The Vancouver Canadians are still looking for their first six-game series win at home of the second half.
They dropped four out of six to the last-place Hillsboro Hops at Nat Bailey Stadium. On the bright side, the C’s did not lose any one-run games. They actually won a game decided by a run on Saturday.
Tuesday, August 5 – Hillsboro 10 Vancouver 7
HR – Coffey (9), 2B – Arnold (5), Cunningham (11) | Todd 1.2IP 0R 1K 2IRS
Wednesday, August 6 – Hillsboro 6 Vancouver 3
Coleman 1IP 0R 2K
Thursday, August 7 – Vancouver 4 Hillsboro 1
Batista (W, 6-4) 5IP 0R 4K, Carter (SV, 1) 4IP 1R 4K
Friday, August 8 – Hillsboro 3 Vancouver 1
Stanifer 5IP 2R 10K, Peterson 3IP 1R, Ortiz 1IP 0R 3K
Saturday, August 9 – Vancouver 2 Hillsboro 1
SB – Nimmala (15) | Perez 7IP 1R 8K, Munson (W, 3-2) 1IP 0R, Rojas (SV, 4) 1IP 0R 1K
Sunday, August 10 – Hillsboro 7 Vancouver 5
HR – Nimmala (13), McElvain 5IP 0R 3K, Coleman 1IP 0R 1K, Garcia 1IP 0R
C-Notes
Congratulations to C’s infielder Cutter Coffey for winning the Northwest League Player of the Month award for July. He batted .299/.373/.495 with a league-best 10 doubles and finished second in hits (29), RBIs (18) and total bases (48). The 21-year-old from Bakersfield, California had eight multi-hit games and a nine-game hitting streak from July 13-25. Coffey is currently on the injured list. He singled in his lone at-bat against Hillsboro on Friday before exiting the game one inning later.
Tuesday
Chris McElvain kept Jay Harry in center field busy in the first innings with Harry hauling down a Jansel Luis with his back to the wall before going to the warning track to retire Angel Ortiz to end the inning.
The game was delayed one batter into the top of the fourth. A Kenny Castillo ground ball went off the third base bag and over the head of C’s third baseman Sean Keys, who slipped and fell on the wet turf. That was enough to convince the umpire to delay the game for nearly 30 minutes.
Hillsboro’s Junior Franco nearly slipped in left field but was able to recover and retire Alexis Hernández for the first out in the bottom of the fourth.
After just giving cup a Cutter Coffey home run to start the bottom of the fifth, Hops reliever Daniel Nuñez got his glove up to protect a himself from a 104 mile per hour line drive that was heading for his face off the bat of Keys. It turned out to be a 1-6-3 putout on the scorecard.
Vancouver loaded the bases against Dawson Brown to begin the eighth but Eddie Micheletti hit into a 1-2-3 double play. Franco made a diving catch to turn the C’s away in the bottom of the eighth off the bat of Coffey. That was just before Harry scored on a Dawson Brown wild pitch with a headfirst slide so the C’s did manage one run in the inning.
Micheletti made an error trying to field a one-out single from Luis in the ninth before starting a 9-4-5 relay to cut down Luis at third base.
When the C’s cut the Hops lead to 10-5 in the ninth after a Hernández sacrifice fly to center off Jake Fitzgibbons scored a Keys leadoff walk, DJ J-Swing played Bon Jovi’s “Living On a Prayer” because the C’s were halfway there.
Wednesday
Jacob Lojewski was robbed of a hit by Hops right fielder Angel Ortiz who made a diving catch in right-center to end the fourth inning with two runners on. That was the only batter lefty Rocco Reid would face after relieving Hillsboro starter David Hagaman.
Cutter Coffey came within inches of chasing down a foul ball near the C’s third base dugout of the bat of Ortiz to begin the fifth. Two pitches later, Ortiz singled to center to start a two-run rally. Junior Franco injured the thumb on his bottom hand on a bunt attempt to move Ortiz and Cristopher Torin up 90 feet after Torin singled to right. Johan Simón would strike out and Anderdson Rojas with an Adrian De Leon walk in between. However, Modeifi Marte delivered a two-run single to right past a diving Sean Keys at first to bring score Ortiz. Then Slade Caldwell drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in Torin. Caldwell spiked his bat and elbow guard like they were footballs after taking ball four.
Hops reliever Sam Knowlton “lit up” the radar gun with a 108 mile per hour fastball with an ’08’ showing below the video board, but that drew healthy skepticism among the press box brigade. He did hit 102 later in the ninth.
Arjun Nimmala hit into a 6-4-3 double play to erase a Keys leadoff walk in the ninth but replays showed Nimmala was safe at first.
Thursday
The first three pitches of the game were action packed. Slade Caldwell singled to center on the first pitch of the game from Edinson Batista before stealing second base on the second pitch. Jansel Luis then reached on an error on the third pitch when his line drive was dropped by Sean Keys at first base. Two pitches later, Druw Jones hit into a 6-4-3 double play and Angel Ortiz hit a comebacker to Batista on the mound to keep the Hops off the board.
Arjun Nimmala was robbed by Luis who made a leaping grab at second base to end the bottom of the first.
Nick Goodwin executed a hit and run with a base hit to right field through the hole on the infield in the bottom of the eighth inning. Edward Duran went from first to third with one out. Bryce Arnold then singled up the middle to score Duran and a Jones fielding error in center allowed Goodwin to come home.
Friday
Gage Stanifer was nicked for a run in the first when Druw Jones blooped a single to shallow right to score Jansel Luis, who doubled to center before moving to third on wild pitch.
Catcher Edward Duran threw out Slade Caldwell trying to steal second on a 2-6 putout to erase Caldwell’s leadoff walk in the third inning.
The entire fourth inning was brought to you by the letter K. Stanifer struck out the side in the top of the fourth before Hops starter Daniel Eagen matched that in the bottom of the fourth.
It appeared Bryce Arnold was going to get an infield base hit in the bottom of the sixth when he kept one fair down the third base line but it was called foul instead. Eagen would strike out the side, rallying from a 3-1 count to get JR Freethy, who was the only Vancouver batter to reach base with a leadoff walk in the first. After that, Eagen retired 18 straight to earn the Northwest League Pitcher of the Week award.
C’s shortstop Jay Harry started a nice-6-4-3 inning-ending double play in the seventh by scooping and shovelling the ball to second off the bat of Kevin Sim.
After Rocco Reid put up two perfect frames, Edgar Isea gave up the combined Hops no-no when Alexei Hernández doubled to right field to start the ninth. Hernández took out his frustration on the ball when he voiced his displeasure about a strike two call two pitches earlier. Arnold was hit by a pitch and Freethy flared a single to left to load the bases with nobody out. Lefty Carlos Rey came in and put out the fire, giving up just a Cunningham sacrifice to center for the first of three consecutive outs.
Saturday
Fernando Perez needed just five pitches to finish the top of the first inning, striking out Jansel Luis.
Sean Keys got a hold of one in the bottom of the first inning off John West but it hit the right field wall in foul territory.
The Hops defence cost them in this one. Anderson Rojas could not handle an Aaron Parker ground ball at third base in the second inning. That allowed a Carter Cunningham one-out walk to move up 90 feet. Edward Duran then singled to left off West to score Cunningham with the game’s first run.
Perez gave up consecutive singles to right field by Luis and Jones to open the fourth but he was able to get Angel Ortiz to tap into a 1-6-3 double play to keep the Hops at bay. The fifth inning also saw Perez help himself out with the leather by knocking down a Kenny Castillo comebacker before completing the 1-3 putout just ahead of a headfirst slide by Castillo.
The sixth inning saw Perez receive a visit to the mound from C’s trainer Katie Reyes but he remained in the game to strike out Jones to strand an infield single to second by Luis.
Aaron Munson relieved Perez to begin the eighth and he stranded a Rojas leadoff single to center and a two-out walk to Caldwell. Munson would get the win when the C’s pushed one across in the bottom of the inning. Eddie Micheletti reached base with an infield single to third with one out against Hops reliever Joangel Gonzalez. After a wild pitch, Jay Harry came off the bench to pinch-run at second. A Sean Keys grounder to first brought Harry over to third and after Arjun Nimmala managed a two-out walk against Sam Knowlton by fouling off a pair of pitches, Luis botched a routine ground ball at second from Carter Cunningham to allow Harry to score.
Yondrei Rojas struck out Luis and got Jones to ground out to second after JR Freethy made a diving stop to his left before completing the game-ending 4-3 putout.
Sunday
C’s first baseman Carter Cunningham snared a high throw from Jacob Lojewski at third and applied the tag on Kevin Sim with one out in the top of the third.
JR Freethy was rung up on a 3-2 pitch that should have been called a ball by home plate umpire David Saball according to TrackMan. The C’s were able to follow with a two-out rally that culminated with a three-run home run into the left field porch by Arjun Nimmala.
Kevin Sim‘s left elbow guard worked really well when he was hit by a Chris McElvain pitch in the fifth inning. Instead of the ball going down to the ground, it ricocheted a good distance on the diamond.
C’s second baseman Nick Goodwin ranged well to his left at second base to start a 4-6 choice off the bat of Luis in the ninth inning to take care of a Cristopher Torin leadoff single to right off Brett Garcia.
A couple of former major leaguers were in Vancouver during the homestand. 2021 C’s manager Donnie Murphy was joined by former Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier, who is now an outfield instructor with the Jays. He also served as first base coach for three games. Kiermaier wore his customary number 39 for two of the three games but had to give that number back to Edinson Batista for his start on Thursday. Kiermaier wore number 35 instead.
C-Changes
Three pitchers have been promoted to Double-A New Hampshire in righthanders Fernando Perez and Yondrei Rojas and lefthanders Kai Peterson and Johan Simón. Perez did not walk a batter in his final 27 innings with Monty’s Mounties. In 20 starts, the 21-year-old Nicaraguan won six of 10 decisions with a 3.05 earned run average and compiled a strikeout-walk total of 84-19 in 94⅓ innings. Perez struck out a season-high eight batters with just one run allowed over seven innings against Hillsboro on Saturday.
Rojas has bounced back after taking a line drive in the head in Hillsboro one month ago with four shutout innings over three appearances with seven strikeouts. The 22-year-old Venezuelan signed as a free agent with Toronto on February 10, 2021. He struck out 36 batters and walked only six over 23⅔ innings to go along with a 1.90 ERA and four saves. Rojas ended his C’s tenure by getting the save with a perfect ninth inning with one strikeout against Hillsboro last Saturday.
Peterson made 29 appearances out of the C’s bullpen and went 3-1 with a 2.74 ERA with a save and a hold. The 22-year-old Citrus Heights, California native had a 48-22 K/BB total over 42⅔ innings and logged 61 innings and three saves in total with the C’s dating back to last season.
Simón pitched in seven games for Vancouver and went 1-0 with a 3.28 ERA and a save. The 24-year-old Dominican struck out 18 and walked eight over 19⅓ innings after being promoted from Low-A Dunedin on July 8.
Coming up from Dunedin are righthanders Silvano Hechavarria and Austin Cates along with lefthander Juanmi Vasquez. Hechavarria joined the Toronto Blue Jays as a free agent on June 7, 2024. The Cueto, Cuba native began his professional career with the Dominican Summer League Blue Jays and had a 5-2 record with a 1.84 ERA, striking out 57 batters and walking 16 in 49 innings. Hechavarria started the season with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays and went 1-0 with a 2.12 ERA over 17 innings with a 10-4 K/BB total. That led the 22-year-old to be promoted to Low-A Dunedin, where he put up a 1.90 ERA over 47⅓ innings while fanning 53 batters against 11 walks. In his young career to date, Hechavarria has a career WHIP (walks and hits divided by innings pitched) of 0.96. He will wear number 32 for the C’s.
Cates was a seventh-round pick by Toronto in the 2024 MLB Draft out of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. The 22-year-old made his debut this season with Dunedin and won five of eight decisions with a 3.51 ERA in 20 appearances, 18 of them starts. The Henderson, Nevada native did record one save while striking out 76 batters and walking 27 over 82 innings. Cates has been assigned number 27 with the C’s.
Vasquez was a free-agent signing by the Jays on August 6, 2022. Born in New York, he began his tenure with 323 scoreless innings in the Dominican before returning to the DSL in 2023 where he struck out 12 over seven shutout innings. Vazquez finished the year with the Florida Complex League and began 2024 there with four shutout frames there before getting bumped up to Dunedin. He went 4-1 with a 4.93 ERA with two holds and 38 strikeouts in 38⅓ innings. This season with Dunedin, Vasquez had a 52-11 K/BB total in 44 innings to go with a 1-3 record and a 3.89 ERA. He will don number 1 with the Canadians.
The C’s welcomed another newcomer to the pitching staff in righthander Brett Garcia. The 25-year-old from Long Beach, California, joined the Blue Jays as a free agent on June 16. He had pitched for the Ottawa Titans of the Frontier League, where he struck out 22 batters and walked only three in 15⅔ innings. Garcia began his college career with UC Irvine before spending two years at Baylor and one year at Abilene Christian College. He also pitched with the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks of the American Association in 2024. Garcia wore number 36 in his C’s debut against Hillsboro on Sunday and threw a scoreless ninth inning.
The C’s welcomed back righthander Aaron Munson from the injured list as he threw a shutout frame on Sunday. His last action was on July 12 at Hillsboro.
Going on the seven-day injured list is righty Austin Marozas. His last appearance was August 5 against Hillsboro before going on the IL two days later.
Infielder Cutter Coffey was put on the seven-day injured list retroactive to August 8.
2024-2025 C’s catcher Alex Stone was put on New Hampshire’s Development List on August 4.
All the best to righthanders Michael Dominguez (2022-2023) and Johnathan Lavallee (2024), who were released by the Blue Jays from New Hampshire on August 11. Dominguez had a 5.22 ERA in 50 innings with the Fisher Cats, striking out 61 and walking 29. The 24-year-old had been in the Jays system since 2019 when he was drafted in the 15th round from Jefferson High School in Tampa, Florida.
Lavallee struck out 38 batters in 32 innings with New Hampshire this year but his ERA was 6.19. The Jays apparently decided not to check the calendar because Lavallee was released on his 26th birthday. The Minnesota Twins 2021 draft pick joined the Jays as a free agent before the 2024 season.
All the best to Michael and Johathan in their future endeavours.
Other transactions in the Jays system involving former C’s…
Shortstop Josh Kasevich (2023) was assigned to Dunedin from Buffalo on August 5.
Righthander Alek Manoah (2019) was assigned to New Hampshire from Dunedin, RHP Ryan Watson (2024) was placed on the seven-day injured list by New Hampshire, shortstop Leo Jiménez (2022) was put on the seven-day IL by Buffalo and catcher Phil Clarke (2019) was activated by Buffalo on August 7.
Catcher Robert Brooks (2024) was assigned to New Hampshire by Buffalo on August 8.
Righthander Trey Yesavage (2025) was promoted from New Hampshire to Buffalo on August 12.
Other transactions involving former members of Monty’s Mounties…
- Infielder Cavan Biggio (2016) was signed as a free agent by the Los Angeles Angels on August 6.
- Righthander Nate Pearson (2017) was optioned to Triple-A Iowa by the Chicago Cubs and RHP José Espada (2017-2018) was optioned by Triple-A Norfolk by Baltimore on August 11.
- Infielder Jon Berti (2011) was optioned to Triple-A Iowa by the Chicago Cubs on August 12.
Radar Gun Rundown
Here are the radar gun readings from the Canadians pitchers over the homestand. A bar ‘|’ after a velocity means the pitcher made more than one appearance over the last six games.
- Chris McElvain 86K, 83K, 79, 92-94 | 93K, 93K, 82K
- JJ Sánchez 82K, 82K, 81K, 79, 80, 94
- Austin Marozas 92K, 85K, 87, 89, 90
- Jonathan Todd 92K, 80, 82, 84
- Jackson Wentworth 87K, 88K, 79, 80, 84-87, 93, 94
- Johan Simón 95K, 87K, 84, 95 | 97K, 87
- Bo Bonds 75K, 73, 74, 82, 84, 92
- Colby Holcombe 92K, 92K, 84K, 85, 93 | 86, 89, 91-93
- Javen Coleman 97K, 97K, 92 | 96K, 85
- Edinson Batista 80K, 80K, 78K, 79K, 84, 86, 91, 92
- Irv Carter 88K, 89K, 92K, 82, 91-93
- Gage Stanifer 92K, 86K, 85K, 85K, 95K, 87K, 96K, 85, 97K
- Kai Peterson 93, 94
- Julio Ortiz 84K, 85K, 97K, 86-88
- Fernando Perez 95K, 94K, 84K, 85K, 79, 82, 84, 97
- Aaron Munson 88, 94
- Yondrei Rojas 88K, 87, 95, 96
- Brett Garcia 83, 84, 93, 94
C-View
The Canadians begin a six-game series at Avista Stadium in Spokane on Tuesday. Jackson Wentworth will start the Tuesday opener and the Sunday finale. Gage Stanifer, Austin Cates, Chris McElvain and Silvano Hechavarria will start Wednesday through Saturday, respectively. Tyler Zickel has the call on CanadiansBaseball.com. The games can also be seen on BallySports.com. Game times are 6:35 p.m., except Sunday which is at 1:05 p.m.
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