C’s Chat – 2025 Vancouver Canadians C #35 Hayden Gilliland – C's Plus Baseball

Going behind the plate with 2025 Vancouver Canadians catcher Hayden Gilliland in this instalment of C’s Chat.

The Gilliland name has left a proud heritage behind at Heritage High School in Maryville, Tennessee. Hunter Gilliland starred as a catcher at Heritage High before heading to Walters State Community College in Morristown, just over an hour northeast of Maryville. He played three years with the Senators. His latter two years in 2017 and 2018 saw him compile on-base-plus-slugging percentages of 1.099 and 1.006. Hunter played a big role in Walters State’s drive to the 2018 NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Division I World Series final and was named to the All-Tournament team.

Following in Hunter’s footsteps is his younger brother, Hayden Gilliland. Lettering in all four years in baseball at Heritage, Hayden batted .266 and .374 over his sophomore and junior campaigns with eight home runs as a junior in 2019. He was named to the All-County and Team Tennessee Sunbelt squads, with the latter comprised of the top 20 players in the Volunteer State. Hayden enjoyed a torrid start in his 2020 senior season. He slashed .548/.641/1.419 with seven homers and 24 runs batted in over a COVID-abbreviated 10-game schedule. That was enough for Hayden to be named Heritage’s Male Athlete of the Year.

Cookesville, Tennessee was the next stop for Gilliland as he went to Tennessee Tech University. He would get the lion’s share of the catching duties with the Golden Eagles, batting .290 in 40 games in his 2021 freshman season. That earned him a berth on the Ohio Valley Conference All-Freshman Team. Gilliland finished out the year with the North Adams SteepleCats of the New England Baseball Collegiate League. He homered three times and doubled twice in 16 games. Fun fact: Gilliland was a teammate of current Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto for one game.

The next three years at Tennessee Tech resulted in .300-plus batting averages for Gilliland, hitting .313 in 2022, a year in which his 31 walks was four more than his strikeout total to help him reach base at a .440 clip.

Gilliland’s strikeout-to-walk statistics were even better in 2023 with 44 free passes, 17 more than his strike-three total. He batted .309 with a .976 OPS and was named to the All-OVC First Team.

In 2024, Gilliland punctuated a stellar four-year career at Tennessee Tech with 13 of his 25 extra-base hits clearing the fences to go along with a .325 batting average and a 1.002 OPS. His batting eye remained sharp with 44 walks against 28 whiffs.

Though Gilliland did not hear his name called during the 2024 MLB Draft, the Toronto Blue Jays would sign him as a free agent on July 21. He would report to Dunedin, Florida for draft camp but he would not see any game action in 2024.

Gilliland’s first game as a pro would be with the Vancouver Canadians in 2025. He was on the C’s Opening Day roster but began the year on the Development List. He was activated to the roster on April 8 but he had to bide his time until the end of the month when he got the start as the designated hitter against Hillsboro on April 30. He drew two walks in his first two trips to the plate and later singled in front of the hometown faithful at Nat Bailey Stadium. Playing time has been sporadic, but Gilliland has driven in three runs in his first four games as a professional.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by C's Plus Baseball (@csplusbaseball)

C’s Plus Baseball caught up with the 23-year-old Gilliland during the team’s May homestand against Everett. This interview has been edited for clarity.

C’s Plus Baseball – Let’s just take it back to how you wound up with the Blue Jays.

Hayden Gilliland – Well, I was a four-year starter at Tennessee Tech, so I kind of split time my freshman and sophomore year. Played somewhere between 40 and 45 games, so not every game. But when I wasn’t catching, I would sneak in, get some pinch hits, get some DH (appearances). And then my junior and senior years are really where I kind of took the team and I knew I was the catcher then. So freedom comes with that. I feel like, my play was enhanced and was just really learning how to be the captain of the team and leading others was a big part for me. And knowing I had the starting position obviously helped with that. And then from there, it was just let my play talk, really. I caught every single game my senior year, so I literally sat down with my coach after my junior year and I was like, ‘I want to catch every single ball game.’ I love the ownership. I put that kind of pressure on me. But in a way, like I said, it kind of freed me up just knowing that that’s my spot and it’s my responsibility. I put it on me, like if we gave up 10 runs a game, those are my 10 runs. It wasn’t anybody else’s fault but mine. So I kind of like the pressure and some of the freedom. And I think that really helped me a lot in college.

CPB – Talking about catching. There’s so much to it. Having to learn the pitchers, the assignments, kind of like being the field general. Is that something that really appeals to you?

HG – For sure, for sure. I love it. Just the control of everybody, you know, knowing that I got their back, they got mine, and that’s a great feeling. I think pretty much every team kind of has that. And being responsible for that at the catching position is definitely like, if you’ve got a good team, you can almost take a little bit of ownership for a good team, you know? And like a good staff goes into that. So, yeah, just learning the players, being the guy that people can go to, is definitely one of my favourite things.

CPB – Is there somebody maybe you look up to as far as catching goes in the majors?

HG – Obviously I love Yadi (Yadier Molina). He’s the GOAT in my opinion. I got to watch my brother play in college, and he was a catcher. So before I really knew what was going on, I think I was going through high school, probably freshman, sophomore, junior year when he was in college. And he went to a pretty good junior college, Walters State, and they had a really good team. So I pretty much just got to watch him and saw how he went about his work, and got to talk to him after games. And I kind of just morphed my game after him and just tried to be better than him. So that helped. That was a lot of motivation. But at the big league level, yeah, Yadi for sure.

CPB – Were you a Cardinals fan growing up?

HG – Braves fan. The OG for me was Brian McCann. I don’t know, that’s like circa 2010. Something like that. So Brian McCann was my guy for the Braves. But Yadi’s a GOAT.

CPB – You mentioned your brother was a big influence in your catching. Were you always a catcher throughout your career?

HG – I was. So probably nine or ten. I think my travel ball coach was like, ‘You seem like you’d be a good catcher.’ From there on, I was a catcher. I mean, I played a little bit of third here and there in travel ball and high school. But I wasn’t very good at third. Didn’t really like it. I liked being in every pitch of the game. Third seemed a little boring to me.

CPB – You wind up with the Blue Jays. And from what you mentioned to me before, a total surprise out of the blue. Talk about what that experience was like hearing from the Blue Jays.

HG – I knew I had a decent chance with my college numbers and college career to make it to the next level. So nothing had really came about. I think the Braves called my coach in my junior year. Nothing really serious. So going into my senior year, I was just like, ‘Dude, this is my last year of baseball. Let’s just put up the best numbers, have the most fun that you can possibly have.’ And that’s exactly what happened. Literally, I just took off. Had a very good start to the year. Had a few teams calling to check in during the middle of the year. Filling out questionnaires for teams. And I think I had maybe three teams kind of on their radar. Nothing too serious. The Yankees were calling me on day two of the draft, talking about a money-saving option round. So I had a little bit of contact, and then day three of the draft, the Blue Jays called me for the first time I’d ever spoken to them. And they said, ‘We want you, we’d like to offer you.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, this is amazing! Let’s do it!’ That’s all I needed.

CPB – I just wanted to roll it back to questionnaires. I’m not going to ask you for specifics,but how different are they from each team, these questionnaires?

HG – They’re not much different. I mean, you get your ones that are broader than others. Some of them are very specific, and they ask you how you would shape your team if you were the captain of it, and how you would call a certain pitching staff for a catcher questionnaire, I guess. And then some of them were kind of broad and just asking personal information and college information, stuff like that. So it kind of differed in a way, but they were asking similar questions.

CPB – Was it was really stressful that whole time? You’re thinking, ‘Maybe I’ll get drafted.’ And then the Jays finally did step in and sign you.

HG – For sure, because, I mean, obviously nobody wants their career to end. And if there’s a glimpse, like I had a tiny glimpse of maybe, you know. So, yeah, very stressful. I was just praying, and my parents were praying, just having confidence that maybe something could happen. But, for sure, it was a huge relief when it finally happened because of how stressful the situation is.

CPB – You signed in late July, and I assume you were also part of the draft camp and all that, going through those activities. What was that experience like, getting introduced to pro ball that way?

HG – It was awesome. Tennessee Tech is not too glamorous, for sure. We didn’t get much. We have a really low budget, so coming to pro ball, and especially the Blue Jays, it was just an insane culture shock. So I got availability to literally everything you need in baseball. I got analytic guys. We have this thing called the Trajekt Machine, which is insane. It’s literally a pitcher on a wall that a ball comes out of. So a little starstruck at first, obviously, and just knowing that you might have Vladdy across the clubhouse or some of those guys. Definitely a little starstruck in a way. But it was good. I mean, everybody was very inviting, and everybody takes care of you there, really. Like, they’re all there for your best interests, and they make that known. So I think that gives you some comfort. And all the guys that I came in with, I like pretty good. So that was a pretty easy transition. Baseball guys are always baseball guys, in my opinion. So pretty easy to get along with a team.

CPB – Was there anybody with whom you hit it off with as far as fellow players or coaches? Who did you just connect with right away?

HG – I think Aaron Parker. Literally, I think the first few days that I got there. He’s a Cali guy, I’m from Tennessee. Complete opposite personalities and whatever. Complete opposite people, but, like, that’s my guy. Immediately, as soon as I met him, I was like, ‘This is a guy that I can get down with.’ Alex Stone, he just left, went to Double-A. Another really good guy. We’re spending the most time together, but those guys were awesome. Colby Holcombe. Yeah, just a few guys you can just run around with. We golf a lot in spring training. I love finding guys that love to golf, because I’ll golf with you every day. Yeah, everybody was pretty easy to get along with, though. But those guys I definitely hit it off well with.

CPB – The offseason, what was that like for you? I’m sure you guys spent a lot of time in the Player Development Complex. Are you a big analytics guy?

HG – Not much. I mean, when they’re available, I love looking at them, obviously. But I don’t harp on them too much. Just one of those things. The way I look at it, if you hit, you hit. If you pitch, you pitch. If the pitch is working, but it’s got bad analytics, who cares kind of thing. So I’m not too much into analytics. But I know right when I got there after draft camp, we went through that. I stayed in the FCL, went through a little development league kind of thing, and then got to stay for strength and conditioning camp for a month. So that was awesome to start my summer off and just keep building on that through the offseason. And I’m blessed to have some pretty cool spots to train when I’m back home with some pretty cool people.

CPB – 2025, you’re here with the team on opening day. It took a while for you to finally get added to the roster from the Development List. How did you keep yourself going through that time? I’m sure that really had to test your patience, but what was that experience like, knowing that you’ve got to wait a bit but your time will come?

HG – For sure. It’s one of those things where when you get your chance, you don’t want to mess up and you want to perform. So that thought always lingers. If I get in, what am I going to do? I think it’s really just being stuck to the process instead of looking for results immediately. Also, it was really easy with these guys. They didn’t make me seem like I wasn’t part of the team or anything crazy like that. They always included me. It was just one of those things. I just had to wait on my turn, and thankfully it came a couple of weeks ago. Now it’s just time to build on that and still trust the process. Don’t be super result-oriented. I love these guys, so it’s fun to play with them.

CPB – That first game, you draw two walks in your first two at-bats, two walks. I noticed at one point you fist-bumped the Hops first baseman (Jackson Feltner). Did you know him?

HG – I did. I played against him in college (Morehead State), so we were both in the same conference (Ohio Valley Confernece). I got to see that guy hit 15 home runs in college, and then he got drafted the year before me. So it’s cool to meet up with him and finally at this level. That’s a surreal experience. I call our conference the trenches. We don’t get too much hype, and the good players are the only ones that make it out. So it’s good to see him make it up here and be thriving somewhat. That was the good news.

CPB – The next night you are called out of the bullpen. I know that’s not a situation any position player wants to be in, but I’m sure they give you a lot of time to mentally prepare. When did you find out?

HG – About the eighth inning. They called down and said, ‘Gilliland, we’re getting beat a little bit right here. Need to save some arms for the week. Would you be opposed to going in?’ I’m sitting down there just catching bullpens for the guys. So it came as quite a shock to me, but I was like, ‘Yeah, I got you, no problem.’ That’s no big deal. You can see the position players out here going through pitching routines and acting like we’re pitchers all the time. So I was like, ‘Well, this is pretty awesome. I actually get to go up there and throw.’ But yeah, they said ‘Don’t throw a ball over 80 (miles per hour), don’t throw any off speed.’ So they gave me some limitations, which I was pretty bummed out about. But yeah, I had fun up there. Sucks that we lost, but it was fun.

CPB – So you weren’t going to be lighting up the radar gun. They didn’t want you to do that. Was it fastballs, change-ups, anything like that?

HG – You know, it was a fastball. It was a four-seam fastball every single pitch at about 77 miles an hour. And I told you I don’t like analytics, but I’m going to give you these analytics because they’re pretty impressive. I was throwing the fastball at 20 inches of vert (vertical break), which is very good for somebody throwing 95. It obviously looks a little bit better than 77, but it did have 20 inches of vertical break and then 10 horizontal. So the numbers are there.

CPB – The final question. The Canadians have a lot of different uniforms, black, red, blue, white, gray, the lumberjack uniforms. Do you have a favourite?

HG – You know, I’m really excited for the yellow, the (South Asian) heritage jersey, I think they call it here. Yes, I’m super excited for that one. That one’s going to pop out for the home crowd here. That one’s really going to catch some eyes. I think my favourite that we wear every week would have to probably be the black jersey. I like the black and gray look when we’re on the road, black and white look when we’re here. I think it contrasts pretty well. Everybody’s got pretty sweet black accessories, you know. Black’s just a good colour, you know, you can match it with about everything.

Hayden Gilliland File

Born – October 29, 2001, in Maryville, Tennessee
Height/Weight – 5-foot-11, 175 pounds
Bats/Throws – Left/Right
Uniform Numbers – Wore number 16 with the North Adams SteepleCats in 2021. Wore number 25 with the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles from 2021-2024.
Professional Debut – April 30, 2025, Vancouver Canadians versus Hillsboro Hops.
First Professional Plate Appearance – April 30, 2025, drew walk against Hillsboro’s Nate Savino.
First Professional Hit – April 30, 2025, singled against Hillsboro’s Sam Knowlton.
Walkup Music – “Bam Bam” by Sister Nancy.
Twitter – @HaydenGillilan2
Instagram – @hayden.gilliland
Now You Know – Gilliland is the first position player to join the Toronto Blue Jays organization from Tennessee Tech. Pitcher Bubbie Buzachero was the first Golden Eagle drafted by the Blue Jays in the 23rd round of the 2002 MLB Draft.