Baseball Canada Notebook: Honours for former Blue Jays all-star Saunders; Naylor brothers eye 2026 WBC

TORONTO — Heading right into a fourth season of teaching since retiring as a participant, Michael Saunders is totally having fun with his second profession, sharing the information he accrued over 9 seasons with the Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies.

“Don’t be in a rush, understanding where your feet are and concentrating on that rather than thinking about where I want to get to,” the previous outfielder says of the recommendation he doles out as Atlanta’s minor-league outfield and baserunning co-ordinator. “And this is a tough one, but trust in the process over the outcome. It’s something I learned later on in my career that I tried to apply and (share now) if anybody ever asks me about it now that I’m on the other side of the ball.”

Saunders’ accomplishments, which embrace an all-star marketing campaign with the Blue Jays in 2016 and a World Baseball Classic opening-round MVP honour in 2013, have been acknowledged throughout Baseball Canada’s annual awards banquet Saturday with choice to the group’s Wall of Excellence.

The 37-year-old from Victoria is the 12^th participant to obtain the honour, becoming a member of Larry Walker, Justin Morneau and Russell Martin, amongst others, and it led him to replicate on his 14 years as a professional participant and the journey there beforehand.

“My dad and I were talking about it: you play catch in the backyard when you’re six years old and you never dream of this situation coming up because of that, right?” he says. “I’m very humbled and honoured to be on that wall … You take a look at some of the names up there and they’re a lot more accomplished than I am. … Your professional career goes by quick and here I am today.”

The velocity at which the years handed by — from an Eleventh-round decide by the Mariners in 2004 to Futures Game choice in 2007 with fellow Canadian Joey Votto, to Olympic group member in 2008 to big-league debut in 2009, to retirement after the 2019 season — is likely one of the key messages he imparts to gamers.

There is all the time urgency to enhance, to carry out, to grab alternative, however Saunders additionally cautions towards chasing outcomes, understanding how simply that may develop into a dangerous detour from progress and success.

Not being in a rush, he explains, is understanding that in a interval of battle, a participant shouldn’t “try to dig my way out of that hole within a game.”

“Like, if you’re hitting .200, you’re not going to hit .300 after today,” he continues. “It’s going to be a process. That’s what I mean by trusting the process over the outcome. Baseball is a funny game. You can do everything right, hit the ball right on the barrel right at somebody, you’re 0-for-1. Pitcher makes great pitch, breaks your bat, you bloop one over third base for a double. So you can’t get too high. Can’t get too low. But I believe that if you have a solid routine and you trust the process, good things will happen.”

READY FOR DENVER: Cal Quantrill is aware of full nicely in regards to the challenges of pitching in Denver’s skinny air and after being acquired by the Colorado Rockies earlier this low season, the right-hander from Port Hope, Ont., has a plan for coping with Coors Field’s perils.

“One of the biggest challenges of pitching there is what you do to yourself thinking about pitching there,” says Quantrill, traded for minor-league catcher Kody Huff after being designated for task by cost-cutting Cleveland. “It’s easy to forget that the guy on the other side of the ball also has to pitch there. This game is about winning. As long as I last longer than their pitcher, I did my job. I know it’s probably not the premier destination for pitchers, but in the end, everyone’s got to go through it. Our game is smart, front offices are smart, everyone knows what it’s like. You prepare and don’t worry too much about it. Execute your pitches. It will turn out alright.”

That mindset ought to assist the 28-year-old be at his finest this 12 months, after preventing by means of shoulder irritation that led to 2 injured listing stints in a troublesome 2023.

While Quantrill can’t pinpoint the place his points started, his workload went from 32 innings in 2020 to 149.2 frames in 2021 to 186.1 innings throughout the common season plus 10 extra within the playoffs in 2022, earlier than dropping to 99.2 in 2023.

He concedes that he wasn’t proper bodily till September, when he posted a 2.76 ERA and 1.255 WHIP in 32.2 innings throughout six begins, figuring out a pitch combine he plans to experience once more this 12 months. Typically, he’d been primarily a sinker-cutter pitcher, however in September he dropped his sinker utilization to 33 per cent and paired it with a splitter 26 per cent of the time, mixing within the cutter (16 per cent), a curve (15 per cent) and a change (9 per cent).

“I was fighting my shoulder for a really good chunk of last season, even when I was pitching and I think it was affecting some of the decisions I was making, pitch selection, going about attacking hitters,” Quantrill says. “When I was healthy at the end of the year, how I was using that arsenal is probably where I’d like to trend towards this year. But I’m not too stubborn to change. If a certain pitch, a certain approach is working better, I’m not too proud to start going to that more often.”

Combined with an low season deal with ensuring his shoulder is prepared for the grind forward, that thought course of has him ready for a recent begin with the Rockies.

“You’re always surprised when something happens,” Quantrill says of Cleveland’s choice. “In the end, it is a business and they have to do what they think is right for their team. I know that I’m still good enough to be in the big-leagues and I knew there’d be another opportunity elsewhere. I certainly wasn’t going to lose any sleep over it. I’m happy that I got to land in a good organization and a really quality place. My family and I are excited to take on this next chapter and focus on bigger and better.”

ALL IN THE FAMILY: As Josh, Bo and Myles Naylor mingled with fellow nationwide group gamers throughout Baseball Canada’s awards banquet, it was simple to think about the brothers suiting up collectively and manning the infield on the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

And, yeah, they’ve imagined it, too.

“That would be awesome if it worked out,” says elder brother Josh, 26, who performs with center brother Bo on the Cleveland Guardians however needed to miss teaming with him on the 2023 Classic as a result of fallout from a extreme ankle damage. “That would be a great experience not only for us, but our family, and hopefully we could so something special there.”

Says Bo, 23, who posted an .807 OPS in 67 video games with the Guardians after backstopping Canada throughout the WBC final spring: “It’s definitely one of those things that you dream about. For that kind of thing to come true would truly be special.”

Adds Myles, 18, who was picked within the first spherical, 39^th total, by Oakland final summer season and posted a .669 OPS throughout 34 video games at two ranges in his professional debut: “I got to watch (Bo) play this year and it was a great experience overall. Next time it could be all three of us. So I’m excited.”

By 2026, Myles — a shortstop proper now — might very nicely be pushing towards the big-leagues and within the combine for a spot on the nationwide group. Josh was 22 when he was chosen to the 2019 Canadian WBC group, earlier than he’d made his big-league debut, whereas Bo had simply turned 23 and had 5 big-league video games earlier than enjoying final 12 months.

The expertise with the Canadian group helped jump-start his season as “seeing competitive pitchers, getting competitive at-bats early really helped put my mind in the right place,” he says. “Everyone knows it’s a long season, but the earlier you can get it going, the earlier you can start to feel comfortable. That really helped me for the end of the season. Once I got to that point, I was just keeping on, controlling everything that I could control and we ended the right way.”

Josh’s choice to offer his ankle further time to recuperate paid off as he batted .308/.354/.489 with 17 homers and 97 RBIs in 121 video games for the Guardians in his best season within the majors but.

“It sucked not playing there,” he says. “I got an opportunity to watch a few games (Bo) played in, one of our good friends came down and part of our family came down to watch and we supported the best we could. Hopefully next time I have the chance to play in it, we have a chance together to play in it. But taking that time off to let things recover better and making that tough decision not to play in it really did benefit me. It made me a little healthier for the season. And I was able to last the whole year with the stronger leg.”

SHORT HOPS: Third baseman Damiano Palmegiani, who bookended an .842 OPS season at double-A New Hampshire and triple-A Buffalo with stints on Canada’s WBC group and an Arizona Fall League championship, is anticipated to get an invitation to big-league spring coaching with the Toronto Blue Jays. The 23-year-old from Surrey, B.C., has impressed throughout the group over the previous two seasons and is somebody to keep watch over this 12 months. … The Women’s Baseball World Cup is ready for July 28-Aug. 3 in Thunder Bay, Ont., and Ashley Stephenson, who’s returning to educate at single-A Vancouver once more this season, will probably be a part of Canada’s workers on the occasion. The Blue Jays are giving the longtime nationwide group icon time away from Vancouver to work alongside supervisor Anthony Pluta. Stephenson helped Canada win two silver and 4 bronze medals on the World Cup throughout a 15-year enjoying profession. … Slugger Owen Caissie, who hit a homer and drove in 4 runs in three World Baseball Classic video games as a 20-year-old final spring, is anticipated to get an invitation to big-league camp with the Chicago Cubs, who could give the outfielder some reps at first base to create extra pathways to the majors for him.

QUOTABLE: “The thing I think about with Joey is professionalism, respect for the game and this fiery will to win. His preparation is second to none. His baseball intelligence. Obviously, you can see the production that he put out on the field. He’s more of a quiet guy but as far as Canada goes, as far as the people that come into this banquet, he’s family. What a career. I hope it becomes a Hall of Fame career. It should be, in my opinion. I hope he gets in there sooner than Larry (Walker, who was elected in his 10^th and final year of eligibility). But just to be mentioned and be on the ballot with serious consideration, it talks a lot about what he was able to accomplish.” — Michael Saunders on free agent Joey Votto