C’s Chat – 2025 Vancouver Canadians OF #19 Eddie Micheletti – C's Plus Baseball

Digging into the plate for another episode of C’s Chat is 2025 Vancouver Canadians outfielder Eddie Micheletti.

The pride of Wilmington, Delaware, was renowned for his work at the plate and behind the plate during his time at Wilmington Friends High School. Though he dabbled as a first baseman and outfielder, Micheletti was a freshman All-Conference catcher in 2017. He put together a monster 2019 junior campaign by hitting a whopping .561 with an equally eye-popping on-base percentage of .710. That led to more hardware in the form of the Conference Player of the Year award, along with All-Conference and First-Team All-State honours. Perfect Game also named Micheletti a Preseason All-American First Team All-Northeast Region.

Micheletti began his college career with George Washington University in D.C. from 2021-2023. He posted a .354 OBP over 43 games in his freshman season with the Revolutionaries, hitting a walkoff home run for the Buff & Blue against Virginia Commonwealth University on April 10. That was followed by a stop with the Greeneville Flyboys of the Appalachian League. Micheletti was named an Appy League All-Star after racking up 13 doubles and four triples along with a .411 OBP and an .838 OPS (on-base-plus-slugging).

The 2022 season for Micheletti at GWU was cut short due to injury. Limited to 15 games, he batted .310 with a .823 OPS with the Revs, but he made up for lost time with two stops in summer ball. Joining the Mystic Schooners of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, Micheletti had 12 extra-base knocks and 21 runs batted in over 36 games, including a walkoff hit against Upper Valley in mid-July. He also played eight games with the Williamsport Crosscutters of the MLB Draft League and hit .267 with a .351 OBP.

In 2023, Micheletti became a full-time outfielder and finished in the top 10 in a number of statistical categories in the Atlantic 10 Conference, including batting average (.384), OBP (.460), hits (86), total bases (126) and doubles (18). The positive momentum continued when Micheletti joined the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod League, where he batted .274 with an OBP exactly 100 points higher to go along with two home runs and 22 RBI in 41 contests.

The 2024 season saw Micheletti enter the transfer portal to attend Virginia Tech University. In his one year at Blacksburg, Micheletti was a major force with the Hokies by slashing .311/.464/.599 with 25 extra-base hits, including 12 homers, and drove in 50 runs. Among his highlights were homering in five consecutive games and belting a memorable grand slam against Wake Forest.

The Toronto Blue Jays would call Micheletti’s name in the eighth round of the 2024 MLB Draft on the recommendation of scout Coulson Barbiche Jr. Micheletti would receive a signing bonus of $147,500.

The Dunedin Blue Jays brought Micheletti into the fold and acquitted himself well in his 20-game introduction to professional baseball. He batted .292/.422/.458 with six doubles and two homers, his first being a grand slam at Clearwater on August 25. With a near 1:1 ratio of walks to strikeouts at 13:14, Baseball America named Micheletti as having the best strike-zone discipline in the Blue Jays farm system. That publication and also ranked him as the number 36 prospect in the Jays organization.

Micheletti is now in his first full season with the Vancouver Canadians and has added to his personal highlight reel. He drove in the game-winning run in the 10th inning in a back-and-forth affair in Everett on April 27. In May, Micheletti belted five home runs, which included a two-homer game by hitting a leadoff shot and a grand slam in the next at-bat against Hillsboro on May 30. His defining characteristic continues to be his ability to take ball four as he is hovering around the Top 10 in the Northwest League in walks to date.

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C’s Plus Baseball spoke with the 23-year-old Micheletti prior to the series finale against Hillsboro on June 1. This interview has been edited for clarity.

C’s Plus Baseball – Let’s take it to the start of your career. When did it all get started for you?

Eddie Micheletti – I guess it all kind of started when I was two or three years old, swinging the wiffle ball bat with my Dad. You know, just watching the Yankees with him growing up. That was when I really found my passion for the game and started playing like T-Ball and recreational ball, coach-pitch at eight, nine years old. So I’ve been playing my whole life.

CPB – Speaking of the Yankees, did you have a favourite player growing up?

EM – I did. Yeah, Robinson Cano. Yeah, loved his swing.

CPB – Your high school career, where you were a catcher as well. What do you remember about your high school career when you look back on it?

EM – Yeah, it’s funny. I’ve always been a catcher my whole life and I was a first-team all-state catcher in Delaware my junior year, but I was actually an all-district third baseman my sophomore year in high school, and I played first my freshman year. So I’ve been all over the diamond, but catching was kind of my big thing in college. I caught three years and then switched to the outfield my junior year and really found my stride out there. Found my bat as well out there and, you know, the game kind of just flowed better and I think it’s more natural to me, honestly.

CPB – Do you miss catching at all, even though you’re in the outfield?

EM – Man, those guys, I mean they work so hard. And yeah, I loved it back there and I love throwing guys out, but I also love playing outfield. So I wouldn’t say I miss it, but I can always do it if they need me to.

CPB – So if it’s like a super-emergency situation, if worse came to worst?

EM – Yeah, I can throw (the equipment) on and do it for the team.

CPB – You went to George Washington. How did you wind up there?

EM – I had quite a few offers out of high school. It came down to a lot of different things, you know, scholarship, coaching staff. Academics was big for me. I’ve always been very good in the classroom, and I take pride in that. And so GW, George Washington, was a great academic school as well, a great finance program. So I decided to pick there, ultimately. And then three years went by, and I ended up going to Virginia Tech, which I’m sure you’re leading into that. And I had a great, fantastic season at GW. And no, I didn’t really get any exposure to professional teams, and I wanted to play professionally. So I ended up hitting the transfer portal and ultimately picked Virginia Tech. Another great academic school, finishing my (Business) degree there. Fantastic baseball as well, great (in the) ACC, you know, so it was a lot of fun for me.

CPB – I know there are NCAA Regionals going on right now. Does that give you any memories of what it was like playing in college?

EM – Yeah, just watching those games. I mean, it’s so much fun watching all those guys play. It’s the best time of the year, in my opinion. Those games are so much fun to watch. And yeah, they do bring back a lot of memories. Playing with your best friends and the guys that you’re with every day in the trenches, grinding with. It also kind of reminds me of this team right here with the Canadians. I think we all are working super hard for each other and playing for each other. And that’s a team dynamic that is priceless to have. It’s very important for a winning team.

CPB – When you look back at your college, would you say any certain game stands out for you, either at George Washington or with Virginia Tech?

EM – Yeah, well, one that comes to mind, my freshman year, our rival, Virginia Commonwealth University, came into town and they were the first-place team in the A-10 (Atlantic 10) conference. And I ended up hitting a walk-off homer against them to seal the series, win the series. So that was a big moment for me. I loved that. I hit a grand slam against Wake Forest at home with Virginia Tech. That was a lot of fun. Playing in the ACC tournament, that was fantastic, in Charlotte, in the Charlotte Knights Stadium. It’s a beautiful stadium, great skyline in the background. So that was another fond memory I had. It’s been a great career so far for me.

CPB – The draft rolls around. What was that draft day experience like for you?

EM – It was nerve-wracking. I was with my family and, you know, I had expectations and assumptions of where I would go and honestly, I got to thank God for this, but it all worked out in my favour. Everything worked out according to his plan. I mean, I was told I would be (taken), like fifth, 10th round and I ended up going eighth round. It was perfect. Everything was taken care of. I was very lucky and very fortunate.

CPB – Did you have any idea the Blue Jays were going to be the ones to take you, or do you think maybe it was going to be somebody else?

EM – I had a ton of interest and a bunch of different calls that all came around at the exact same time, but the Blue Jays had a lot of interest before I came here. And Coulson reached out to me a lot. We were talking a lot. So yes, I did.

CPB – You had some time in summer college ball, and I think you were in the Cape if I’m not mistaken. What was that like? That’s kind of considered the league as far as summer colleges go.

EM – It’s a fantastic league. What’s funny is I actually grew up vacationing on Cape Cod in Orleans with my family growing up. So playing for Orleans was like really special to me because I grew up watching those games with my family. Honestly, it was just a proud moment every time I threw on that uniform because I grew up watching those guys and I wanted to be one of those guys my whole life. It was such a cool experience and the best part was we made it to the championship. That team, you know, I had a great host family. We had a great team dynamic there. I made some of my best friends. I still talk to them to this day, but I’m playing against some of them. The Cape is an experience because all those guys are now in leagues around me, you know? It’s basically just like a minor league season. That’s what it felt like, but with host families, and you got the beach next to you and everything, such a great spot. I could go on and on about the Cape. It’s one of my favourite things to talk about. I used to surf there growing up. Now there’s a bunch of sharks there, so you can’t surf anymore, but that was one of my favourite things was just waking up and going surfing with my family there.

CPB – You hit a big grand slam home run (versus Hillsboro) and a leadoff shot. What do you remember about those homers?

EM – I’ve kind of not switched my approach, but kind of came back to where I should be. Kind of just relaxing in the box, being myself and understanding what the pitcher is trying to do to me. Just trying to get on base, put up the best at-bat I can possibly put up and let my team do the job. That’s kind of what I’ve talked about with Ryan (Canadians hitting coach Ryan Wright) too, is I’m just going to go up there and give them hell, do my best, get on base, make it tough for them and then let the team do the job. And it just so happened that my natural ability took over. I barreled two balls and they were two homers. It’s not going to be like that every game but I think I can consistently, you know, keep putting up great at-bats like that for the rest of the season.

CPB – The first home run you hit clears the left field fence . What was it like when you were stepping up to the plate the second time with the bases loaded? It almost seemed like it was a Hollywood script that was too good to be true. That must have been incredible. You must have been like floating on air, running the bases.

EM – Yeah, that was a fantastic moment, but it really does come down to, you know, I feed off the fans here. I mean, they are so into the game, they’re chanting my name. It’s just like I clear my mind and I’m just trying to do the job for them and for my team. Just caught up in the moment, you know, things just go your way.

CPB – What do you remember about the pitches? Were they both fastballs you crushed or what was your approach? What you were looking for?

EM – Yeah, the first one was a 2-2 count and he (Hillsboro Hops pitcher John West) threw a backdoor slider and I was just trying to hit a fastball up the middle. I saw the slider pop and I just put my barrel on the ball and popped it out to left. That one was pretty cool because it was an off-speed pitch. It wasn’t my game plan to hit that but (my) athletic ability took over and got it. And then, you know, he threw a slider backdoor and I hit it out the other way. I was assuming he was going to throw a fastball first pitch, and that was what I was geared up for. That was the grand slam, I got my barrel on it and drove it out to right.

CPB – Is that kind of the basic approach? Be ready for the fastball but get ready to adjust to anything else?

EM – Yeah, I mean, I’m a guy who researches a lot of stuff and looks up videos. You can’t find a great (hitter) at this game that says he doesn’t try and hunt the fastball. Every one of them is on the fastball and rightfully so. You have to. I mean, guys are throwing 95, 97 (miles per hour). If you get off the fastball, you’re just in between, and you’re late. So, staying on the fastball and adjusting to off-speed, I think, is what every great one does. Here and there, you’re going to sit on off-speed, and if a guy has a tell, you’re going to do that but, you know, the game rewards the guys who hunt the fastball and adjust otherwise.

CPB – It wasn’t the first time you hit a grand slam. You did the same thing with Dunedin too. What do you remember about that game?

EM – It was a Sunday in Clearwater against the Phillies and I was, once again, in the leadoff spot, and I’ve never really hit leadoff in my entire life so, it’s a cool mix-up. I just remember the bases were loaded and I was trying to get the job done, get an RBI in, and he (Clearwater Threshers pitcher Kleyderve Andrade) hung a slider and I took a good swing on it and put it down the line. (I was) on the heater once again, he threw a slider. It’s kind of funny. You just adjust to those types of pitches.

CPB – You’ve had a chance to go into the Player Development Complex. Has that been a big game changer for you in developing as a pro baseball player?

EM – Absolutely. I mean, taking a look back on all my numbers, weight room numbers, exit velos, whatever you want to call them, throwing velo, everything has gone up, everything has improved, my speed, and I think it’s all due to the PDC. We have such a wonderful staff. Everyone’s working hard for us. The weight room, the nutritionists, the trainers, I mean, everyone’s fantastic. So, it’s kudos to them as well. We work really hard on that, and that’s something that I take pride in getting better and it’s very cool to have that.

CPB – What would you say is probably the coolest piece of technology there? I’ve heard of the Trajekt (pitching machine).

EM – Trajekt, yeah. I love going in there. Just working on like pitch shapes and stuff like that. I mean, you get the exact pitches from every single pitcher that’s ever thrown on there. So, it’s like, you’ll get the slider and you’ll know exactly how far it moves. You’ll get the changeup and you’ll know exactly how far it drops. You’ll get the fastball, and you’ll see how far it rides up. I would go in there, I would face Gerrit Cole. I’d face Garrett Crochet. It’s very cool. I’ve seen Chris Sale in there. I had a chance to talk to Alan Roden and he’s used it in Triple-A and now he’s in the majors, obviously. But when I was with him, he was in Triple-A. He was like, ‘I used it before the games and when I go into the game, it’s like the exact same thing.’ So, it’s really cool to even hear that from guys up there that have been using it, and they’re like, ‘Wow, it’s very game-like.’

CPB – Hitting here at Nat Bailey Stadium, you could definitely say it’s a pitcher’s park. I remember there was one near home run to right field that went off the wall. I think you thought you got it. I think everybody thought you got it. How much of the challenge is it hitting here as compared to the road parks where it seems like the home runs come more often?

EM – It’s pretty obvious that this is a pitcher’s park, but you know, I still think everyone in this lineup, you put a good swing on a ball, it’ll go out here. It is funny because other stadiums, I mean, especially Everett, it’s like 330 (feet) to right-center (field). You can just hit a fly ball and it’s way gone there. But I would say it honestly helps me because it kind of takes (away) the thought of like, ‘Okay, I just need to drive a ball out of here and hit a ball 500 feet.’ I’m like, ‘All right, I’m just going to do my job, hit a ball over the shortstop’s head, up the middle. And if I get it, I get it. I remember that one off the wall was off the top, but down the line, you know, I did think I got it but maybe the wind was blowing in too here and there, but that’s something you can’t control. You got to focus on your energy, your approach. It is unfortunate that I’m a hitter, and I’d probably missing out on a couple of homers here and there. I think it’s actually helped me kind of just come back to staying within myself and controlling what I can control so that’s all you can do.

CPB – You mentioned earlier about batting leadoff, and I know there’s some guys that have set spots in the lineup, but some guys move all over the place. How big an effect does that have on a hitter? Does it matter?

EM – I mean, my whole life, I’ve always been like a three, four hitter on every team I’ve been on. And yeah, it’s an adjustment. I’ve been moving all over, and I’m sure other guys are too, but I just took the mindset of, ‘I don’t care where I’m hitting. I’m the three-hole hitter.’ That’s how I feel. And like, that’s how they’re probably going to pitch to me. And that’s how they do pitch to me. They got their scouting reports. It’s kind of like, just take the mindset of you’re the three-hole hitter. You’re the guy, just go in there and do your job every time. It doesn’t matter where you are. I also like being the spark at the beginning of the lineup. I think that suits me well. It’s ironic because I didn’t know I had it in me to do that. It’s pretty fun. But yeah, we have fantastic players on this team. Anyone could hit three-hole, anyone could hit two-hole, and we got really good protection behind us. Everyone protects each other. Everyone can get the job done. It’s hard to build a lineup around nine studs.

CPB – What have you found the difference between the Florida State League and here. Has it been a huge jump for you?

EM – I would just say it was frigid cold in the beginning. And you know, it seemed like the ball was pretty dead in the beginning. I’d say the defenders are way better. I don’t feel like I’m overmatched at all, but you know, when I hit the ball hard, I get hits here and there and, you know, they make more plays on it. There’s been a lot of good plays on me so far, and I think that’s baseball, and you got to keep going. And that’s why you play 140 instead of, you know, 30 or 40 games. But yeah, I also think pitchers (throw) a lot more offspeed in this league. I’ve been working really hard on hitting offspeed and I’m improving greatly on it, kind of just recognizing pitches. I think there are more lefties in this league, too, little funky lefties, and I’m getting way better at hitting those guys. In my personal opinion, they threw those two guys (Hillsboro’s Nate Savino and Carlos Rey) on (May 29) and I smoked one in left-centered gap. The guy made a fantastic play at the wall. And then I hit a double down the line off two funky lefties throwing fast. It’s kudos to Ryan Wright, our hitting coach. I mean, he’s in the trenches grinding with us every day, helping us out, anything we need. I come up to him and say, ‘Hey, I want to work on a lefty slider, an angle lefty. And it’s already set up in the cage. And it’s like, he just reads our minds and he knows exactly what we need at certain points. And he also has great approaches and game plans on the on-deck circle.

CPB – Final couple of questions. You mentioned you were a Yankees fan earlier. Any other favourite pro sports teams?

EM – New York Giants football and then the New York Knicks.

CPB – Final question. The Canadians have lots of different uniforms—black, red, gray, blue, white and lumberjack. Do you have a favourite?

EM – Yeah, I’m going to go classic. I like the whites at home and I like the grays away. I really like those. Those are clean. I just love the matching colours with the pants and the jersey. It’s just a very clean and professional look. I also like the other jerseys. I just have my bias.

Eddie Micheletti File

Born – December 29, 2001, in Wilmington, Delaware
Height/Weight – 6-foot-1, 220 pounds
Bats/Throws – Left/Right
Uniform Numbers – Wore number 3 for the George Washington University Colonials in 2021 and number 24 for GWU in 2022 and 2023. Wore number 19 at Virginia Tech and number 40 for the Dunedin Blue Jays in 2024.
Twitter – @EddieMicheletti
Instagram – @eddie.micheletti
Walkup Music – “Love Got You” by DJ Mick (an Eddie Micheletti Production).
Professional Debut – August 7, 2024, for the Dunedin Blue Jays versus the Palm Beach Cardinals.
First Professional Hit – August 7, 2024, for Dunedin versus Palm Beach. Delivered RBI double in his second plate appearance against Hunter Kublick.
First Professional Home Run – August 25, 2024, for Dunedin at Clearwater Threshers. Belted grand slam against Kleyderve Andrade.
First C’s Hit – April 4, 2025, at Tri-City Dust Devils. Doubled in second plate appearance against Austin Gordon.
First C’s Home Run – April 13, 2025, at Spokane Indians. Homered against Konner Eaton.
Now You Know – Micheletti is the first Virginia Tech Hokie to be drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays. Former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder and current media personality Kevin Barker also played at Virginia Tech.