 20 Prospects

1. Joey Bart

Salem-Keizer (Giants) C

Age: 21. B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-3. Wt: 220.

Drafted: Georgia Tech, 2018 (1)

15. Andy Yerzy

Hillsboro (D-backs) C

Age: 20. B-T: L-R. Ht: 6-3. Wt: 215. Drafted: HS—Toronto, 2016 (2)

It’s been a slow burn for Yerzy, who has advanced one level a year since Arizona drafted him in the second round in 2016. He was one of the youngest players in that draft class, so his slow pace hasn’t hindered him all that much. He put up respectable numbers in each of his first two seasons, but he started hitting the ball in the air much more often in 2018.

Beyond his batted-ball profile, Yerzy started hitting the ball hard this season. His exit velocity was among the team leaders, and his .834 OPS was 10th in the NWL. To accomplish this, the Diamondbacks worked with Yerzy to get the bat into the zone earlier and stay there longer. They also helped him incorporate his lower half into his swing a little better, and he made strides with his pitch recognition. He’s lauded by the organization as a studious player with a photographic memory who works hard with his pitching staff to develop plans of attack.

He got better defensively this season, but there’s still a long way to go to keep him as a catcher for the long-term. He’s got an average arm strength, but is a below-average receiver and dabbled at first base this year. He’ll get his first crack at full-season ball in 2019.

2018 Stats

.297/.382/.452

239 AB, 8 HR, 34 RBI, 28 BB, 67 SO