C’S OF CHANGE
Just a few familiar faces in 2018
The stands will be packed for the Vancouver Canadians’ homeopener. Capacity in their dugout remains a work in process.
The C’s, who announced two weeks ago that their June 20 opener at Nat Bailey Stadium was already sold out, unveiled their preliminary roster Monday and it featured just 21 players: 12 pitchers, two catchers, three infielders and four outfielders.
Such is life for teams at the entry levels of minor-league baseball. The C’s, who are the short-season, single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, made 39 player transactions last June alone, and sent 23 different players to the plate and 29 to the mound during the regular season on their way to winning the franchise’s fourth Northwest League championship in seven seasons.
The Jays are currently putting various picks from last week’s amateur draft through their paces at their extended spring-training complex in Dunedin, Fla. Just how many will be available to Vancouver when they open defence of their Northwest League crown Friday with a visit to the Eugene Emeralds, or when they make their 2018 Nat debut next week versus the Everett Aqua Sox, remains to be seen.
“It’s always a challenge,” new manager Dallas McPherson said of the player movement at this level. “The biggest challenge is keeping the team chemistry where you want it. Then there’s on the field, where you are trying to figure out who can do what in a short period of time.”
The current group under McPherson’s charge includes a handful of names that the Nat faithful will know, most notably White Rock product Brayden Bouchey, a 22-year-old righthander who made it as far as the double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats this summer.
A 33rd-round pick in 2016 by the Jays, the six-foot-six, 215-pound Bouchey ended up being a key contributor to the Vancouver bullpen last summer for then-manager Rich Miller. For instance, Bouchey threw two scoreless innings in the C’s playoff-championship-clinching win, a 2-1 decision over Eugene, at the Nat on Sept. 12.
Another player starting this season with Vancouver who was part of that game is outfielder Brandon Polizzi, 22. The 2017 35th-rounder out of Cal State Dominguez Hills had made it as far as the single-A Lansing Lugnuts this summer.
“I was telling guys last night, ‘You’re coming to Vancouver. It’s going to be pretty intense,’” the five-foot-10, 170-pound Polizzi said, pointing to the fact that the
C’s averaged 6,303 fans per game in the 2017 regular season at the Nat, which lists capacity at 6,413. “It’s different than (rookie-levels) Bluefield or the GCL (Gulf Coast League).
“We’re sold out already for the first night. It’s going to be exciting.”
Newcomers of note include outfielder McGregory Contreras, 19, a Venezuelan who is the Jays’ No. 21 prospect to start this season, according to mlb.com.
The website gives the six-foot-one, 170-pound Contreras this scouting report: “The wiry-athletic Contreras stands out for his upside at the plate. He shows a quick right-handed bat that helps him to generate consistent hard contact as well as impressive raw power that should begin to manifest during games as he adds strength to his projectable frame.”
Among the possibilities to join Vancouver in the coming days is North Vancouver’s Will McAffer, a right-hander who was picked by Toronto in the 25th round last week out of Tulane University.
Toronto’s first-round pick last week was Texas high school shortstop Jordan Groshans.
Toronto hasn’t historically sent their picks out of high school to Vancouver, but they have shipped their college selections to the Nat and Vancouver could be getting second-rounder Griffin Conine, an outfielder who saw his junior season at Duke come to an end Monday with a playoff loss to Texas Tech.