C’s Chat – 2025 Vancouver Canadians C #6 Aaron Parker – C's Plus Baseball

Going beside and behind the pentagon in this edition of C’s Chat is 2025 Vancouver Canadians catcher Aaron Parker.

A native of Los Altos, California, Parker spent his formative years in baseball at Los Altos Little League with his older brother Ben Parker. Aaron found out at the age of 13 that he had Type 1 diabetes but that did not stop him from excelling at baseball and football at Los Altos High School.

Parker was a two-way player in football as running back and linebacker for the Eagles and was named the Offensive Most Valuable Player in 2019. His versatility also extended to the diamond as he posted a 3-0 record with two saves and a 2.93 earned run average in 14⅓ career innings. Parker’s bat did a lot of the talking as he batted .449 over his varsity career, including a .562 BA with 12 home runs and 41 runs batted in 26 games in his 2021 senior season. He also stole 14 bases in 15 tries. That capped off several accomplishments during his high school career, which included a two-homer, 10 RBI game and a 2018 CIF-CCS (California Interscholastic Federation-Central Coast Section) championship in his freshman season.

In 2022, Parker would head five hours down the west coast to attend the University of Calfornia-Santa Barbara. He made the most of his limited time in his freshman season by batting .375 in 10 games.

A stint of summer college ball followed as he headed to Longview, Washington to play for the Cowlitz Black Bears of the West Coast League. He would oppose his brother Ben who was on the Springfield Drifters. Parker’s time in Cowlitz was well spent as he batted .311/.378/.608 with four doubles, six homers and 19 RBI in 22 games. Parker made a big enough impression in Cowlitz as he was named to the Black Bears All-Time Roster over its 15 years of existence.

In 2023, Parker took over as the Gauchos starting catcher as a sophomore. He finished in the Big West Conference top 10 with a .551 slugging percentage and a .966 on-base plus slugging. With an All-Big West Honourable Mention in tow, Parker headed to the Cape Cod League and put up a .367 OBP in 14 games with the Hyannis Harbour Hawks.

In 2024, Parker was the big man on campus. He led the Gauchos in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging with a .379/.460/.632 line and had team bests with 12 doubles, 12 homers and 51 RBI. Behind the plate, Parker threw out 12 out of 26 would-be basestealers and did not commit a throwing error. He was a First Team All-Big West selection and was named to the All-Santa Barbara Regional Team. Parker also earned his second straight Big West Academic All-Conference award.

The Toronto Blue Jays, on the recommendation of scout Bud Smith, took Parker in the sixth round of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft and awarded him with a $297,500 signing bonus.

Parker saw action in 24 games and managed 13 extra-base hits, five of them homers, and drove in 14 runs with the Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays in his first taste of professional baseball.

After appearing in the Blue Jays Spring Breakout Game against the Minnesota Twins on March 15, Parker was named to the Vancouver Canadians Opening Day roster. Among his season highlights to date include a three-hit day in which he needed a double for the cycle and drove in four runs in a win at Spokane on May 9. Parker had another three-hit, four-RBI effort in another win at Eugene on May 25. Another highlight was a home run in the eighth inning that was the difference in a victory over Spokane on June 15.

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C’s Plus Baseball caught up with the 22-year-old Parker during the team’s homestand against Spokane in June. This interview has been edited for clarity.

C’s Plus Baseball – Let’s take it back to how your career started. What got you involved in the sport, or who encouraged you to take it up?

Aaron Parker – My older brother. I have a brother who’s two years older than me, and he always paved the way and led the fun when it came to sports. And I was just happy to ride the coattails and show up to games, and then I started to play a little bit. So, yeah, that’s how it all started, football and baseball.

CPB – In football, what position did you play and what did you like about it?

AP – I liked running the ball. I was a running back, and so when it came to high school, we were fortunate enough to be on the same team for a year, and that was the most fun I ever had playing football. My brother and I would trade in bringing the plays in and run the ball pretty much every play. So it was quite a good time.

CPB – Looking back on your high school career, you had 10 RBI in one game. What do you remember about that game?

AP – That game? I mean, not too much. It was a long time ago, but sometimes you see the ball good, and that was one of those days. And the boys were getting on, and, you know, just doing a little damage when you can.

CPB – Any other high school memories at Los Altos?

AP – Freshman year, we won the CCS (Central Coast Section), and the majority of the season, the one thing I remember, which is not necessarily a pleasant memory, but it’s a memory that stuck with me, was I was a shortstop on varsity (in my) freshman year, and I averaged about an error and a half a game. So, not necessarily ready to play shortstop. I’m glad I’m a catcher now, but we’ll let Arjun (Arjun Nimmala) deal with shortstop now. That was always a good memory, winning CCS my freshman year with my brother.

CPB – When did you become a catcher? When did that start full-time for you?

AP – I was always a catcher kind of growing up, but that’s not what the high school team needed me for most of the years. We always had a decent catcher, so I was more useful to them in the field, and that’s kind of where I played in high school. And then in college, it was strictly the catcher’s mitt.

CPB – You went to UC-Santa Barbara. How did that help you develop as a player?

AP – Coaching staff and just development first. Developing your mental game, developing your physical game, and everything in between. I really feel like I grew to become the baseball player I am today from those three years. Those coaching staffs were just unbelievable in teaching you how to play the game, how to handle the game, how to just learn, how to compete the proper way and kind of create the foundation for what I hope to be a long and successful pro career.

CPB – Any special memories from your time there? We just had the NCAA Super Regionals and we’re getting close to College World Series. I’m sure this time of year really has to bring back some memories for you.

AP – Oh, 100 percent. Last year, one of the things that I’m probably most proud about from that team, we were a group of guys who came in as freshmen and didn’t play much. And then our sophomore year, we fell short of making a regional, but we had a lot of talent. And then our junior year, we cleaned some things up, and we actually got to host a regional. And we went 27-0 at home. So that was a very magical feeling. And I just felt like everything that we did as a group kind of started to pay off. Every time we showed up on the field, we were able to bring that to the spotlight. And it was just so much fun. I still keep in touch with those guys and that special group of the recruited class that we had that junior year. I still keep in touch with them every single day.

CPB – Summer college ball. This is not your first time in the province of BC. You spent time in the West Coast League. I believe you were teammates with your brother for one of those years? What do you remember about the West Coast League?

AP – I was opposing my brother one of those years. I played for the Cowlitz Black Bears. And I remember going up to Canada Day, playing the Victoria HarbourCats, and seeing the most fans I’d ever seen in the crowd, drinking beer, having a good time. And I was like, ‘Wow! This place is not only beautiful, but they love baseball.’ It has stayed consistent here with this season. It’s amazing. It’s an awesome experience. I love playing baseball in Canada.

CPB – I came across something about Cowlitz that they’ve been around 15 years, and you were named as one of the members of their all-time team at catcher. I don’t know if you were aware of that, but obviously they really thought a lot of you there.

AP – Yeah, we had a coach named Alan Embree, who was a left-handed pitcher in the big leagues for a while, and he won a World Series. I think it was with the Red Sox (in 2004). He was another foundational piece of my development. He was such a good guy, and he taught me how to play the game. It just taught me a different perspective of the game, and he’s a little bit more free-flowing out there. A left-handed pitcher, and nothing but so much learning and having fun along the way. That summer was awesome with him. He’s such a cool guy.

CPB – The draft rolls around. What do you remember about your draft day experience? Where were you when you found out?

AP – I was in Santa Barbara with my family. My brother was actually training me. He’s a trainer, and he loves the fitness side of baseball, and so he was training me. My family rented an Airbnb in Santa Barbara for that month going up because I was staying there and training. I just remember waking up, and everybody was kind of a little anxious, a little nervous, just wanting to see what was happening. I didn’t really know what was going to happen. When the call came, my Dad was probably the most excited and most relieved because he had been a little stressed out the whole time. But it was a great day. It’s just something that we dream of. Our dream is to become a professional baseball player, an MLB baseball player. That’s just the first step to it. It was amazing having just four people, me, my brother, my Mom, and my Dad. We had a dinner after to celebrate, and it was just a great day.

CPB – Did you have any idea the Blue Jays were interested in you, or did you think it was going to be another team that might have taken you?

AP – My area scout, Bud Smith, we always had a great relationship. He was the first one to call me that fall, but there wasn’t that much conversation. I knew that there were a couple of scout days that I did some good things at, some good batting practice swings, and I thought that that might have jumped out to them and that they might have been a priority. The draft is kind of a beast of its own, and so I’m fortunate enough where I felt like the draft went really well for me, and I landed at an organization that cared about player development, which was the same at Santa Barbara. The first time I stepped in front of the Blue Jays (staff) and they were telling us what they’re all about, I was like, ‘This sounds so familiar to Santa Barbara.’ It really made the transition a lot easier for me.

CPB – You go through draft camp. What was that experience like for you?

AP – It’s cool. The only time I got the chance to play with East Coast baseball players was at the Cape, so it’s very new to me playing with everybody from all walks of life, especially in our country and with Dominicans and the Latin players. It’s definitely a new experience. It was just eye-opening. Everybody has a different way to play baseball and their different attitude and mindset, and there’s just a melting pot of culture in our sport, and it’s just being there and learning and talking and hanging out. These are my teammates. These are technically my colleagues, right? So I don’t know. I couldn’t name a different culture and a different profession to be in.

CPB – Speaking of your colleagues, I spoke with Hayden Gilliland earlier. He said you were the one that he hit it off with right away. Do you feel the same?

AP – A hundred percent. Yeah, we like to take it pretty lightly and have fun just because we spend a lot of hours at the field and a lot of time together, and so our entire draft class is extremely close. It’s one of the things that I’m actually most fortunate to be a part of because everybody really has a good drive for that success, and just to be friends and have fun along the way. I’m glad that all of us are, but Hayden and I definitely hit it off. He’s a pretty funny kid.

CPB – Your first pro experience with Dunedin. What do you remember about that season? It seems like you guys really jelled and really put together a bit of a late charge.

AP – Yeah, we were a pretty dominant college class. We had older guys, and we understand what it looks like to work hard, and we understand a little bit more about our preparation, and I just thought that it gelled. Like Sean Keys, Eddie Micheletti, Carter Cunningham, we all came from predominantly winning schools, and I think that there’s a lot of similarities in winning schools in terms of their culture and their process and that we all kind of were like, ‘Yeah, this is what we do.’ Now we just get to face new competition, and so what can we bring from that to here? And how can we mesh all that together and create a new winning culture everywhere we go?

CPB – Now that you went through your first full offseason with the Jays organization, was there anything they told you to focus on?

AP – For sure. I mean, there’s always room to improve anything, all parts of your game, but it was mainly with the catching. With the catching, it was kind of prepping my body to be a little bit more functional and have a little bit more mobility and flexibility. I’m not necessarily the tallest guy, and I’m not also the skinniest, right? So sometimes I get a little tight in the body. It was making sure that my body is prepared to stay in the positions it’s supposed to stay in. And then with the bat, it’s cut down a little bit of the swing and miss and try to put the bat on the ball a little bit more and see if that can run into more damage, and so that was kind of the focus for the offseason.

CPB – How do you feel your catching has come along as you’re now in your first full season with Vancouver?

AP – Yeah, I mean, there are ups and downs as always. You’re learning pitching staffs. You’re learning how to call a game, because most college catchers don’t call their own game. We have pitching coaches to do that, and so learning the game from a coaching perspective, from a managing perspective, learning how to control my own body, my expressions behind the plate, what fingers to put down, how to read a pitcher, know everything about him and everything about myself. There’s definitely a lot of food on your plate, but I’m just trying to pick away at it as much as possible, and I have such a good support staff with Mayo (C’s manager José Mayorga) and JP (catching coordinator Josh Paul) and all of our staff members that really are here for our development. Mayo every day, when sometimes you’re riding the ups and downs of a season, he’s like, ‘You’re going to make it to the big leagues. I know this for sure. I’m going to be watching you in the big leagues, but we take it step by step here, and it’s just making sure you can slow down, take a deep breath before you start eating at the plate again.’

CPB – As far as catching, one part of it is definitely the mental game and being a psychologist almost for your pitchers. There was one example, Khal Stephen, his very first start here. First pitch was doubled, fell behind 2-0 in the count, and you went out to the mound right away. I mean, obviously you want to pick your spots, but obviously that was a spot you felt you had to go and say something, and it worked out because things did settle down.

AP -Yeah. Khal’s another guy, a new guy that I’m kind of learning. The outing previous to that, you know, he had run into a situation where he was kind of taking a little bit too much wear and tear in the first inning, and he comes off the mound, and he’s kind of fired up, right? And so I was like, ‘Oh, I’m kind of learning that bits and pieces about him where that frustration and a little bit of fire behind his butt and his eyes help him, you know?’ So maybe in that first inning, if you’re not ready to go and you’re not ready to go at pitch one, then it’s my time to kind of light that fire under his butt. And then there are some guys where I need to go out there and tell them to breathe, and then I’m going to give them a little bit of a snapshot game plan for the next batter, and I’m going to be like, ‘All right, are you ready? Are you ready to go?’ And then they say ‘Yes.’ And then we go to work. But Khal, you take your time, you get out there, you say some kind words to him, and then he shows up, and he’s Khal Stephen, who is an amazing pitcher, has a great arsenal, and he’s very talented.

CPB -If you don’t mind, I’ll just talk about a couple of more pitchers. Trey Yesavage, what are your thoughts catching him?

AP – I mean, I could do this entire interview about Trey Yesavage, and I only caught him two or three times. I mean, he’s special. Like, the stuff, the pitchability, everything that he has is very, very elite, and it’s one of those games as a catcher where you’re like, I have to be good for him, you know? Like, I’m waking up, I know it’s Trey’s start day. Like, I want to be good for him. I could name a couple of others. Gage (Stanifer), where he’s just so electric. Like, I know what their potential is and how skilled and talented they are, and I need to make sure that I’m prepared for him. But Trey’s fastball, splitter, curveball, slider, like, all I know is that if I have a bat in my hands, I do not want to be facing Trey Yesavage.

CPB – You touched on Gage Stanifer. What did you see? I know Hayden caught him (on June 12), but what did you observe from him watching him go to work?

AP -He’s a stuffy guy, and when I mean stuff, I just mean his fastball is a very, very good pitch. His slider’s a very, very good pitch, and his splitter is also a very, very good pitch when we can get it in the zone. And for him, he’s a high-strung guy, right? So maybe that deep breath for him is the extra deep breath he needs to re-lock in and making sure that his eyes are on the target and not necessarily, you know, elsewhere. So for him, it’s locking in pitch to pitch, and you just let his athleticism take over. His power and athleticism speak for itself and stand alone, I think, against any baseball competition in the world. So I’m excited to see what he does the rest of his career, honestly.

CPB – Now let’s step to the batter’s box here. What’s your approach at the plate?

AP – It comes from a lot of, like, do you know yourself? What do you think your identity is in the box? And I believe I’m somebody who has the ability to do some damage, right? So I like to damage fastballs, and I like to hit things hard is what I like to say. Kind of King Kong-smash, and as long as I can keep it dialled in enough, I let it smash a little bit.

CPB – I’ve noticed when you get a double, I believe you have 10 doubles on the year, and we’ve seen a few of them here at The Nat. You do kind of a celebration. I’m not sure if it’s riding a Harley, or I’m not sure what that is. Can you mention what that celebration is?

AP – People like to say it’s like a pony. I consider it more like a quarter horse that runs the Kentucky Derby, but whatever you want to have it. Yeah, it’s just a little pony celebration. Honestly, it was one day we were all messing around in the clubhouse, and I’m like, ‘This looks funny’. And I stuck with it. It makes me laugh, you know, and when I hit doubles, I get happy. So, yeah, it’s just something that I thought was fun and would bring a little life to the boys, and it just kind of happened naturally.

CPB – How have you found it hitting here at Nat Bailey Stadium? I mean, it’s certainly more of a doubles park. We’ve seen some balls go off the wall here, but how’s it been hitting for you here at The Nat?

AP – I mean, I love it. I just think it’s beautiful. You can see the ball very well. Maybe it doesn’t travel as much at night, but there’s so much room for hits and base running, and that’s another part of my game I would like to improve on. The crowd makes hitting fun. We were in the box. I was catching the other day, and one of the hitters was like, ‘You can’t hear in here because it’s loud.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I love it, you know?’ So having the crowd behind you just makes hitting that much more fun.

CPB – I did have one question, and if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. Diabetes. Are you okay to talk about that?

AP – 100 percent.

CPB – Okay, what’s that been like playing with diabetes?

AP – I got diagnosed when I was 13. The first thing I did when I got home was look up professional athletes with diabetes, and I saw that there were plenty. And the first thing my doctor says was, ‘Hey, Aaron, I heard you like sports. Like, there is nothing that you did before diabetes that you can’t do after diabetes.’ And that’s something that I want to stress to everybody who has diabetes or anybody who knows somebody with diabetes is that it’s not something that’s ever going to hold anybody back. We have technology now that is amazing, right? So you have to use that technology to your advantage and do everything you want to do, and there’s nothing that diabetes should ever do that’s going to hold you back from a dream of yours.

CPB – How does that affect your preparation for a game?

AP – It’s a little bit more dialled in with food. So my food intake, I can’t be Sean Keys and I can’t eat the house before our game. You know, Sean Keys is going to hurt the pregame spread. And it’s one of our favourite pastimes watching that. It’s mainly diet on that day. And so we have Gatorade, and if you see me, in my back pocket, I have Welch’s. So if you ever see me chewing on fruit snacks, don’t ask for one, but, you know, be there with me.

CPB – A couple of more questions. Favourite Major League team and player growing up?

AP – Growing up, it was the Giants. I was a local boy. I’m from Los Altos, California. So I went to a lot of Giants games. My very first favourite player was Pablo Sandoval. My second favourite player was Bengie Molina. And then it was Buster Posey, of course. Matt Cain was one of my favorites. I loved Matt Cain. I don’t know why. He looked like a normal dude, and he was one of the best pitchers in baseball at that time. So I kind of like that. Baseball players aren’t anything but a normal person who sometimes just rotates really fast.

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

AP – Whichever one gets us the win. That’s my favourite. Right now we’re wearing the whites. Sometimes it’s the blues. I like the blacks. The black logo is pretty fun. The blues are cool because it’s like that ugly, cool look, you know? It has the mismatched colours. And I think everyone’s like, ’It doesn’t work, but it works when it’s on a baseball field.’ And those jerseys are kind of my favourite.

Aaron Parker File

Born – January 17, 2003, in Los Altos, California
Height/Weight – 5-foot-9, 200 pounds
Bats/Throws – Right/Right
Uniform Numbers – Wore number 7 for UC-Santa Barbara from 2022-2024. Wore number 34 for the Cowlitz Black Bears of the West Coast League in 2022. Wore number 47 for the Dunedin Blue Jays in 2024.
Professional Debut – July 30, 2024, for the Dunedin Blue Jays at the Daytona Tortugas.
First Professional Hit – July 30, 2024, for Dunedin at Daytona. RBI single versus José Montero.
First Professional Home Run – August 2, 2024, for Dunedin at Daytona. Homered off Ben Brutti.
C’s Debut – April 4, 2025, at the Tri-City Dust Devils.
First C’s Hit – April 8, 2025, at the Spokane Indians. RBI double against Felix Ramires.
First C’s Home Run – April 16, 2025, versus the Eugene Emeralds. Homered against Josh Wolf.
Walkup Music – “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley.
Instagram – @aaron.c.parker