C’s Recap – Vancouver Canadians Unveil 2025 Opening Night Roster – C's Plus Baseball

The Vancouver Canadians will have a lot of familiar faces to begin the 2025 campaign.

A total of 20 players return from last year’s club and they will be joined by a baker’s dozen worth of newcomers on the roster for Opening Night in Tri-City on Friday. The following is a breakdown of the returnees and new faces on this year’s edition of Monty’s Mounties, starting first with the players set to make their Northwest League debut.

2025 Vancouver Canadians Opening Night Roster

Newcomers

Infielders

One of the biggest questions surrounded the 2025 assignnment for Toronto Blue Jays number-one prospect Arjun Nimmala. There was speculation he might start the year back at Low-A Dunedin, but the 19-year-old shortstop will begin the year in Vancouver instead. Nimmala, the 20th overall pick in 2023 from Strawberry High School in Dover, Florida is aiming to become the first player of Indian descent to play in the majors. Born in Tampa, Nimmala overcame a tough start with Dunedin and a demotion to the Florida Coast League by finishing his first full year with 17 home runs and a .807 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

Corner infielder Sean Keys, Toronto’s fourth-round selection from Bucknell University in 2024, also showed promise in his pro debut. The 21-year-old left-handed hitter from Huntington, New York batted .293 with a home run among eight extra-base knocks in 22 contests with Dunedin. Keys is rated the number 20 Blue Jays prospect by MLB.com and number 24 by Baseball America, who listed Keys as having the best infield arm in the Toronto minor league system.

2024 10th-round pick Carter Cunningham displayed a good eye at the plate in his time with Dunedin with a .381 OBP in 25 games. The 24-year-old Huntington Beach, California native made a name for himself in Spring Training last month with a walk-off home run on St. Patrick’s Day against the New York Yankees. A college teammate of 2024 Blue Jays first-round pick, pitcher Trey Yesavage, the former East Carolina Pirate spent time at first base and the corner outfield spots with Dunedin last season.

Outfielders

A 2024 Blue Jays pick and a former player in the Chicago Cubs system are the two newcomers to the outfielder grass for the Canadians.

Arjun Nimmala, Cutter Coffey + Eddie Micheletti

Eddie Micheletti, drafted in the eighth round out of Virginia Tech last year, is a 23-year-old from Wilmington, Delaware. The 6-foot-1 left-handed hitter showed some thump with the bat with Dunedin with an OPS of .880, powered by six doubles and two homers in 20 games. Baseball America named Micheletti as having the best strike-zone discipline in the Jays system and placed him 36th among the team’s prospects.

Jacob Wetzel was picked up by Toronto in the Triple-A phase of the 2024 Rule 5 minor league draft. Hailing from Walkersville, Maryland, he signed with the Chicago Cubs as a free agent out of Frederick Community College in the summer of 2020. In his four years in the Cubs system, the left-handed hitter got on base at a .343 clip. With 27 career home runs to his credit, Wetzel spent the majority of 2024 with Low-A Myrtle Beach along with a 10-game stint at High-A South Bend. The 5-foot-9 Wetzel just turned 25 years old on March 26.

Catchers

Another 2024 Blue Jays draft pick and a free agent signing make up two-thirds of the Canadians catching corps.

Aaron Parker racked up five homers and eight doubles with Dunedin in 24 games with Dunedin, slugging .519 with an OPS just one point shy of .900. The 5-foot-9, 22-year-old right-handed hitter from Los Altos, California was drafted by the Jays in the sixth round last year out of UC Santa Barbara.

Hayden Gilliland joined the Jays as a free agent last July 21. The 23-year-old from Maryville, Tennessee played college ball with the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles and was a two-time All-Ohio Valley First Team selection. He checks in at 5-foot-11 and bats from the left-hand side.

Pitchers

One of the top Blue Jays pitching prospects will call Vancouver home to start the 2025 campaign. Rated number 10 by Baseball America and number 12 by MLB.com, Fernando Perez was the Jays representative at last year’s Futures Game. The 6-foot-3 righthander from Rivas, Nicaragua signed with the Jays as a free agent just 15 days into 2022. The 21-year-old has struck out 191 batters in 175-1/3 innings over his three-year career, including 86 punchouts over 82 frames with Dunedin in 2024. Baseball America says Perez exhibited the best control among Jays minor league hurlers last season.

The oldest player on the roster will be righthander Nate Garkow. The 27-year-old from Arcadia, California was signed by the Blue Jays last Canada Day. He split 2024 with Dunedin and Double-A New Hampshire with 12 of his 15 appearances coming with the D-Jays. He put up a composite 4-0 record with a 1.88 earned run average and 34 strikeouts in 24 innings. The 5-foot-11 righty spent three years in independent ball after pitching at Division II Point Loma Nazarene. Harlow pitched in Sioux Falls of the American Association before joining the Gateway Grizzlies. In his three-year Indy stint, he won 11 of 13 decisions with a 3.11 ERA.

Also new on the bump for the C’s in 2025 is 24-year-old northpaw Julio Ortiz. The pride of San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic was in the Tampa Bay Rays system after signing with them as a free agent in late August of 2018. His stay with the Rays consisted of just 5-1/3 innings in the Dominican Summer League in 2019. Ortiz was let go by Tampa in 2021 before resurfacing in the Toronto system as a free agent signing in late July of 2023. He earned his first professional win and save with the DSL Blue Jays that year in 5-2/3 innings. The 6-foot-3 hurler tossed 38-1/3 innings, split almost evenly at the Florida Complex League and Dunedin. Ortiz earned a win and a save with the FCL Jays and collected three saves with Dunedin.

Johnathan Todd was Toronto’s 15th-round selection in the 2024 draft out of West Carolina University. The 23-year-old righty from Stoneville, North Carolina dipped his toe into the professional waters with a trio of one-inning appearances, yielding just an unearned run with six strikeouts with Dunedin. Last month, the 6-foot-6 hurler pitched a shutout ninth to pick up the save in his Spring Training debut. It was just any run-of-the-mill save, it was the one that clinched the 2025 Grapefruit League title for the Blue Jays. Todd threw 13 of his 16 pitches for strikes against Minnesota at Fort Myers on March 22.

One pitcher on the verge of making his professional debut in 2025 for the C’s is 2024 Blue Jays fifth-rounder Jackson Wentworth. A 2023 college teammate of 2023-2025 C’s infielder Nick Goodwin at Kansas State, the 6-foot-1 righthander sat down 110 batters and saved six games over 81 innings with the Wildcats in 2024. Wentworth got a mention on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List. The 22-year-old did not see any action in the Jays system last year so his first professional pitch will come in a Vancouver uniform. Wentworth was rated 38th in the Jays system by Baseball America. For those wondering, his middle name is Carter so there is no tie-in to JG Wentworth, the American financial services company known for its 877-CASH-NOW slogan. You could go with 877-OUTS-NOW however.

The C’s are also expected to get 22-year-old righthander Edinson Batista. The Toronto Blue Jays acquired the 6-foot-2 hurler from the Houston Astros for fellow righty Nick Robertson on Tuesday. The Santiago, DR native signed as a free agent with Houston back in March of 2019. He was named a Baseball America Low-A All-Star in 2022 when putting up a record of 8-3 with a 2.60 ERA along with 113 strikeouts in 91-1/3 innings at Fayetteville. Batista pitched the last two-plus years at High-A Asheville. In his five professional seasons, he has won 19 of 33 decisions with a 4.77 ERA.

Returnees

Infield

Cutter Coffey, Nick Goodwin, Jay Harry and Adrian Pinto are back for another go-round with Monty’s Mounties.

Nick Goodwin

Goodwin is the elder statesman as he was with the club for the 2023 Northwest League championship, contributing a homer in the clinching Game 4 against Everett at Nat Bailey Stadium.

Coffey—acquired in the Danny Jansen deal from Boston at last year’s trade deadline—looks to rediscover the power stroke he had prior to his acquisition when he homered in six straight games with High-A Greenville in June. Coffey is ranked as the 32nd-best prospect in the Blue Jays system by Baseball America.

Harry—picked up from Minnesota in the Trevor Richards trade at the deadline—homered on the first pitch he saw in the Northwest League in his August debut versus Tri-City at The Nat. He also went deep in Game 1 of the Northwest League final and batted .313 in the postseason. Harry was a college teammate of 2022-2024 C’s pitcher Conor Larkin at Penn State in 2021.

Pinto’s long-awaited debut with Vancouver was worth the wait. After being activated off the 60-day injured list in August, he tripled in his first plate appearance with the C’s and socked a game-winning grand slam in his first homestand with the club. The former Colorado Rockies farm acquired in the Randal Grichuk deal homered in Game 3 of the Northwest League final at Spokane and batted .375 in the playoffs. Pinto also had a strong campaign in the Arizona Fall League, belting a three-run dinger in the Fall Stars Game.

Outfielders

Victor Arias, Jackson Hornung, Brennan Orf and Je’Von Ward are back again in YVR.

Arias is the number 30 prospect in the Jays system. He was promoted from Low-A Dunedin to Vancouver in late July and batted .324 in an 11-game trial with the C’s with a .425 on-base mark. He missed out on the club’s playoff run due to an injury in late August.

Jackson Hornung

Hornung is coming off a season that saw him lead the C’s in hits with 105 and was named a Northwest League All-Star as a catcher. He’s no stranger to moving around the field as he started 24 games at first base and 11 in left field for Vancouver last year.

Brennan Orf

Orf turned in a strong second half of the season after a shoulder injury sliding for a triple sidelined him for two months. He finished with a .777 OPS and batted .357 in the postseason.

Je’Von Ward

Ward introduced himself to C’s fans with a home run in his first game with the club in mid-June after signing as a free agent out of Kane County of the American Association. He also turned in a scorching August by slugging .500 and compiled a 25-game on-base streak. He is the son of former Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Ottawa Rough Riders wide receiver Reggie Ward.

Catchers

Alex Stone is the lone returnee behind the plate. He reported to Vancouver late in the season after signing with the Jays as a free agent from Duke University. He hit .273 in nine games with the C’s last season.

Pat Gallagher

Pitchers

Four hurlers who started games for the C’s in 2024 are back again in the form of Pat Gallagher, Connor O’Halloran, Grant Rogers and Juaron Watts-Brown.

Gallagher—who was also with Vancouver in 2023—was the workhorse of the starting staff with 91 innings pitched and also led the club with eight wins last season.

O’Halloran is the lone Canadian on this year’s roster. The Mississauga native was promoted from Low-A Dunedin at the end of May and won his first Northwest League start. The crafty lefty is the son of former major league catcher and Blue Jays farmhand Greg O’Halloran.

Rogers won his Northwest League debut and pitcher of the week honours with eight shutout innings against Tri-City in early August after a promotion from Dunedin. He also supplied 6-1/3 solid innings of one-run ball in Game 4 of the Northwest League final at Spokane.

Watts-Brown will look to refine his pitch mix and carry the momentum of a 10-strikeout performance in 5-2/3 innings of an eventual win versus Spokane in Game 2 of the Northwest League Championship Series.

There are also a lot of familiar faces in the C’s bullpen as Bo Bonds, Irv Carter, Kevin Miranda, Aaron Munson, Kai Peterson, JJ Sánchez and Chay Yeager return to the left field arm barn.

Bonds gave the Vancouver bullpen a boost after his call-up from Dunedin in August. He won his Northwest League debut with a scoreless 10th inning to begin August and won four of five decisions. Bonds also got the save in Game 2 of the NWL final against Spokane and escaped a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam to highlight two scoreless frames of relief in Game 4 at Spokane.

Irv Carter

Carter joined Bonds as a call-up to Vancouver in late July and looks to continue the momentum of his best season as a pro to date. He struck out 20 batters over 16-2/3 innings with the C’s. He was taken out of Calvary Christian High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the fifth round of the 2021 draft by Toronto.

Miranda’s season was cut short due to injury as he stopped a warm-up session on the mound after leaving the bullpen during a game in May. He did return to the bump and saw action with the Florida Coast League, Dunedin and New Hampshire. The righthander joins Goodwin for a third kick at the can with Vancouver

Munson joined the C’s from Dunedin in late June and struck out 27 batters over 23 innings to go along with a save and two holds.

Kai Peterson

Peterson will look to pile up the Ks by slinging away again from the left side. He punched out almost 14 batters per nine innings with the Canadians after arrivng from Dunedin the day after Canada Day.

Sánchez arrived in the Jays system after pitching for Williamsport in the MLB Draft League in late July. The lefty was promoted from Dunedin to Vancouver in late August and surrendered just one unearned run over 4-1/3 innings over four appearances. He was the winning pitcher in Game 2 of the Northwest League Championship Series against Spokane.

Chay Yeager

Yeager brings his mid-to-upper-90 mile-per-hour fastball back again. He won four games, saved two games and held nine others for Vancouver last season.

Injured List

Four pitchers begin the year on the sidelines, including a pair of 2024 starters in lefthander Kendry Rojas and righthander Chris McElvain. The others are righties Eliander Alcalde and Yondrei Rojas.

Kendry Rojas returned from an early-season shoulder injury to put up a stellar season in which he recorded a 2.59 ERA and had a 61-12 strikeout/walk total in 55-2/3 innings with the C’s. The Cuban southpaw is ranked as the number 10 Blue Jays prospect by MLB.

McElvain went 3-3 with a 4.56 ERA and struck out 54 batters in 49-1/3 innings. Acquired from the Cincinnati Reds in a trade that sent infielder Santiago Espinal to Ohio, McElvain was sidelined with a UCL injury at the end of June.

The 5-foot-9 Alcalde was 3-1 with a 3.24 ERA, five saves and 58 strikeouts in 66 innings with Dunedin last year The 21-year-old Venezuelan from Valencia has been in the Jays system since 2021 after signing as a free agent in February of that year.

Fellow Venezuelan righthander Yondrei Rojas also signed on February 10, 2021. The 22-year-old won seven of nine decisions with an ERA of 4.26, six saves and 57 punchouts in 43-1/3/ innings with Dunedin in 2024.

The regular season for the Canadians begins on Friday with a three-game series at Tri-City. First pitch from Gesa Stadium is 6:30 pm. Manager José Mayorga and the troops conclude their road trip with a six-game set at Spokane beginning on Tuesday, April 8. The home opener is the following Tuesday, April 15 against the Eugene Emeralds in a 7:05 pm first pitch at Nat Bailey Stadium. Tyler Zickel and Chris Georges are back behind the microphone again on CanadiansBaseball.com.