The Vancouver Canadians blanked the UBC Thunderbirds 9-0 in preseason action at Nat Bailey Stadium on Wednesday.
Chris McElvain made his Blue Jays organizational debut with a three-up, three-down first inning that saw him ring up the first two batters. The C’s offence then went to work in the bottom of the first. Jace Bohrofen homered to right-center field with two outs off T-Birds starter Ryan Beitel. Nick Goodwin then followed with a hustle double to right field on a close play at second base. Jeff Wehler brought in Goodwin with a single that rolled underneath the glove of David Draayers at short to make it 2-0.
After McElvain concluded another perfect frame with a strikeout, the C’s made hard contact against UBC reliever James Brock but Jackson Boomer was equal to the task by retiring Dylan Rock before tracking one down to the edge of the warning track by Jackson Hornung. Jommer Hernández reached base after Draayers lost his balance on a grounder to short but Brock kept the home side off the board.
Draayers got UBC’s first hit with a double down the right field line to start the third against McElvain but Hernández threw him out trying to steal third. Boomer singled to left but McElvain would put up another zero on the board.
Vancouver put the game away with a big third inning that began with Ryan McCarty launching a leadoff homer to left field against lefty Oliver Duthie. Bohrofen singled up the middle with the ball taking a kangaroo hop off the lip of the infield grass. Goodwin then singled to left and that was followed by a fly ball to right by Wehler that was dropped by Mitchell Middlemiss who compounded the error with a throwing miscue. That was among three errors in the inning. Brennan Orf drew a walk and Hornung and Hernández added base knocks. That was part of an 11-batter rally that resulted in five runs scored to put the Canadians ahead by a converted touchdown.
Geison Urbaez worked the fourth for Vancouver and struck out a batter before inducing a 6-4-3 double play ball to erase a single to left by Jonny McGill.
UBC reliever Evan Hoegler kept the C’s offence at bay, surrendering just a two-out knock to left by Wehler.
Kevin Miranda bookended a perfect top of the fifth with a couple of punchouts while lefty Vicarte Domingo turned in the best pitching line of the night for UBC with a spotless fifth dominated by strikeouts.
Southpaw Naswell Paulino was greeted by a leadoff double to left by Boomer but put up a zero in the top half of the sixth with a couple of whiffs. Jaden Rudd drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the stanza. Bohrofen walked with two outs and Goodwin hit a two-run double to left to make it a 9-0 game, earning the wrath of T-Birds righty Adam Kahn.
Rafael Ohashi walked Kyle Anderson with two outs but completed the shutout for Vancouver with two Ks in the top of the seventh. The two teams decided to play the bottom of the frame. Estiven Machado drew a two-out walk and Rock took one for the team but T-Birds righty Graham Seltzer prevented the C’s from reaching double digits.
Radar Gun Rundown
Chris McElvain had strikeouts of 88, 87. 81 and 92 miles per hour and was up to 93 and 95. Geison Urbaez was at 82 with a punchout at 92. Kevin Miranda punched tickets at 82 and 88 and reached 89. Naswell Paulino had a reverse K of 84 and a swinging K at 89 and touched 94. Rafael Ohashi had two whiffs at 87 and 92.
C-Notes
The C’s inserted a pair of extra hitters to start the the bottom of the seventh with Jean Arnaez and Kekai Rios getting into the batter’s box. Jackson Hornung began the game as the designated hitter but switched spots with Jommer Hernández behind the dish.
The Canadians will launch their 2024 regular season in Spokane on Friday. Tyler Zickel will call the action on CanadiansBaseball.com. First pitch from Avista Stadium is at 6:35 p.m. Chase Dollander—the ninth overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies out of Tennessee—is listed as Spokane’s probable starter. Righthander Ryan Jennings will get the start for Monty’s Mounties.
The Toronto Blue Jays have traded 2019 and 2021 Canadians infielder Tanner Morris to the Minnesota Twins for cash considerations. Despite a .389 on-base percentage over his five years in the Blue Jays system, that was not enough to keep the 2019 fifth-round pick from Virginia in the organizational nest. Morris was 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored in his lone game with the Buffalo Bisons in which the Herd picked up its first win of the year against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday. I guess he needed to go 5-for-2 with three grand slams or something. The 26-year-old from Crozet, Virginia has been assigned to Triple-A St. Paul. All the best to Tanner with the Twins organization.
Another victim of the numbers game is 2023 lefthander Cooper Benson who was released by the Blue Jays on March 29. The former Arizona State Sun Devil—selected in the 17th round of the 2021 draft—was a key member of the bullpen for Monty’s Mounties with a team-leading 40 appearances and 71-2/3 innings last season. The 23-year-old from San Luis Obispo, California posted a record of 7-3 with a 4.40 earned run average with 81 strikeouts against 48 walks. All the best to Cooper in his future endeavours.
2022 righthander Yosver Zulueta‘s time with Toronto also came to an end. Shortly after being placed on waivers, the 26-year-old from Remedios, Cuba was claimed by the Cincinnati Reds. His 2022 debut at Nat Bailey Stadium was scintillating as he struck out eight batters while yielding just two unearned runs against Tri-City on May 19. That was followed up by a nine-strikeout effort by Ricky Tiedemann the next night against the Dust Devils. It sure looked like a preview of what was in store for Blue Jays fans in the future. Zulueta appeared with all four-season affiliates in the Toronto system that year but his ascent was stalled as he was placed on the injured list in August.
Last season, ‘Zulu’ struck out 73 batters but walked 45 in 64 innings with Triple-A Buffalo. At one point, he was sent back to the pitching lab in Dunedin to address his control issues. Zulueta also took part in winter ball with Leones in the Dominican League by logging 9-1/3 innings with a 14-5 K/BB total with a 5.79 ERA.
If his Reds organizational debut is any indication, the Blue Jays may regret letting Zulueta go. The 6-foot-1 hurler struck out the side and stranded both of the runners he inherited for Triple-A Louisville. His first and third whiffs were upheld by the automated ball-strike system (ABS) when the hitters challenged the calls.
Zulueta and 2021-2022 Canadians righthander Sem Robberse represented the Blue Jays at the Futures Game last summer in Seattle. Neither are with the organization anymore. Robberse was dealt to St. Louis at the trade deadline last year with 2019, 2021-2022 northpaw Adam Kloffenstein in the Jordan Hicks deal. Hicks is now with the San Francisco Giants. Was the two-month stint Hicks spent at Baseball North worth it? That’s debatable.
2011 second baseman Jon Berti is back in the American League East. The 34-year-old was traded just before Opening Day to the New York Yankees by the Miami Marlins as part of a three-way deal involving the Tampa Bay Rays. All the best to the 2022 National League stolen base champion who stole 41 bags in 46 tries that year.
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