Vancouver Canadians manager Brent Lavallee proclaimed on Media Day that the Canadians “will be the best team in our organization to start the season” in 2023. They would be not only the best team in the Blue Jays farm system but in the entire Northwest League as they defeated the Everett AquaSox in four games to capture the NWL pennant.
The pride of North Delta, B.C. shared his thoughts on the 2023 edition of the club in an interview with Blake Murphy of Sportsnet 590 The Fan shortly after the conclusion of the season.
A number of topics were raised with the C’s skipper including winning the Northwest League championship at Nat Bailey Stadium on September 16.
“Winning the championship alone was just a testament to our organization, the players, the work, everything that went into it. And that’s the main part of the pride for me is just what we did as a group. But to do it with your parents there, your best friends, your brothers, family friends and just in front of that crowd and that fan base, it was just special. I mean, they hung around for a long time after it was over and it was just a great scene, and it’s just going to fuel these players and this staff to continue winning and continue doing a great job for the Blue Jays.”
On winning the 2023 title after falling short in the 2022 final.
“Experience is a real advantage so those guys who would have ended with us last year, Gabriel Martinez, Dasan Brown, there’s so many others, Devereaux Harrison, so many that I’m missing as well but the experience of being in that situation last year definitely helped us this year. What also helped was our Low-A team last year in ’22. Cade Doughty, Josh Kasevich. That whole crop of draft class, they played in the championship series themselves with the Dunedin Blue Jays. Just the experience of being in those games, you can’t fake it. And that really was a huge factor in going into being champions this year for us.”
On how winning a title helps a player’s long-term development.
“Yeah, that’s the biggest reason and probably one of the most important reasons to have successful minor league teams is to put these guys in those situations. And the staff included put us in these situations that hopefully we get to on the biggest stage one day. You cannot replicate that type of stress. You cannot replicate that environment. And the mistakes that come with being in the minor leagues, I mean, they’re amplified. They’re under a microscope at that level. You just cannot fake that scenario and setting. I’m just really happy that for another year, our guys got the chance to play meaningful baseball into late September.”
On outfielder Gabby Martinez’s strong playoff performance after a tough regular season.
“I’m not surprised by that, by Gabby playing his best at the end. I’ve been lucky enough to coach him for three years in a row now, going back to our FCL days together in 2021. And he’s just a grinder. He’s a kid who has absolutely changed his body. He’s continuing to work on his swing. The power and the damage is coming and the athlete that he’s becoming in the outfield, he’s becoming a plus defender where a couple years ago I might not have said that about him.
But just to see the work and then he did get off to a slow start. He’s a 20-year-old Venezuelan kid who’d never been to Canada. He’d never been in the cold before. I mean, that is a real struggle. And you see it even in the big leagues, you know, certain players struggling in April and May. But yeah, he got behind, he got behind early, he got down on himself.
And a testament to how strong-minded he is, how good our mental performance team is. Everyone just continued to stick with him. We didn’t let him slide with anything. When he was struggling, we kept working, we kept holding him to high standards. It’s so rewarding to see him enjoy himself and come through those moments. And it’s just a sign of things to come.”
On pitcher Adam Macko‘s strong finish to the season.
“Adam’s growth was absolutely huge this year. We competed against him last year when he was with Everett. He returned to that form and even took two steps forward with our pitching coaches and mental performance (staff). Just being under the umbrella of the Blue Jays organization. He’s extremely talented. He was very good last year coming from Seattle.
I just think it was him just getting comfortable with us and us understanding who he is. And then you just kind of mesh together the farther through this thing you get. I think right around the all-star break, he got comfortable. He was probably as confident as he’s ever been.
He’s got one little mechanical adjustment that I know I can see. The velocity started going up. The breaking balls got sharper. The command and the execution got better. And yeah, that’s a young man we’re going to keep our eyes on and you might be seeing him on TV soon.”
On pitcher Devereaux Harrison‘s transition from the bullpen to become a key member of the starting rotation.
“We definitely weren’t expecting him to move into the rotation. I know it was something that was talked about if certain people moved. He just took it and ran with it. I think he threw an all-time high in innings this year. He was spectacular, especially in the middle of the summer there, June and July. He was unbeatable.
He had a target on his back after those months, and teams went into their at-bats with a little more preparation. He can get you out in many different ways and the competitor is what I think is going to make him and continue his success.
He does not like to lose. He does not like to get beaten. No one would rather have him out there with the ball in a tight situation than him. He just kind of drives everyone to perform their best and to beat our opponents. It sounds simple to say but he brings passion and fire every day, whether he’s playing or not. In the amount of innings he gave us and the quality outs he got, up and down the order, day in and day out.”
On Eric Pardinho putting in a healthy 2023 campaign.
“He worked his way into a role that if there was one inning and we didn’t like the matchups for other guys, he can get both right-handed and left-handed hitters out. He’s got a couple different weapons. With the velocity, I know I saw 98. 100 wouldn’t be out of the picture, but yeah, I saw some high velocity from him.
He was a starter back before COVID, before a couple injuries. Last year, coming out of rehab, I think he was in our rehab for probably two seasons. You add COVID into that and it takes a little bit out of you so getting him back into the grind and getting him through the season healthy was a huge goal.
And then the velocity just kept climbing. He kept working on mental performance with our pitching coaches and strength and trainers. Good or bad, Eric always shows up and he did have some lumps early in the year. He just kept showing up. He kept the same level of edge and just kept working. The velocity crept up from the 92-93 to the upper 90s. And if there was a one-inning role there, he was circled on our cards. He was a guy we were going to rely on. I think he threw two shutout innings in his two outings in the playoffs.
I’m really excited about where it goes for him. I know he’s going to compete for Team Brazil here in a big qualifier here this offseason. So hopefully that fuels him to keep working hard in the offseason and just riding this momentum into his next year.”
On the leadership provided by infielders Cade Doughty and Josh Kasevich.
“I can’t even start to explain what the two of those guys mean to this team and this organization. The level of expectations that they hold themselves to is contagious. And there’s no surprise that they went right into Dunedin last year, put that team in a championship series, came up here this year and did the exact same. There’s absolutely no surprise.
They hold their teammates accountable. Those two work on the defensive side as much, if not harder, than they do on the offensive side. Absolutely one of the best left-side infields I think you’ll ever see in all of minor league baseball, an incredible, incredible pair to watch grow throughout this org.
I’m not having them talk about their base running or their offensive production yet. They’re both still improving. Their ceilings are so high. What they brought to our team is, you can’t look at it, it doesn’t show up on a stat line, but when two of your best players who produce the most and keep your teammates accountable and do the dirty little things that nobody sees, it’s a special combination.
Absolutely just so happy to have worked with them on the infield this year and got to watch them do their thing. Another pair of prospects that we should all be very, very excited to watch in the next few years.”
On Davis Schneider‘s rise to the Blue Jays in 2023.
“With Davis, there’s nothing surprising there. He’s an incredible dude, incredible person, teammate, everything you could ever want. And he absolutely worked his way to the big leagues, 20 pounds of muscle and a really tight and efficient swing. A great approach to the plate and some defensive versatility. And that’s the recipe right there.
I’m not surprised by it. Extremely happy for him. Extremely happy for the message that that sends and shows the rest of our players in the minor leagues. These guys that we just wrapped with in Vancouver, they’re not that far away. Davis worked his way there. He did it all. Everything he needed to do, he was ready to do it. And going back even to the COVID year, when we got shut down, I was a check-in guy for him just to stay in touch and see what he was doing. So Davis and I go back there.
I know our hitting coach in Vancouver, Ryan Wright, had Davis for two-plus years so there’s a lot of credit there to our hitting coaches and especially Ryan Wright. But Schneids is awesome. There’s probably not anyone who you’d rather pull for and his teammates and everyone who’s played with him can probably back that up. But I’m happy for him and just excited for these next guys and how close they actually are.”
The C’s have won 144 regular season games, three playoff contests and two Northwest League championship appearances in Lavallee’s two-year tenure.
C-Notes
Congratulations to 2023 C’s outfielder Alan Roden and 2022-2023 righthander Chad Dallas as they were named the hitting and pitching prospects of the year in the Blue Jays system by MLB Pipeline. Roden slashed .321/.437/.459 with 28 extra-base hits and 41 runs batted in with Vancouver before being promoted to Double-A New Hampshire on July 17. He drew 42 walks and struck out just 32 times in 69 games. Dallas won his two decisions with a 2.03 earned run average over 26-2/3 innings with a 37-12 strikeout/walk total for the C’s before being summoned to the Fisher Cats in mid-May.
2015 C’s second baseman Lane Thomas has been announced as a finalist for the Gold Glove award in right field. The Washington Nationals outfielder racked up 16 of his 18 assists in the nine-spot this past season. He racked up 36 doubles and 28 home runs while batting .268/.315/.468 in 156 games for the Nats. Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres are the other Gold Glove finalists.
2012 outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. and 2015 first baseman/outfielder Connor Panas have been drafted to play baseball in the Middle East in the new Baseball United League based in Dubai. Smith was selected in the third round and Panas was taken in the fifth round of the 10-round draft by the Dubai Wolves, one of four teams in the league. The season is slated to start in late November.
The 31-year-old Smith spent 2023 with the Charleston Dirty Birds of the independent Atlantic League and piled up 32 doubles, two triples and 22 home runs with a batting line of .331/.426/.569 and 24 stolen bases. The 30-year-old Panas from Toronto played for the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association and batted .296/.381/.530 with 22 home runs, 59 runs batted in and 12 stolen bases.
2022 hurler Mark Simon has a new home for the 2024 season. He will join the Milwaukee Milkmen of the American Association, the same team 2017 outfielder Reggie Pruitt Jr. played for this past season. Simon was with the Pioneer League’s Missoula PaddleHeads in 2023 where he logged just 32-1/3 innings.
Congratulations to 2019, 2021 and 2022 outfielder Cam Eden on making it to the majors with the Blue jays, scoring his first run in Tampa Bay and getting his first hit against the Rays at the Dome.
Congratulations also to 2017 and 2018 pitcher José Espada on reaching the bigs with the San Diego Padres. He made his debut on September 24 with a scoreless inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on September 24, walking two but striking out two as he fanned Richie Palacios (brother of 2016 C’s outfielder Josh Palacios) and Irving López to finish the ball game.
2014 designated hitter Rowdy Tellez made history with the Milwaukee Brewers. The slugging first baseman made his MLB debut on the mound against the host Miami Marlins and pitched a scoreless ninth inning to finish off a 16-1 win which helped the Brewers clinch a playoff berth. He became the first position player in history to record the final out in a playoff-clinching scenario.
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