With two weeks left to go until Opening Day, quite a few former Vancouver Canadians are continuing to make their presence felt in Dunedin with the Toronto Blue Jays. According to my math, 31 players who have won Vancouver uniforms during its affiliation with Toronto have seen Grapefruit League action with the parent club this spring. You could make the case that the number is actually 32 as reliever Bo Schultz pitched in Vancouver but the C’s were affiliated with the Oakland A’s during the 2009 campaign.
J.B. Woodman collected his first and first walk of the spring and added an outfield assist in Bradenton Sunday.
Sunday afternoon featured some former C’s making an impact during the Blue Jays 11-11 tie with the Pirates in Bradenton. Rowdy Tellez was 1-for-2 with a run scored, Jason Leblebijian scored twice and knocked in a run after entering the game as a pinch-runner, D.J. Davis singled, scored and drove in a pair and Jon Berti was 1-for-3 with a run scored. The best all-around performance came from J.B. Woodman as the former Ole Miss Rebel tripled, walked and earned an assist from right field by cutting down Pirates prospect Austin Meadows on the basepaths with help from Tellez and Leblebijian on a 9-3-6-3 play in the ninth to help preserve the tie.
Jason Leblebijian scored twice and drove in a run in Bradenton Sunday.
On the negative side, Matt Dermody was unable to preserve an 11-8 lead in the ninth as he was charged with three runs in two-thirds of an inning, spoiling his earned run average in the process. Cavan Biggio whiffed in his two times up at the plate.
Breaking down the list, 21 position players have gotten into at least one game with the Jays this spring. Parentheses indicate the year the player was in Vancouver.
- Jonathan Davis (2014) – 1/2, .500 BA
- Christian Lopes (2012) – 2/5, .400 BA
- Kevin Pillar (2011) – 13/34, .353 BA
- D.J. Davis (2012) – 1/3, .333 BA
- Gunnar Heidt (2014, 2015) – 1/3, .333 BA
- Richard Urena (2014) – 8/25, .320 BA, .393 OBP
- Jon Berti (2011) – 9/33, .273 BA, .368 OBP, 2 SB
- Rowdy Tellez (2014) – 8/30, .267 BA, .371 OBP
- Dalton Pompey (2012) – 2/9, .222 BA, 1 HR
- Josh Palacios (2016) – 1/5, 1 HR, 3 R
- Dwight Smith Jr. (2012) – 4/20, .200 BA, 6 RBI
- Ryan McBroom (2014) – 1/7, .143 BA, 1 HR
- J.B Woodman (2016) – 1/10, .100 BA, 2 RBI
- Cavan Biggio (2016) – 0/3, .000 BA
- Roemon Fields (2014) – 0/3, .000 BA, 1 RBI, 1 SB
- Yeltsin Gudino (2016) – 0/3, .000 BA
- Jason Leblebijian (2012/2013) – 0/4, .000 BA, 1 RBI, 2 BB
- Shane Opitz (2011) – 0/5, .000 BA
- Lane Thomas (2015) – 0/4, .000 BA, 1 R
- Ian Parmley (2012/2013) – 0/3, .000 BA
- Carl Wise (2015) – 0/2, .000 BA
- Mattingly Romanin (2016) – 0/1, .000 BA
On the pitching side, eight hurlers with C’s connections have appeared in at least one game with Toronto.
- Jose Fernandez (2014) – 1.o IP, 1-2 BB/K, 0.00 ERA
- Roberto Osuna (2012)- 3.0 IP, 1-5 BB/K, 0.00 ERA
- Justin Shafer (2014) – 1.o IP, 1-1 BB/K, 0.00 ERA (0-1)
- Tim Mayza (2014) – 5.1 IP, 1-7 BB/K, 1.69 ERA
- Wil Browning (2012) – 4.2 IP, 2-5 BB/K 1.93 ERA
- Marcus Storman (2012) – 4.2 IP, 0-6 BB/K, 1.93 ERA
- Ryan Borucki (2014, 2015) – 4.0 IP, 2-3 BB/K, 2.25 ERA
- Matt Dermody (2013) – 6.0 IP, 1-4 BB/K, 4.50 ERA
- Aaron Sanchez (2011) – 4.0IP, 2-4 BB/K, 11.25 ERA
Jay Blue of Blue Jays From Away is down at Dunedin keeping track of the goings on at minor league camp. As far as former C’s go, 2014 C’s catcher Max Pentecost has been spotted taking ground balls at first base, 2012 pitcher Taylor Cole has a shoulder impingement, 2015 C’s outfielder Andrew Guillotte is spending time at second base and Shane Opitz and Mattingly Romanin have been seen wearing catching gear. Also, Mitch Nay of the 2013 C’s squad has been seen taking swings as he tries to get back after missing all of 2016 due to injury. Nay has seen his prospect stock tumble and was rumoured to be on his way to Cincinnati in the aborted Jay Bruce/Michael Saunders trade last year.
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