Canada seeks to avoid repeat of Rich Harden’s WBC laments as roster deadline looms
TORONTO – Canada’s historical past on the World Baseball Classic would possibly look very totally different if accidents hadn’t stored Rich Harden from suiting up with the nationwide staff.
The fire-balling right-hander, named for induction to the Canadian Baseball of Fame final week, missed the tournaments in 2006 and ’09 attributable to arm troubles and was too restricted by wear-and-tear to participate in 2013.
A wholesome Harden might have been a difference-maker on every of these squads and when he appears to be like again on his profession, taking the mound with a Maple Leaf on his jersey “is something that I wish I could have done.”
“Growing up very proud to be Canadian, that would probably have been the biggest thing for me, being able to compete for your country,” Harden, now 41, mentioned throughout a Zoom name following his Hall choice final week. “It’s one of those special things I think a lot of Canadians grow up dreaming of. Through everything I’ve done in my career, having injuries and having my career stopped short, I don’t really have any regrets. But the hardest thing is probably not having that opportunity and doing everything to try and make it happen.”
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The fifth version of the Classic is about for subsequent month and the can-he-can’t-he drama inherent to the occasion’s roster building is as soon as once more a significant factor for the Canadian staff.
Final rosters are due Tuesday and among the many key questions for Canada is the standing of Tyler O’Neill, the star St. Louis Cardinals outfielder who desires to play, has membership help however should work by way of insurance coverage points.
The 27-year-old from Burnaby, B.C., reinjured his left hamstring final September and missed the wild-card sequence towards the Philadelphia Phillies, though he appeared in an Arizona Fall League sport in preparation for a division sequence return had the Cards superior. That creates some doubt about whether or not the match’s insurer will cowl him, doubtlessly pushing him to the sidelines with fellow slugger Josh Naylor, right-handers Mike Soroka and Jameson Taillon, and certain Joey Votto.
Losing O’Neill would additional isolate first baseman Freddie Freeman in a Canadian lineup shifting from daunting to pesky. The plan was for O’Neill to play centre discipline and in his absence, Oakland Athletics prospect Denzel Clarke and former Detroit Tigers outfielder Jacob Robson might share duties there, seemingly flanked by Jared Young and on-the-rise Minnesota Twins prospect Edouard Julien, who will get at-bats someplace on the sector or at DH.
Freeman is predicted to anchor each the lineup and the infield, with Abraham Toro at second, Otto Lopez at shortstop, Charles Leblanc at third base and Bo Naylor (Josh’s youthful brother) at catcher.
Barring a shock, starters Cal Quantrill and Nick Pivetta and relievers Matt Brash and Rob Zastryzni ought to entrance the pitching employees. Veterans John Axford and Phillippe Aumont have seemingly made sufficient progress to be on the staff whereas Adam Loewen and Andrew Albers had been nonetheless pushing themselves to be prepared.
Cubs reliever Rowan Wick joined Zach Pop in passing on the Classic to concentrate on competing for a roster spot, whereas Toronto Blue Jays all-star nearer Jordan Romano, who had deliberate to pitch for Italy once more earlier than pulling out, additionally turned down the Canadians, though he’ll think about doing it subsequent time.
While each nation loses out on good gamers for the Classic, Canada doesn’t have the depth of expertise to compensate just like the United States, Dominican Republic or Japan.
One good outing from Harden may need been sufficient to push Canada by way of to the second spherical in every of the 2006, 2009 and 2013 tournaments and all of the nationwide staff can do is hope that their 2023 absences gained’t depart them with an identical lament.
TIEDEMANN’S TIME
Among the lasting results of Alek Manoah’s fast ascent to stardom is the way in which his development could find yourself altering the improvement path for different prime pitching prospects within the Blue Jays system.
To that finish, the trajectory of Ricky Tiedemann, the electric-armed lefty whose star rose a lot throughout a breakout 2022 that he enters the brand new yr because the membership’s consensus prime prospect, very a lot bears watching.
The 20-year-old completed final season at double-A, obtained a non-roster invite to big-league camp and will discover himself producing the kind of conversations about his timeline this spring that Manoah did in Dunedin again in 2021.
“I’ve gotten asked about that comparison a lot,” mentioned Joe Sclafani, the Blue Jays’ director of participant improvement. “They’re definitely distinct cases, but Ricky’s putting himself in a position to be there for people to start bringing that up and have those conversations. We hope he goes out and dominates this year. We’re excited for him to be able to pitch in front of the big-league staff (at spring training). He’s an outstanding kid and deserves the opportunity. One thing you know, he’ll put in the work to put himself in that position and he gets all the credit for that.”
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What makes the 2 distinct instances is that Manoah, now 25, had three full seasons at West Virginia beneath his belt together with time on the alternate coaching website in 2020 earlier than making his big-league debut in 2021 after solely 9 minor-league appearances. Tiedemann, in the meantime, has only one professional ball season with 78.2 innings beneath his belt after the pandemic disrupted his high-school and junior faculty experiences.
Workload administration is an imperfect science at the very best of occasions however what number of innings Tiedemann can fairly haul in 2023 shall be monitored intently all yr.
“We don’t like to put arbitrary innings limits on anyone, he’s going to dictate where that’s at,” says Sclafani. “But we’ve also got to keep it in the back of our minds that he needs to be able pitch through the end of September and maybe put himself in a position where he’s into October and helping the big-league team win. … It’s kind of hard to find a ton of stuff to put on him (in terms of developmental goals). He just needs to keep doing what he’s been doing and stay on that track.”
A THOUGHT EACH FROM CANADIAN HALL’S INCOMING CLASS
Joining Harden within the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023 are Denis Boucher, the previous Montreal Expos lefty who’s a longtime nationwide staff pitching coach and New York Yankees scout; longtime Blue Jays outfielder Jesse Barfield and veteran Manitoba coach and government Joe Wiwchar. They’ll be inducted June 17 together with former Blue Jays first baseman John Olerud and broadcaster Jacques Doucet, members of the 2020 class whose introduction was delayed by the pandemic. A thought from every:
Harden, on breaking in with the Athletics at 21 after solely 64 minor-league outings and being considered one of 14 pitchers within the majors 21 or youthful throughout that 2003 season: “It was really quick for that time and there weren’t as many kids that age being called up. That’s what the A’s were we’re doing with (Tim) Hudson, (Barry) Zito, (Mark) Mulder and all those guys and it worked out really well for them. I really had no expectations when I signed. … I really didn’t know much when I came up. I didn’t really have the best command. I hadn’t figured that out. Threw hard. Had some decent off-speed pitches but putting it all together took me some years to really learn that. Stepping into that rotation with those guys, you pick things up through talking to them, watching them and also through your own experiences. Looking back, there are so many things I wish I would have known. The way things are now with how important recovery time is and sleep and overtraining and all that. I look at myself at that time and I was just all-in, max effort, training hard and throwing hard. As I got older, I figured out, OK, we’ve got to pace ourselves, I’ve got to be able to recover for that next game. Unfortunately, I figured that out when I hurt my shoulder. I wish I had known more but you figured things out through your experiences and that’s the way it worked out.”
Boucher on the transition from participant to educate: “It wasn’t planned at all. Didn’t really think through what I was going to do after my career. But started coaching one year, one thing led to another, we qualified for the Olympics (in 2004), we go to the Olympics, that’s pretty cool, I’ll do it again the following tournament and that was just great. Then when the Expos left Montreal, the Nationals asked me to start scouting for them and now I’m and with the Yankees and I’ve been doing that for over 20 years now. … I still get to put a uniform on, to get on the field as a coach and go watch ballgames all the time, just be around baseball and around the game. I keep seeing old friends and it’s just great to be a part of it and doing that for a living.”
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Barfield on becoming a member of George Bell (2013) and Lloyd Moseby (2018) in St. Marys, Ont.: “I knew it eventually would come. I don’t worry about how I got there and how long it took – we’re there, and that’s the main thing. The guys that are there now deserve to be there. And I knew eventually I would have a chance to get in, and it worked out great.”
Wiwchar on the origins of his love for baseball and the state of Manitoba baseball: “It’s a passion I have. It’s something that I just thoroughly enjoy. … The biggest registration number for Manitoba Baseball was when the Blue Jays won the World Series. Our small community in (Morden) of 7,000-plus people is probably the baseball area of Manitoba. We have around 400 kids registered in baseball so that’s pretty good.”
Olerud on how he may need tailored his candy swing and method within the launch-angle period: “That’s a good question. I was joking with Jeff Cirillo, he lives near me and he said, ‘You know, John, I don’t know if we would have gotten a chance to play not hitting the deep fly ball, the home-run ball and hitting the ball to all fields.’ I think we’d still approach it the same way. Rarely did anybody put a shift on me because that would help me hit the ball the other way. I think most hitters would say that when they’re struggling to get hits, if they just force themselves to hit the ball the other way, that helps with their timing and helps get them back on track. I feel like that if a team’s putting a shift on, if guys were trying to hit the ball the other way, it would actually help them. I don’t know about all the analytics and that kind of stuff that goes into it, but I was somebody that wanted to get hits and home runs were a by-product of a good swing and making good contact. Anytime I tried to manufacture a home run, I was in trouble. I don’t think it would change anything for me. I’d still be trying to hit the ball where they weren’t, get my hits and get people on base because as the pitchers know, having guys on base gives them one more thing to think about. It’s a lot easier to throw out of the windup than it is out of the stretch and there’s more pressure with guys on base.”
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