C’s Chat – 2025 Vancouver Canadians RHP #5 Aaron Munson – C's Plus Baseball

This episode of C’s Chat shines the spotlight on 2024-2025 Vancouver Canadians pitcher Aaron Munson.

Hailing from San Antonio, Texas, Munson was a two-way player at Lady Bird Johnson High School, where he was also an outfielder. He batted .338 in what turned out to be his final year of high school ball in 2019 as COVID cancelled his 2020 season. Pitching for Munson moved to the forefront when he attended Angelo State University in 2021 in San Angelo, an NCAA Division II school located just over 200 miles northwest of San Antonio.

As a freshman with the Rams, Munson struck out 35 batters in 32-1/3 innings, mostly as a reliever and put up an earned run average of 3.34. He joined the Kansas Cannons of the Kansas Collegiate League that summer, winning his lone decision and ringing up 38 batters over 27 innings.

In 2022, Munson moved to the starting rotation and won 10 of 13 decisions, including two complete games. He finished with a 4.77 ERA and 81 strikeouts over 94-1/3 innings, earning Lone Star Conference All-Tournament Team and Second-Team All-Conference honours. Munson also put in time with the Upper Valley Nighthawks of the New England Collegiate League, where he went 4-1 with a 4.12 ERA and punched out 20 batters over 19-2/3 innings.

The 2023 season was one to remember for Munson. He reached double-digits in victories again with 11, losing only two decisions and fanning 115 batters over 101-2/3 innings. Munson capped off the season by allowing just two runs and striking out four batters in 5-1/3 innings against Rollins to help Angelo State win the Division II National Championship for the first time. He was named National Tournament MVP and was selected to the All-Tournament Team.

The 2023 MLB Draft saw the Toronto Blue Jays select Munson with their 19th-round selection on the recommendation of scout Max Semler. Agreeing to a $100,000 signing bonus, Munson began his pro career with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays before a quick promotion to Low-A Dunedin. He gave up just one run over nine innings between the two clubs.

Munson was back with Dunedin in 2024 and recorded a pair of saves, including two strikeouts in a perfect inning to preserve a win against Jupiter on May 19. He ended his D-Jays tenure with five Ks over 2-2/3 scoreless stanzas against Daytona on June 21. Four days later, Munson was promoted to Vancouver and he put together a solid string of appearances in July, including a three-strikeout effort over two innings against Everett on July 1. He fanned four more with a pair of goose eggs at Hillsboro on July 23 to finish the month with a 3.09 ERA. A bumpy August ensued, but he ended the season with four scoreless outings out of six.

Back in Vancouver for 2025, Munson is logging key innings in the bullpen once again. He earned his first hold of the year with two shutout innings in a win against Everett on May 13 to mark a stretch of four of six outings in which he has not surrendered a run.

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C’s Plus Baseball spoke with the 23-year-old Munson during the team’s homestand against Hillsboro in April. This interview has been edited for clarity.

C’s Plus Baseball – Let’s take it back to the beginning. How did you get started in baseball?

Aaron Munson – I think it was just at a very young age, probably, you know, before I could walk, my parents put a ball in my hands, and they always said, I always threw it, I never held it in my hand very long. I started playing T-Ball when I was probably three, so I’m now 20 years into this thing.

CPB – Take us through the timeline. Who did you play for, working your way up to Angelo State?

AM – I went to high school in San Antonio, Texas, went to Johnson High School, to be exact, played there, was only an outfielder all three years, and then I was getting into pitching. COVID shut down my senior season, and then I went to Angelo, started to learn more about pitching, and then, I guess, it worked out all in the end, and now I’m here.

CPB – What got you involved in pitching? How did it all come about?

AM – I went to Angelo State in San Angelo, they were very good, I went into a winning program, and as a freshman, I really wasn’t gonna have a chance to play in the outfield. So they’re like, ‘You have a good arm, let’s try the mound,’ and then I started pitching. It took me probably about halfway through my freshman season to get my first outing, and ever since then, I never looked back.

CPB – What would you say was really instrumental in helping you develop as a pitcher starting out?

AM – Starting out, I was like an outfielder. It helps, just kind of like what hitters think. I wasn’t a very high-level hitter, to be honest, but it gives you a little more of an idea of what they want in what count, and whatnot.

CPB – Was there anyone who helped you develop as a pitcher?

AM – The very first person that helped me out would be at Angelo State, his name is Coach Foster (pitching coach Adam Foster). He taught me everything I knew until I got to the Blue Jays, so I’d give all my shout-outs to him.

CPB – When you look back on your time in college, you were involved in a championship. What stands out when you look back at your career there?

AM – Oh gosh, a lot of good things, three really good years, three years going straight to the College World Series. I mean, winning it that final time, that final hurrah, it was awesome, especially to be able to start that game that you win the national championship in was special, a very special moment. And for Angelo State, it was very special to us because COVID really shut down that 2020 team, which was the year before I got there, but supposedly that team was supposed to be the best on record, so they never got to play because of COVID. So to go on and win it with some of those guys that were on that team meant a lot for the team and the coaches and all those guys over those four years.

CPB – How did you wind up at Angelo State? Were there any other schools that were recruiting you?

AM – My Dad (Scott Munson) went to Angelo State (in 1985), actually, so I was familiar with it. We would go up, watch a few games growing up. I never really thought about (playing) in San Angelo, Texas, but they ended up being my first offer. I went there, talked to Coach Brooks (head coach Kevin Brooks), Coach Mote (assistant coach Sam Mote), Coach Foster, all those guys. I got to look at the campus, and I enjoyed everything I saw. So I just decided, ‘Okay, I think this is the right fit, it’s not too far from home, it’s in a good area, let’s do it.’ And then I committed there on the spot.

CPB – Was your Dad a pitcher or outfielder, what did he play?

AM – My Dad was a pitcher in high school, but he played football at Angelo State for a few years before he got hurt, and then he stopped playing.

CPB – What position did he play in football?

AM – He was a strong safety, he was a fast linebacker.

CPB – Were you involved in any other sports?

AM – I played all the sports growing up. It was just when I got to high school, kind of just straight baseball, because I didn’t really think I had a future in all the other sports.

CPB – You get drafted by the Blue Jays, what do you remember about the draft day experience?

AM – It wasn’t for sure if I was gonna get drafted or not, so I was just kind of at home. It was just me, my Mom, my Dad. I’m an only child, so it was just my small family. We were listening, because I knew I had a chance, obviously, and then (my name) finally popped up, and we all hugged. I think my parents started crying, I think I started crying.

CPB – Did you have any idea the Blue Jays were going to take you?

AM – I didn’t have a lot of teams on me. The Blue Jays were definitely the heaviest, especially towards the end, leading up towards the draft, so I thought it’d either be like the Blue Jays, or like the Guardians or the Twins, but I was like, ‘I think it’s gonna be the Blue Jays.’

CPB – Once you hear your name called, do you remember who the first person was from the Blue Jays organization to reach out to you?

AM – It was Max. That whole draft day was kind of through him and my agent. I got so many calls.

CPB – Your first stop was Dunedin and going to draft camp. What was that whole process like, getting ready for Dunedin?

AM – You get a lot of, like, FaceTime, Zoom call stuff, and you get an email, and they say, ‘Oh, you leave in three days.’ You go to Florida draft camp, get introduced to everything in the whole org. You get introduced to how everything is run, and all that sort of stuff. Then they sent me off to Dunedin, and I finished the last three weeks of that year in Dunedin.

CPB – I’m sure you met a lot of people at your first trip to Dunedin. Who did you hit it off with right away?

AM – Chay Yeager, actually. Me and Chay definitely hit off pretty quick. We were roommates in Dunedin for those three weeks, so I guess that’s where we kind of just hit it off and be friends. Now me and him are, like, you never see one in a room without the other. So now it’s just, that’s like a thing around the whole org. When someone asks where’s one, they always ask where the other one is. But it’s definitely Chay, the very first, personally.

CPB – Did you meet any rehabbing big leaguers?

AM – Joey Votto last year, when he was rehabbing in Dunedin, but I had maybe, like, one or two interactions, and it was, like, a ‘Hey!’ or ‘What’s up?’ But no, I don’t really talk to those guys. I kind of just try to give them their space, whatever, like, you know, what they’re doing.

CPB – You got your first taste of the pro experience down in Dunedin. What was that experience like, getting used to pro ball?

AM – It was awesome. You learn a lot, especially being from, like, a smaller division school, like college. This game’s a lot faster, definitely. Definitely a lot more time on the field, so just kind of having to get used to just the pace of the game, and kind of the approach of it, I guess you could say. But I caught on to it pretty quick, and it’s helped me out ever since.

CPB – You had an offseason to prepare for 2024. How did you prepare heading into last season?

AM – I mean, it’s your first pro offseason, so you really have no idea what to do. For me, I just did whatever all the Blue Jays had programmed for me, just because it was my first offseason. In college, you always have one season, college season, and then you have summer season. But I just followed whatever they had for me, a starting program, lifting, running, all that sort of stuff and then I did that back home in San Antonio.

CPB – You start off 2024 with Dunedin, but then you got the call to Vancouver. What do you remember about that? I know José Mayorga has been known to have fun with the players before giving them the news they’re going to Vancouver. Was there anything like that?

AM – Yeah, it was on our off day, on a Monday, and I was at the field throwing with Bo Bonds, actually. I had music playing on my speaker, and we’re playing catch, and the speaker goes off. I was like, ‘Hmm, I think someone’s calling me, whatever.’ I just keep playing catch. (Jose) calls me again. I was like, ‘Okay, maybe I should get it,’ and then the phone goes off. I keep playing catch. The third time I get up, and I finally go and grab my phone, and I was like, ‘Dude!’ ‘You trying to, like, ignore me, dude? Like, do you not want to go to Vancouver? ‘And he’s like, ‘You leave tomorrow, the bus will pick you up at 6:45 in the morning. I was like, ‘Thanks!’ I smile, finish throwing and went home and started packing.

CPB – You get here in the midst of a series here (in Vancouver). What was that like trying to adjust, getting used to a new city, and some new teammates? I’m sure it’s a bit of a process to get your bearings here.

AM – Yeah, especially after finding out that you’re gonna go across the country from Dunedin, and I’ve never been on this side of the country, if not outside of the country, so this is all a brand new experience for me, which is really cool, trying to just adjust. It’s so different from the East Coast and Texas, where I’m from. It’s so cool, the culture’s just so different, so trying to, adjust to the culture, and there’s lots of different things, obviously. I love it here, it’s really cool. Definitely a lot of things going on, for sure, big town, big city.

CPB – What was it like pitching in front of a bigger crowd in Vancouver? Was it similar to your college experience?

AM – Oh, no. In college, the biggest crowd I ever played in is not even a quarter of this stadium. It was the middle of summer, it was a packed stadium, throwing in there. I remember the juices were flowing through my body, definitely a lot of adrenaline, but it’s so fun, they’re so loud up here. They make it pretty hard for the opposing team, for sure. We have great fans here, it’s really fun to play here, for sure.

CPB – Was there anything you worked on this offseason, now that you had that first full season under your belt? Did you feel kind of more certain of what’s expected out of you from the Blue Jays?

AM – This offseason, our main focus was just kind of put on muscle, getting some body mass and just try to throw and move better and throw harder. Right now, I’m throwing a little bit harder as of right now, but it’s also cold, so that’s hard to say, because it’s hard to throw in the cold. Especially a kid from Texas who was in Florida when it was 85 degrees, just getting used to that, and then I come here, and it feels like 20. It was just get strong as heck and throw strikes. It was just about trying to keep it as simple as possible. You don’t want your mind to start trying to do too much during the offseason. You try to pick out things to focus on.

CPB – Let’s talk about your pitch mix, what is it that you’re throwing right now?

AM – I throw a fastball, slider and a changeup right now. That’s just a simple reliever (repertoire) to get through a lineup once.

CPB – How would you rate them, from best to, well, you like it to be a little bit better?

AM – Fastball, I have a pretty good fastball. I’m a smaller guy, I get down the mound really well, so I’ve kind of, like, perceived (to have) a little harder velo than what it says on the board, especially being smaller so that helps set up everything else, obviously, because with your fastball, they have to be like, ‘Oh crap!’ on the fastball. Then everything else is just gonna play, because they’re gonna have to be ready for the fastball. And then the slider, when it’s good, it’s really good for me. I throw it hard, so it looks like my fastball a lot, because my fastball has a little cut to it, so when I throw my slider, it kind of mixes in. And then my changeup is just kind of, like, get me over, steal a strike, mainly for lefties, kind of thing. Just to get them to, like, go over the plate, to show them I do have something that goes into a righty, or armside for a pitcher.

CPB – The fastball, is it a cut fastball or four-seam?

AM – It has a little cut to it as perceived on the Trackman and all the analytics nowadays. It looks straight to me, that’s what they tell me, but they say it has a little bit of cut, you know, with carry to it. I just need to throw it at the top of the zone for a strike, that’s the hard part.

CPB – The slider. I’ve heard of two classifications—a sweeper and a gyro slider. How would you describe yours?

AM – I would say I’m in the middle, more of a traditional slider. A gyro would be straight, like, vertical up-and-down slider, that’s usually, like, traditionally really hard. The sweeper is more of that horizontal shape that you get that is usually slower. I have one that’s kind of in the middle, so it has a little bit of that glove-side movement into a lefty, but not as much. But I’m able to throw it as hard as a gyro, so I would say it’s more of a traditional slider.

CPB – The changeup. Is it a traditional circle change or a split?

AM – No, so I’m weird. I can’t pronate very well, so I could never throw a changeup growing up. So now with all this new technology, all the cameras, like the Edgertronics, the Trackman and all that stuff. Somebody, I don’t know who, some genius in the baseball world came out with, if you cut a changeup with a ball in a certain way, it’ll actually force the ball to go the right way and dive like an actual changeup. So I’d never heard of it, they call it a seam shift changer, so that’s a new thing in baseball. And so I started throwing it. It did nothing for the longest time. I remember I started throwing when I got here last year. And I never threw it last year, and that whole season, that whole second half, I never threw it. And I finally figured out in the offseason how to get the spin all right, to cut it enough to make it go. I know it sounds super weird, you’re trying to make the ball go that way, but you want to trust that aerodynamics or whatever smart people call it, make it go that way, so I don’t know exactly, but it’s weird. You learn something new every day.

CPB – The Player Development Complex, what’d you think about it when you saw it the very first time?

AM – I remember (Minor League Strength & Conditioning Coordinator) Aaron Spano, the head strength guy for the org, called me before headed to Florida, and he’s like, ‘Dude, you gotta check out like our complex, like it’s sweet, it’s brand new, it’s the best in baseball.’ I was like, ‘Okay.’ I went online, saw it, and I was like, ‘Holy cow! Yeah. That’s insane.’ I sent that YouTube clip to all my friends and my family, just to see like, ‘This is where work is now, guys. Look how cool it is.’ You finally get there in Florida, and you go into that gate, and you finally walk through those front doors, and it just blows you away. I didn’t expect it to be like this, like, I had a big expectation, but it still just blows it out of the water, and then you go to other places, and you’re like, ‘We have it so much better.’ So yeah, the complex is a 13 out of 10, I would say, on the scale, if we could rate it.

CPB – Do you pay attention to a lot of the numbers, or your analytics, or you just try and keep it simple? As you said before, you’re a three-pitch guy. Do you really pay attention to that stuff?

AM – I look at the shapes, and that’s usually about it, because if the shapes kind of start getting off, that means, obviously, it’s something mechanical, how the ball is coming out of hand. You want to be as consistent as possible, just so you can have the same pitches every day. Those are really the only things I look at. I don’t look at spin or axis. I look at the shape, and if it’s playing good, if it plays, it plays. If it doesn’t, then we’ll go back to the drawing board.

CPB – If you had to give a scouting report of yourself, how would you describe yourself as a pitcher?

AM – If I was a hitter, like, I’m in a hitting meeting, where I’m warming up to go in. It’s probably gonna go hard away, everything moves away from you, probably won’t go changeup in. If I was a righty, I’d just say over short, like, the second baseman, just try to hit the ball the other way, because everything moves away. Lefty, I don’t know, now that I have a changeup, it kind of makes it a little harder. I would say, see hard and up. If it’s not, it’s probably going to be down. It’s going to be a ball, and don’t swing at it.

CPB – Did you have a favourite major league team growing up?

AM – Texas Rangers.

CPB – Favourite player?

AM – Josh Hamilton. Growing up, I was a huge Josh Hamilton fan.

CPB – Any other favourite pro teams? I’m guessing Cowboys, or Texans?

AM – No, I despise the Cowboys. All my friends are Cowboys fans. Just because that’s what I grew up with. But it’ll always be Cowboys this, Cowboys that. My teachers have Cowboys stuff. I would go to the gym, and everything was Cowboys. So growing up, I despised the Cowboys. When people ask me now, ‘Who are you rooting for this week?’ I’m like, ‘Who are the Cowboys playing?’ And then they’ll tell me, I’m like, ‘That’s my team for the week.’ All my buddies, I always mess with them. But with Cowboy fans, you have the Longhorns. They’ve been okay the last couple of years, because now the Longhorns are good, but when the Cowboys and the Longhorns both stunk, it was not great, weekends were not fun.

CPB – Are you into hockey or basketball?

AM – No, I would say college football, outside of baseball, if I could choose a sport to watch, it’d be college football, hands down. I just love the atmosphere, and what it has, all the traditions it offers. Growing up in the South, I guess you could say, it’s just like, football’s huge in the state of Texas. So I kind of just went up to college and I just loved it ever since.

CPB – Final question. The Canadians have a lot of different uniforms this year—white, red, black, blue, grey, the lumberjack look. Do you have a favourite?

AM – I just like the red, I think the red just looks the best, personally, with both white and gray pants. It’s just simple, so I like the red a lot.

Aaron Munson File

Born – March 15, 2002, in San Antonio, Texas
Height/Weight – 5-foot-10, 180 pounds
Bats/Throws – Left/Right
Professional Debut – August 19, 2023, for the Florida Coast League Blue Jays at FCL Yankees. Tossed two scoreless innings.
First Professional Strikeout – August 31, 2023, for the Dunedin Blue Jays at Daytona Tortugas, fanning Lou Collier.
First Professional Save – April 11, 2024, for Dunedin at the Tampa Tarpons. Struck out only batter he faced to leave the bases loaded.
C’s Debut – June 28, 2024, versus the Hillsboro Hops, logging a shutout inning and one strikeout to earn a hold.
Uniform Numbers – Wore number 21 with Angelo State from 2021-2023. Wore number 41 with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays and number 21 with the Dunedin Blue Jays in 2023. Wore number 2 with the Dunedin Blue Jays in 2024 and wore numbers 10 and 5 with Vancouver in 2024.
Twitter – @aaron_munson3
Instagram – @aamunson27
Now You Know – Munson is the second Angelo State Rams pitcher to appear in a C’s uniform. Fellow righthander Matt Shannon was in Vancouver during the 2017 season.