Canada has more top-end talent than ever before

The pre-banquet media session at the re-named hotel attached to the Rogers Centre on Saturday somehow seemed significantly different than at previous versions of the annual Baseball Canada fundraiser.

There were very few former players. Absent from what has always seemed like a rollicking frat-house reunion were most active Canadian major-leaguers, like Russ Martin, Michael Saunders and John Axford. The emphasis was clearly on the future, on youngsters recently professional and currently junior that will be the future of Canadian baseball on the world stage.

Could the reason have been Canada’s disappointing, winless performance in Miami at the World Baseball Classic last March, which may have soured the money people? The bottom line is that this has become a period of transition for the national senior team, even as the amateur program in Canada has never been deeper or more talented.

“The WBC for us — and I don’t use it as an excuse — but I’ve never felt it’s really reflective of us, of where we are overall as a baseball playing nation,” said Greg Hamilton, Baseball Canada’s director of national teams.

“It’s a depth tournament. It’s a tournament, for a country like us, where if we get all of our majorleague guys, we’re competitive and compelling. But we don’t have the major-league impact depth to sustain seven, eight, nine major-leaguers not playing.

“To plug that roster with a Double-A player, as good as that player is, a Triple-A guy or a veteran minor-leaguer, you’re playing against Giancarlo Stanton . . . “You just can’t.” Despite Canada’s result at the WBC, this nation did get a glimpse of its baseball future with players like outfielder Tyler O’Neill, first baseman Josh Naylor, third baseman Eric Wood and pitchers Nick Pivetta and Rowan Wick.

One Canadian that did not go to the WBC but will be an impact player for his country in future years is 19-year-old catcher Andy Yerzy, a native of North York drafted in the second round of the 2016 June draft by the Diamondbacks.

Yerzy sees the Jays’ Martin as a role model.

“He’s been in the league for a long time and is a respected player,” Yerzy agreed.

“I’ve met Russ. He’s a great guy. He’s an ideal role model. He never does anything wrong. He plays the game the right way. He’s a leader. He plays the right way. He doesn’t cause any problems. He’s never in anyone’s face and I respect that about him. He’s a very good player and he’s fun to watch.”

Yerzy played his first full season as a pro at Missoula (Montana) of the rookie Pioneer League. He posted an impressive .890 OPS, with 13 homers in 54 games, while throwing out 29 per cent of base-stealers. He is ranked 22nd on Arizona’s prospect list, even though his scouting report speaks of the handicap of playing in the Great White North as a youngster. He laughs about that. “I definitely felt when I signed I was ready to be a pro baseball player,” Yerzy said. “Because of the ( ju- nior) program and the way that Greg structured it, I had a chance to play close to 150 games against professional competition, so I felt ready.

Yerzy, at 19, has already been on many big stages, homering into the basket at Wrigley Field in a prospects game and appearing in a highschool home run derby during baseball’s all-star week. He is not intimidated.

“Those were two big events, but still my favourite amateur moment was the World Cup in Japan when I was 18,” the six-foot-three, lefthanded Yerzy said. “Just being able to put on the uniform and play against different countries. Very few people know what it’s like to strap on USA or Canada across the chest and go play in front of 40,000 people.”

The path to major-league success is never easy, but it was far more difficult for Canadians of the past, even for current big-leaguers like Martin and Votto.

“I feel like they light the path for us young guys,” Yerzy said. “People respect Canadian baseball players now. You don’t get overlooked any- more. You see it in colleges, better guys committing to better schools. That’s a big difference I noticed. There’s not as many commits to northeast schools only. It’s Texas A&M or Vanderbilt. They’re going to big schools now.

“People don’t overlook Canadians anymore. They know we can play baseball.”

What the Blue Jays, the Canadian government and baseball fans across the country should realize is that the 2017 WBC was the beginning of an important transition to the next generation. The top levels of youth baseball in Canada remain the same, but the talent is far deeper and likely to be heard from yet.

“That’s tremendous for the young athletes,” Hamilton said.

“You look at our junior roster this past year. Most of that roster is going to major Division-I schools, if they didn’t sign. With the schedule they’re playing and their talents, they’re ready to impact at that level of the collegiate game.

“Most need to go the collegiate route . . . it’s probably the same percentage in the U.S. if you broke it down.”