June 15, 2025

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Some Canadian baseball news and notes from the past week:

Happy Father’s Day!

Up until my mid-teens, he channeled his inner Mickey Mantle to hit me countless fly balls down Thames Crescent in Dorchester, Ont. And I chased them pretending to be Chet Lemon. He’s a kind, quiet, patient, gentle and responsible man who has literally given me the shoes off his feet on more than one occasion. He’s my accountant, my Major League Baseball co-analyst and most importantly, a tremendously supportive dad. I’m blessed to have Ralph Glew as my father and I’m grateful that I will be able to watch the Blue Jays game with him this afternoon.

Clarke supplying “electric” defence in centre field for A’s

On Tuesday, Athletics centre fielder Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.) was named the winner of Major League Baseball’s Electric Play of the Week Award for the second consecutive week. In securing the honour in back-to-back weeks, Clarke became just the second player to do so. Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene was the first during the weeks of September 19 and September 26, 2022.

Clarke received the honour for this two-out running catch with the A’s in the fourth inning against the Baltimore Orioles on June 5:

For an encore, Clarke made what was, perhaps, an even more amazing play on Monday in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels when he robbed first baseman Nolan Schanuel of a home run. You can watch it here:

That catch inspired this Topps Now baseball card:

Since being recalled from the triple-A Las Vegas Aviators on May 23, the 25-year-old Clarke is batting .206 with 13 hits, including a home run, in 20 games.

Selected by the A’s in the fourth round of the 2021 MLB draft, Clarke is in his fifth pro season.

Toro red-hit for Red Sox

Infielder Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) owns a .357/.393/.554 slash line in his last 15 games with the Boston Red Sox. During that stretch, the switch-hitting Canadian has two home runs, eight RBIs, nine runs and has increased his overall batting average to .316.

Called up by the Sox on May 3, Toro is seeing regular action at first base since Triston Casas suffered a season-ending left patellar tendon rupture.

The 28-year-old Canadian played in parts of six previous major league seasons with the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners and A’s.

Josh Naylor belts first walk-off grand slam

On Monday, Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) clubbed his first MLB walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Arizona Diamondbacks an 8-4 win over the Seattle Mariners. That feat spawned this Topps Now card:

Naylor followed that up by blasting a solo home run – his ninth homer of the season – in the first inning of the D-Backs’ 5-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Friday. That homer tied him with his brother, Bo, for the most by a Canadian in the majors this season (See chart below).

Naylor is also leading Canadian major leaguers in hits (78), doubles (16), RBIs (48) and stolen bases (9) this season.

The Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team alum is in his seventh major league season and his first with the D-Backs.

Bo Naylor hitting well for Guardians

Josh’s younger brother, Bo, has also been hitting well. In his last seven games, he is 5-for-19 (.263 batting average) with a .391 on-base percentage (OBP). During that stretch, he has two home runs (to give him nine for the season) and has boosted his season batting average from .175 to .185.

Naylor clubbed a career-high 13 home runs for the Guardians last season and is on pace to surpass that number.

The Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team grad is in his fourth season with the Guardians.

Most MLB home runs in 2025 by player born in Canada

9 – Josh Naylor, Bo Naylor

8 – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.)

5 – Abraham Toro

4 – Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.)

2 – Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.), Edouard Julien (Quebec City, Que.), Jared Young (Prince George, B.C.)

1- Denzel Clarke

More zeroes for Brash

Right-hander Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) has not allowed a run in 14 relief appearances since being activated by the Mariners on May 3. He has struck out 13 batters in 12 1/3 innings.

It has been a strong return for Brash who had not pitched in the big leagues since undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2024.

In 2023, the 6-foot-1 righty developed into a go-to late-inning reliever for the Mariners. He led major league pitchers with 78 appearances and had a 9-4 record and a 3.06 ERA. He fanned 107 batters in 70 2/3 innings, good for a 13.6 strikeout-per-nine-inning rate.

Pop back in the big leagues with Mariners

The Mariners called up former Blue Jays reliever Zach Pop (Brampton, Ont.) on Friday.

In nine appearances with the Mariners’ triple-A Tacoma Rainiers this season, Pop was 2-1 with a 3.52 ERA and had struck out six batters in 7 2/3 innings.

The Mariners signed Pop to a minor league contract on April 16, two weeks after he was released by the Blue Jays. The 28-year-old right-hander had been sidelined by elbow discomfort at the end of spring training with the Blue Jays.

In total, the Junior National Team grad posted a 4.89 ERA in 90 appearances in parts of three seasons with the Blue Jays after being acquired from the Miami Marlins on August 2, 2022.

Fergie Jenkins was signed by the Phillies 63 years ago today. Photo: Topps

Jenkins signed by Phillies 63 years ago

Sixty-three years ago today, the Philadelphia Phillies signed a promising 19-year-old right-hander named Fergie Jenkins, out of Chatham, Ont., as an amateur free agent on the recommendation of local bird dog scout Gene Dziadura.

Dziadura had worked extensively with Jenkins to hone his skills.

Jenkins would spend parts of four seasons in the Phillies’ organization before making his MLB debut with them on September 10, 1965. But Jenkins would make just eight relief appearances with the Phillies before they dealt him to the Chicago Cubs as part of a package for veteran starting pitchers Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl on April 21, 1966.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Jenkins blossomed into one of the greatest Cubs pitchers ever.

Trail named after Cormier in his hometown

Thank you to Steve Kee for letting me know that a trail named in honour of Rheal Cormier was officially opened in his hometown of Cap-Pele, N.B. on Tuesday.

The 1.04 km trail connects the town’s arena to Bas-Cap-Pelé Road. According to a municipal news release, the trail “offers a new outdoor space accessible to the entire community. The trail also includes a newly built bridge—both sturdy and elegant—that crosses over Friel Brook, as well as a monument honouring Rhéal Cormier, a local athlete who made his mark in the world of baseball.”

Cormier passed away after a battle with cancer in 2021 when he was just 53. A longtime big league pitcher, he was selected in the sixth round of the 1988 MLB draft by the Cardinals. The crafty left-hander would make 683 appearances (second-most by a Canadian pitcher) in a 16-season major league career that included stops with the Cardinals, Red Sox, Montreal Expos, Phillies and Cincinnati Reds. Cormier also toed the rubber for Canada in multiple international competitions, including at the 1988 and 2008 Olympics and in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. For his efforts, he was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012.

Should Blue Jays target Quantrill?

With Bowden Francis struggling and the uncertainty surrounding Max Scherzer, the Toronto Blue Jays are looking for starting pitching depth.

So, let me throw a name out there — Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.).

The 30-year-old right-hander, who’s on a one-year, $3.5-million deal with the Marlins, is a durable inning-eater who owns a 3.58 ERA in his last seven starts.

Now in his seventh big league season, the Ontario Terriers and Junior National Team alum owns a career 46-41 record and a 4.19 ERA in 174 games (136 starts).

With the Marlins entrenched in last place in the National League East, they will likely be sellers at the deadline. I would think Quantrill would welcome a trade to Toronto.

Just some food for thought.

Johnny Mac’s Father’s Day home run

It’s without question the best Father’s Day moment in Blue Jays’ history. On Father’s Day 15 years ago, John McDonald returned to the Blue Jays with a heavy heart five days after delivering the eulogy at his father Jack’s funeral. As one of his final requests, McDonald’s father asked his son to point up to him after he touched home plate following his next home run. The Blue Jays’ smooth-fielding shortstop, who averaged less than two home runs a season, promised he would, but he cautioned his father that it could take a long time. Magically, in his first at bat after his father’s death, McDonald belted a pitch from San Francisco Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt over the left-field wall at Rogers Centre on Father’s Day. You can watch the home run below:

Griffin reunites with Cordero

Longtime Toronto Star baseball writer and Jack Graney Award winner Richard Griffin is serving as manager of the Niagara Ironbacks of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League in their inaugural season. Prior to a game on June 6, Griffin met Niagara Americans bench coach Wil Cordero and the umpires at home plate. It was a meaningful reunion for Cordero and Griffin. Griffin, who worked in public relations for the Expos for many years, first met Cordero at Olympic Stadium when the infielder was 16 after he was signed by legendary scout Gary Hughes. Cordero and Griffin were together with the Expos until the end of the 1994 season.

Richard Griffin (left) with Wil Cordero.

Fun Fact of the Week

We’re not even halfway through the MLB season and Jose Berrios has 10 no-decisions in 14 starts. That puts him on pace to break the MLB record for most no-decisions in a season, which is 20 held by Bert Blyleven (1979) and Zach Davies (2022).

BWDIK: Brash, Clarke, Glew, Jenkins, Naylor, Quantrill, Toro