Canada looks to new wave of talent to ‘put on a run’ at World Baseball Classic

Baseball

Published 29.11.2022

TORONTO – Over the summer season, as Cal Quantrill and Tyler O’Neill encountered fellow Canadians across the majors, the upcoming World Baseball Classic invariably got here up.

The Cleveland Guardians right-hander and St. Louis Cardinals outfielder are all-in on the primary version of the spring-time match since 2017 and their message to others could be summed up succinctly as – let’s go.

“We are a talented baseball country,” Quantrill mentioned throughout an August dialog. “We don’t necessarily have as many players as some other places. I think it is important to turn out, if possible, if you’re at a point in your career where you can afford to do it. If we put our best 20 on the field, we have as good a chance as anyone to win it. I haven’t really had to do much begging. Most guys really would love to play if given the opportunity.”

“We can field a good team if we’re healthy and everyone’s committed,” O’Neill added throughout a late July interview. “It would be really fun to see some guys commit to the national team and maybe put on a run out there.”

The Canadian nationwide workforce is actually on monitor to area a a lot stronger squad in 2023 than the one which went winless on the 2017 version, due to a wave of latest expertise making big-league affect.

Quantrill and O’Neill are among the many headliners on the 50-players-of-interest every nationwide workforce needed to undergo match organizers, a primary step earlier than 35-man provisional rosters are due Jan. 6 and ultimate rosters are set Feb. 7.

All-star Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who suited up for Canada in ’17 and mentioned in July that he’s “100 per cent in” if requested to play once more can be on that checklist and headlines a possible infield that would additionally embody Abraham Toro (Mariners) at second base, Otto Lopez (Blue Jays) at shortstop and Charles Leblanc (Marlins) at third base, with Bo Naylor (Guardians) and Kellin Deglan (Blue Jays) behind the plate.

Josh Naylor (Guardians), Jared Young (Cubs), Jacob Robson (Tigers) and even perhaps rising prospect Edouard Julien (Twins) are candidates to hitch O’Neill within the outfield or function DH.

Joey Votto (Reds) is one other candidate for each first base and DH however his availability is unsure after main surgical procedure in August on the torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder, and questions round well being and utilization will play a serious function in who pitches alongside Quantrill, as properly.

James Paxton (Red Sox), for example, is working his approach again from Tommy John surgical procedure whereas Atlanta GM Alex Anthopoulos made it sound like Mike Soroka, coming back from a twice-ruptured proper Achilles tendon, in all probability received’t be out there.

“My initial reaction is just with health and everything else, I don’t see it,” Anthopoulos, a Montreal native, mentioned in an interview earlier this month. “I just think in light of his injuries and what he’s had, coming in and competing for a spot, I can’t see it.”

The free company of righty Jameson Taillon additional clouds the pitching image, because it could possibly be tough for him to go away a brand new workforce after signing a giant contract.

Still, Nick Pivetta (Red Sox) co u ld be there alongside Quantrill to assist entrance the rotation, Matt Brash could possibly be a major difference-maker if the Mariners are snug with him pitching on the match whereas Rowan Wick, Rob Zastryzny and Zach Pop are robust bullpen choices, supplied they don’t really feel the necessity to stay at their big-league camp.

All-star Blue Jays nearer Jordan Romano, in the meantime, plans to play for Italy once more.

As they did in 2017 with Ryan Dempster and Eric Gagne, the Canadians may very properly increase their pitching employees with skilled vets like John Axford, Adam Loewen, Phillippe Aumont, Scott Mathieson and Andrew Albers, supplied they’re wholesome sufficient.

Pitching prospects like Jordan Balazovic (Twins) and Adam Macko, lately acquired by the Blue Jays from the Mariners within the Teoscar Hernandez commerce, may discover themselves within the combine relying how the roster shakes out and what their utilization would appear like.

Given Canada’s lack of depth relative to international locations just like the United States, the Dominican Republic, Japan and Venezuela, quite a bit is at stake with every top-flight choice. And all of these elements make the pitching finish of the Classic particularly sophisticated for nationwide groups and major-league golf equipment alike.

“When it comes to position players, they know what they need to do so from a WBC standpoint, I’m not at all concerned with them,” John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations for the Cardinals, mentioned earlier this month. “The pitching thing is really about usage. You think about spring training games and if an outing isn’t going well or what have you, you can audible, whereas in the WBC, games matter, games count. You don’t have quite that flexibility. I don’t know really how you plan for that or prep for that. You almost become more reactionary to what actually happens there and then decide how you want to deal with it when you get (the player) back.”

Quantrill understands the tenuous spot the match’s timing places pitchers in by requiring them to compete at a excessive degree far sooner than common, and believes the priority of golf equipment “is fair.”

Yet he additionally feels that workarounds are very attainable.

“You do have to be smart. You do have a full season ahead of you,” he mentioned. “That being said, at least as far as I know, Team Canada has always been very fair with their pitchers, how they use them, respecting what the general manager and manager of the team would like from that guy and what’s expected and kind of balancing that with trying to compete. We’ll have a plan and I’ll prepare myself to be ready for that moment that and if it’s a little earlier (than usual), we’ll take a small break in spring. But it really is a special opportunity to get to play in the WBC. I’ve never gotten to do it. I’ve played on the junior national team. Anytime you can wear your country’s name across your chest, you’ve got to find a way to do it.”

The Canadians, led once more by supervisor Ernie Whitt, will play out of Pool C at Phoenix’s Chase Field with the United States, Mexico, Colombia and Great Britain, with the highest two groups advancing to the quarter-finals. Beforehand, they’ll prepare on the Cubs’ spring facility in Mesa, Arizona and play exhibition video games in opposition to their hosts March 8 and the Mariners in Peoria on March 9.

For workforce officers and gamers alike, the countdown is on.

“I love playing for Canada, wearing that Maple Leaf,” mentioned O’Neill. “Opportunities like that don’t come too often. The last WBC is going to be six years removed and hopefully they get back to every four years. But every opportunity I can get to play for Team Canada, I’m there. Obviously there’s lots of international play that Major League roster guys can’t go to and unfortunately, I’m not able to do those. But when we do have the opportunity like the World Baseball Classic that’s MLB sponsored, it’s tough to pass up, in my opinion.”