C’s Recap – Jiménez, Robberse + Kloffenstein Headline Vancouver Canadians 2022 Opening Day Roster – C's Plus Baseball

Adam Kloffenstein poses in the Throwback Thursday jersey the team will wear in 2022.

The Vancouver Canadians have a 50-50 split among returnees and newcomers on its 2022 Opening Day roster.

The club announced its 30-man squad Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s preseason game against the UBC Thunderbirds at Nat Bailey Stadium and Friday’s season opener in Spokane.

2019 and 2021 C’s righthander Adam Kloffenstein will get the Opening Day assignment in Eastern Washington. King Kloff is joined with eight other returning hurlers. The seasons the players previously appeared in a C’s uniform are in parentheses.

#16. RHP Will McAffer (2018, 2021)
#22. LHP Sean Mellen (2021)
#30. RHP Jol Concepcion (2021)
#32. RHP Gabriel Ponce (2019, 2021)
#33. RHP Alex Nolan (2019, 2021)
#34. RHP Adam Kloffenstein (2019, 2021)
#36. RHP Colton Laws (2017)
#40. RHP Thomas Ruwe (2021)
#44. RHP Sem Robberse (2021)

McAffer struck out 60 batters in 44 innings, earning three wins and three saves for the C’s in 2021. Mellen rung up 18 batters in 20-1/3 innings. Concepcion posted a 1.93 ERA over nine appearances. Ponce won three games and registered 75 Ks in 51-1/3 innings. Nolan had a win and a hold over 49 innings of relief. Kloffenstein gets the Opening Day assignment for the second time in three years. He led the team with seven wins and 23 starts in 2021. Laws got back on the mound in 2021 after missing the 2019 and 2020 campaigns. The 2017 seventh rounder from Charlotte pitched five shutout innings at the Florida Complex in 2021 and got in one more inning with Dunedin. Ruwe looks to pick up where he left off after finishing with a 2.53 ERA over 10-2/3 innings for the C’s last season after starting the year in Dunedin. Robberse also split time with Dunedin and Vancouver in 2021. The 20 year-old from The Netherlands went 5-4 with a 3.90 ERA with Dunedin, striking out 61 batters and walking 20 over 57-2/3 innings.

On the position player side, there are six players back for another tour of duty with Monty’s Mounties.

#2. OF Harrison Ray (2021)
#7. INF Trevor Schwecke (2019, 2021)
#9. INF Addison Barger (2021)
#12. INF P.K. Morris (2021)
#20. C Anthony Morales (2021)
#31. INF Davis Schneider (2019, 2021)

Ray began 2021 in Dunedin and posted a .322 OBP with 26 steals before a late-season cameo with the C’s. Schwecke was at the Florida Complex League for five games before putting a .340 OBP in 13 games last year. Barger and Morris were late-season call-ups from Dunedin. Barger socked 18 homers with an OPS of .802 with the D-Jays while Morris had 32 extra-base hits with a .407 on-base mark. Morales spread himself out by appearing in 20 games over all four full-season affiliates with 12 in Dunedin, four in Vancouver, one in New Hampshire and three in Buffalo. Schneider played three games in Dunedin but spent the majority of the year with the Canadians where he clubbed nine home runs and slugged .476.

Of the 15 newcomers to the Canadians, seven of them are pitchers.

#4. LHP Naswell Paulino
#14. RHP Mark Simon
#15. LHP Jimmy Burnett
#23. RHP Abdiel Mendoza
#26. RHP Chad Dallas
#35. RHP Trent Palmer
#43. RHP Hunter Gregory

Paulino was with Low-A Dunedin last year and posted a 7-4 record with a 3.82 earned run average along with a strikeout-walk total of 109-57. The Dominican will turn 22 years old on April 17. He signed with Toronto as a free agent in 2016.

Simon was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays on January 28. The 26 year-old from Houston pitched for the Missoula Paddleheads in the Pioneer League in 2021 and won nine of 11 decisions with a 3.00 ERA, striking out 87 and walking 14 over 60 innings. That was his first action since 2018 as he was with the Aguascalientes Rieleros in the Mexican League. Simon spilt his four-year college career with New Mexico Junior College and Oklahoma City.

Burnett was an 18th round pick of the Jays in 2021 out of St. Leo College in Florida. He split last year with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays and Low-A Dunedin. The 23 year-old put up a 2.19 ERA in 12-1/3 innings with the D-Jays, whiffing 17 and walking seven and winning his lone decision.

The 23 year-old Mendoza began his pro career in 2015 with the Oakland Athletics. The Panamanian was traded to the Texas Rangers for reliever Cory Gearrin on August 31, 2018. He pitched for the Down East Wood Ducks in 2021 and had a 4.95 ERA and a 40-16 K/BB mark in 36-1/3 innings.

Dallas was Toronto’s fourth round pick in 2021 out of Tennessee. The Volunteers ace will look to make his pro debut with the C’s in 2022. The 21 year-old won 11 of 13 decisions last year, racking up 122 strikeouts against 20 walks over 103 innings with the Vols to help them reach the College World Series.

Palmer’s claim to fame was tossing two no-hitters of the seven inning variety with Low-A Dunedin in 2021. The Jays third-rounder from 2020 from Jacksonville University had a 4-2 record with an ERA of 3.00 over 63 innings, totalling 83 strikeouts and 42 walks. He just turned 23 on April 2.

Gregory was selected in the eighth round of the 2021 draft out of Old Dominion. The 23 year-old from Chesapeake, Virginia got into a half-dozen games with a half-dozen innings with Dunedin and collected his professional save.

Eight position players are set to wear the red and white for the first time.

#5. INF Miguel Hiraldo
#6. C Zach Britton
#8. INF Leo Jiménez
#21. C Andrés Sosa
#24. INF Riley Tirotta
#27. OF Mack Mueller
#28. OF Garrett Spain
#29. INF Hugo Cardona

The 21 year-old Hiraldo hails from the Dominican Republic, joining the Jays as a free agent on July 2, 2017. He racked up 37 extra-base hits and stole 29 bases with Dunedin last year while hitting .249 with an OPS of .723. He earned All-Star honours with the Dominican Summer League Blue Jays in 2018 and with the Bluefield Blue Jays in 2019. Other than four at-bats with the Lansing Lugnuts in 2019, this will be Hiraldo’s first extended exposure to full-season baseball.

Britton was Toronto’s fifth-round selection out of Louisville in the 2020 draft. He hit .225 with Dunedin in 2021 but had an on-base percentage of .372 to go with 18 doubles and seven home runs. The 21 year-old from Batesville, Indiana also stole five bases in six attempts.

Jiménez was also part of the Blue Jays 2017 international signing class when he joined them on July 2 out of Panama. He batted .320 and reached base over half of the time with a .523 OBP with Dunedin last season. Jiménez sports an OBP mark of .423 so far in his three years in the minors. He will turn 21 on May 17.

Sosa came to the Jays as a free agent out of Mexico on August 16 last year. The 24 year-old from Hermosillo, Mexico got the Jays attention by hitting .387 with the Tri-CIty Valley Cats of the Frontier League. He batted .333 in nine games at the Florida Complex League before getting a five-game stint with Dunedin. Sosa spent three years at Dallas Baptist along with stops at Texas and San Jacinto Junior College.

The 23 year-old Tirotta enjoyed a strong debut with Dunedin after going in round 12 to Toronto in the 2021 draft from Dayton. He slashed .305/.429/.818 in 30 games with a home run, three doubles and a triple. Hailing from the home of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the pride of South Bend, Indiana also stole four bases in six tries.

Mueller was inked to a free-agent deal in 2020 out of Baylor and reported to Dunedin for his pro debut in 2021. The 24 year-old from Abilene, Texas racked up 21 extra-base hits and stole 15 baes in 95 games last year.

Spain was selected in round 12 of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Austin Peay State, the same program that 2016-2017 C’s righthander Jared Carkuff came from. The 21 year-old from Clarksville, Tennessee shared time at the Florida Complex League and Dunedin. He hit .333 in six games at the Complex before getting a 17-game trail with the D-Jays.

Cardona joined the Jays as an international free agent signing out of Venezuela on July 2, 2016. The 21 year-old spent time at the Florida Complex League, Dunedin and New Hampshire last season. He hit .250 in 32 games and stole 15 bases in 17 attempts with the D-Jays and collected three hits in nine at-bats with with the Fisher Cats.

As for the coaching staff, 2021 hitting coach Ryan Wright and pitching coach Phil Cundari will support manager Brent Lavallee.

#10. Ryan Wright, Hitting Coach
#11. Ashley Ponce, Position Player Coach
#13. Phil Cundari, Pitching Coach
#37. Brent Lavallee, Manager
#38. Joel Bonnett, Bullpen Coach

Roelvis Vargas is the Athletic Trainer, Tommy LaBriola looks after Strength and Conditioning, Yuka Sanui is the Dietitian, Raul Pimentel will take on Mental Coach duties and A.J. Arias is the Tech Assistant.

Vancouver Canadians pitcher Alex Nolan of Burlington, Ontario models the Throwback Thursday jersey.
Vancouver Canadians pitcher and North Vancouver native Will McAffer.
Vancouver Canadians pitcher Thomas Ruwe

C-Notes

The Buffalo Bisons opened their 2022 campaign with a 3-2 victory over Iowa at Sahlen Field. Nick Allgeyer pitched six shutout innings for the win, Josh Palacios hit a two-run home run to score a leadoff walk from Vinny Capra in the first inning and L.J. Talley doubled home the winning run. There are 15 players with Canadians ties on the roster for the Herd.