The latest C’s Chat is with 2023 Vancouver Canadians pitcher Anders Tolhurst.
Hailing from Santee, California in San Diego County, Tolhurst played baseball and football for Santana High School, making quite the impact on one defender as a wide receiver on the gridiron. It was baseball that Tolhurst decided to stick with in the end and after graduation, he remained close to home by attending San Diego City College in 2018. The righthanded hurler split 12 decisions that season with a 4.79 earned run average and struck out 90 batters against 46 walks in 88-1/3 innings with the Knights, tossing a complete game. He also saw time in the batter’s box where he drove in four runs in 20 at-bats. In 2019, Tolhurst remained in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference but decided to transfer to Grossmont College in El Cajon, California. With the Griffins, he went 6-2 with a 3.79 ERA with an 83-37 strikeout/walk total in 66-2/3 innings and was named to the All-PCAC Second Team.
The 2019 MLB Draft rolled around and the Toronto Blue Jays drafted Tolhurst in the 23rd round. He opted to turn pro and agreed to a $125,000 signing bonus instead of transferring to San Jose State to pitch for the Spartans.
Tolhurst was to begin his professional journey with the Vancouver Canadians in 2019 but a shoulder injury prevented that from happening. The 2020 pandemic and a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injury in his right elbow led to Tommy John surgery and conspired to keep him off the mound until 2022.
Tolhurst’s professional debut came with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays versus the FCL Yankees on July 28. After two appearances in the FCL, he was activated off the 60-day injured list on August 19 and spent the remainder of the year with Dunedin. His best showing was in Game 1 of the Florida State League final when he threw three shutout innings of relief against St. Lucie on September 18. With just 12-1/3 innings under his belt, Tolhurst was sent to the Arizona Fall League for further development. He told JaysProspects.com that one part of the game he worked on was holding runners on base.
After striking out 16 batters in 15-1/3 innings with the Salt River Rafters, Tolhurst began his 2023 campaign with a couple of tune-up appearances in the FCL in June before joining the Dunedin Blue Jays. He found his form with three scoreless showings, recording his first professional win at St. Lucie with two goose eggs and three strikeouts on June 28. That led to his long-awaited debut with Vancouver which saw him complete two shutout stanzas with two strikeouts to earn a hold in Hillsboro on July 6. Tolhurst’s Nat Bailey Stadium debut saw him get the win as the C’s came back to walk off the Eugene Emeralds on July 16. His second hold came against Everett on July 27 with a spotless frame in which he struck out one.
C’s Plus Baseball spoke with the 23-year-old Tolhurst during the Canadians homestand against Everett in late July. This interview has been edited for clarity.
C’s Plus Baseball – You get drafted by the Blue Jays back in 2019. How did draft day go down for you?
Anders Tolhurst – It was a good experience. I kind of had a lot going on that second and third day, just not really knowing when your name was going to get called. But just, I guess, being ready by the phone. Honestly, I was on the west coast back home so it happened to go down, I think, around noon. I was actually playing video games when I got called. I called my Mom and all that. It was just super exciting.
CPB – Who was your signing scout?
AT – It was Jim Lentine. He kind of covered the whole SoCal area and Hawaii, I believe. We still kind of stay in touch. He’s a good guy.
CPB – Did you have any idea it was going to be the Blue Jays who would take you?
AT – I had a couple other teams that were on the radar. But no, it was just kind of like they hadn’t really reached out. (Jim Lentine) had come to watch me a couple of times. I had a meeting or two with him. But no, it was kind of out of the blue but I’m grateful. It’s a great organization. It did catch me a little off guard and by surprise but I wouldn’t really change a thing.
CPB – Grossmont College was where you pitched there when you got drafted and you were also at San Diego City College. Talk about your college experiences and how they helped shape you as a pitcher.
AT – Coming off out of high school, I didn’t really have many offers. I still wanted to play so I went to junior college and decided I was going to be a two-way (player). My first year, I played shortstop and pitched. I just kind of threw a lot more innings than I intended. I had 90 innings my freshman year so it was just kind of wear and tear on my body and was kind of looking for a change as well. So I got out of there, transferred to Grossmont for my sophomore year and just strictly became a pitcher and kind of focused on that side of my game and kind of wanted to further my career along. I figured my best opportunity was on the mound so I just worked hard at that and it kind of all paid off. My biggest thing was I wanted to try to get drafted out of junior college and have the opportunity to either go play pro ball or continue to go to college and go to university. But yeah, it all kind of worked out in my favour.
CPB – in 2019 on your player page in the transactions column, you were actually assigned to Vancouver but you didn’t get here until now. It’s been a long road obviously with your injury situation. Talk about your grind in finally getting here.
AT – It’s definitely been a grind. In 2019, yeah, I was originally supposed to be here when it was short-season (ball) and I had a shoulder problem so they kept me down in Florida to rehab that. I finally got healthy and all that built up but by that time, the season was almost over so I stayed down there for some camps and then came into 2020 feeling good, I was healthy. And then we had COVID obviously. And so then I worked really hard throughout COVID, got my body in good shape and all that and was feeling the best I’d felt, throwing the ball well. I come down to camp in September down in Dunedin and we’re playing games there. The first game out was against the Tigers, I threw really well. Then my next outing is when I ended up blowing out my UCL. And so then I had surgery in November of 2020. And then finally, after a long, long time, I finally got out last year. I still had some bumps in the road. And then I finally made it up here this year. So yeah, it’s been a grind for sure but I’m happy to finally be here and experience this because I’ve heard a lot of good things about this place.
CPB – You got back with the Dunedin Blue Jays last year and then you got some time in the Arizona Fall League. What was that experience like?
AT – Oh, it was great. I mean, the biggest thing for me was just getting the experience, getting back out on the field again and just being a part of that aspect of the game. Because in rehab, you know, your main focus is getting healthy and all that stuff. You kind of miss all that other side of the game of being around it and hanging out with all your buddies and whatnot. It was a good experience. A lot of good people. We got some great opportunities out of it. And yeah, the biggest thing was just trying to get innings in and build up and just set myself up to be healthy this year. But towards the end, I kind of had a little elbow issue. And I think I just needed some time off. So that was nice. After that, I had a little eight-week stint of really no throwing and just kind of relaxing and doing some physical therapy at home. But yeah, that was a wonderful experience for sure.
CPB – When did you start feeling comfortable and feeling like, ‘Okay, I’m back to where I should be now?’
AT – I would say it was like more once I hit that two-year mark, which was last year, I started feeling a lot better. The elbow was feeling better and all that but I felt like it was just a consistent battle of trying to get back to where you want to be. But also there’s a new side of it to where you remember the things you used to do well, but also trying to put away all those bad habits that still are there. But I would say now after everything, this is the best I felt. I’m feeling great and now it’s getting more comfortable again. And I guess not being so hard on myself because I’ve been out of the game for a while. It’s like expecting good things to happen every time and obviously, that’s not the case, but just going out there and giving it everything I can every time. Just making sure I can set the team up to have the best opportunity to win.
CPB – Your pitch mix right now, what is it that you’re throwing?
AT – Right now I just have my four-seam fastball and a slider and occasionally I’ll throw the curveball here and there, but just strictly fastball-slider right now.
CPB – Did anyone teach you the slider or was it something you figured out yourself?
AT – It’s just something I kind of started throwing at the beginning of this year. I had it last year but it’s a little different grip this year. It kind of started out like a hard cutter and now it’s kind of the shape I want. The biggest thing was I never really threw a slider before so just learning the kind of shape that I want with it and the consistency coming out. Those are kind of the two biggest things that I’ve been trying to work on, just putting it where I need to be and not trying to leave it over the plate.
CPB – Your curveball. Is it just your typical curveball or a knuckle curveball?
AT – I used to throw a knuckle curve but this year, I’ve just kind of gone back to your traditional grip but it used to be my strikeout pitch kind of in junior college. But this year, I feel like it’s kind of helped me to keep the hitters off balance. Just being able to throw that first strike and get ahead in counts has definitely helped out a lot. But yeah, it’s good to kind of fall back on if needed. I could throw it to kind of get a strike ahead and yeah, just keep them on their toes.
CPB – Being at the Player Development Complex (in Dunedin), how has that helped you develop as a pitcher?
AT – I would say one thing is that you have all the help and the staff that you need down there and obviously the equipment. If you need something to work on, that’s definitely the place to be. But like I said, coming out of rehab, it was definitely hard to get healthy and then also work on the things you want to work on Just because the main focus was getting that health part first. But yeah, I mean, it’s cool. We got the pitching lab. I mean, our weight room is unreal. All the technology and equipment. It’s definitely a spot to be if you want to develop in the offseason. I think the biggest thing for me was being in the weight room and finding a routine outside of that that worked for me. It was either finding that I was lifting too much or too little. I was trying to balance that once I got closer to games because it’s so easy to get caught up in just doing all that when you’re not playing and ‘Oh, I need to get back and stronger’ and all that. But when you get back to games, it’s really hard to maintain all that so yeah, the biggest thing was just trying to find that balance in between.
CPB – Your promotion to Vancouver, how did you find out about it? Were there any tricks played or anything like that?
AT – (Dunedin manager Donnie) Murphy’s quite the jokester. He’s a good manager down there. But I knew I was coming up here because I was on the roster at the beginning of the year but I had no idea when my rehab assignment was going to come to an end. But it was kind of funny. I was down in Port St. Lucie in Florida and I was supposed to throw two innings that day. I ended up throwing one and it went well. And then they called me in after and were like, ‘Hey, you ready to get out of here?’ I mean, it was just super exciting to finally be able to come up here and experience this and just get out of Florida and play somewhere else besides being there the last couple of years.
CPB – You make your C’s debut in Hillsboro. What has it been like so far pitching in the Northwest League?
AT – I can’t complain at all. I grew up on the West Coast so this definitely feels like home a little bit to me. This is the farthest I’ve been up north, but I don’t think it really gets any better than this. To be honest, it’s beautiful weather. The fans here are amazing. And I think it’s an overall great experience.
CPB. – A recent story in The Province about your debut here (at Nat Bailey Stadium). You got the win. I know it wasn’t the way you want to get the win but (C’s manager) Brent Lavallee says to you, ‘Hey, get ready for the next inning because we’re going to need you.’ Did you sense that confidence that the team was going to come back and help you out that way?
AT – Yeah, he told me when I came in (to the dugout after the top of the ninth inning). I was definitely a little frustrated that I gave up that run. But, you know, things happen. And that’s definitely one thing that made me feel better was that he’s like, ‘Hey, you know, get ready to go back out there. We got you.’ And I feel like with this team, it’s like we’re never out of it from what I’ve seen so far, the last couple of weeks I’ve been here. We just like to have fun when we’re in that type of atmosphere and we’re playing loose and whatnot. It’s just a great, great experience and vibe to be around. And I definitely knew that we were going to come back there and at least give ourselves a chance for sure.
CPB – Final question. Did you have a favourite major league team or player growing up?
AT – To be honest, I didn’t really have a favourite player but the team I do root for is my hometown team, the San Diego Padres. I would say one player I did grow up kind of looking at was Trevor Hoffman. I grew up watching him quite a bit being in San Diego.
Anders Tolhurst File
- Born – September 13, 1999 in Santee, California
- Height/Weight – 6-foot-4, 190 pounds
- Bats/Throws – Right/Right
- Uniform Numbers – Wore number 21 with San Diego City College in 2018 and number 10 with Grossmont College in 2019. Wore number 56 with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays, number 41 with the Dunedin Blue Jays in 2022 and number 34 with the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League. Wore number 27 with Dunedin in 2023.
- Twitter – @anderstolhurst
- Instagram – @anders_tolhurst
Thanks a million to Anders Tolhurst for this episode of C’s Chat and to C’s broadcaster Tyler Zickel for arranging it.
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