July 18, 2022

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

This page is dedicated to the memory of the late Warren Bechard, whose son Jess played INF at Kent State and held many career hitting numbers when he graduated.

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Blue Jays third round pick (98th over-all): OF Alan Roden from Creighton University … the slot spot is $623,2000. In the spring he batted .387 with 25 doubles, two triples, four homers, 46 and a 1.090 OPS. And on the Cape with the Wareham Gatemen he batted .212 with five doubles, six RBIs and a .661 OPS.

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Top Canuck pick ... The Milwaukee Brewers chose INF Dylan O’Rae (Toronto, Ont.) of the Great Lake Canadians and the Junior National Team. At 5-foot-8, the speedster has a lot of Stubby Clapp in him. Slot money for the third round pick (102nd over all in North Amercia) is $600,400.

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Second Canadian pick ... C Lamar King, Jr. who was born in Vancouver, BC when his mother, Carmella, a BC transplant returned from Seattle for her own baby shower in Vancouver. It wound up being a heck of a baby shower considering her water broke when her car was second in line.

King, who attended Calvert Hall College, went 120th overall in the fourth round (120th), which brings a $503,600 slot money. He’s a 6-foot-3, 215 pounder.

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Third Canadian pick: 3B David McCabe (Oshawa, Ont.) of UNC Charlotte, also was a fourth rounder (125th) going to the World Series ‘champeem’ Atlanta Braves. The 175th pick has a $478,700 slot bonus.

He played for Team Ontario and the Ontario Blue Jays. McCabe hit .386 with 13 doubles, 16 homers and 52 RBIs in 42 games while compiling a 1.297 OPS.

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Jays 4th round pick (128th over-all) .. RHP Ryan Jennings from Louisiana Tech. The fifth-year senior is attached with a slot of $465,400. Jennings appeared in 21 games -- making 14 starts -- going 6-1 with a 3.59 ERA. He walked 37 and struck out 95 in 90 1/3 innings.

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Jays fifth round selection (158th) ... LHP Mason Fluharty from the Liberty University Flames with a slot amount of $346,800. Pitching in relief, Fluharty was 6-3 with two saves and a 2.84 ERA in 26 games. He issued 10 walks and whiffed 83 in 50 2/3 innings.

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Fourth Canadian selection: SS Nathaniel Ochoa (Burlington, Ont.) was chosen in the sixth round (171sr) by the Washington Nationals. At 6-foot-4 and a 230 pounder, he reminds some of Danny Piniero (Toronto, Ont.). Ochoa went 171st which has a slot of $308,700.

Ochoa batted .224 with three doubles, seven RBIs and a .622 OPS in 31 games. He impressed scouts at a Nationals workout last week at Nationals Stadium.

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Jays sixth round selection (188th) ... RHP T. J. Brock of Ohio State Buckeyes. His slot is $268,300. Brock was 0-1 with four saves and a 2.16 ERA in eight games. He walked a pair and struck out 15 in 7 1/3 innings.

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Fifth Canuck selected: RHP Jonah Tong (Markham, Ont.) of the Toronto Mets went in the seventh round (209th). A 6-foot-1, 180 pounder, his slot carries a value of $225,800. The Mets chose the Mets grad six picks before Maier. Tong pitched for the Georgia Permiter Academy Red Sox and impressed in the MLB Draft League.

The strange thing about this approach — not on Tong’s part — but by the organization …. when Claude Pelletier (St-Lazare, Que.) scouted for the Mets they seldom had any interest in high school players … they were college, college and more college. Their top sign last year was RHP Calvin Ziegler (Heidelberg, Ont.) of the Great Lake Canadians. Now, that Pelletier has been forced out/retired the Mets have drawn up a new attack plan.

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Sixth Canadian selected: There was a time in the past year and in 2021 when RHP Adam Maier was the top dog in the draft. Since University of British Columbia’s season was cancelled in 2021 he pitched on Cape Cod and drew rave reviews.

He transferred to Orgeon, but after a handful of starts he needed elbow surgery. The Braves took him with the 209th pick with a slot of $215,200.

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Jays seventh round choice (218th) ... 1B Peyton Williams of Iowa, who has a slot of $210,300. Williams hit .335 with 17 doubles, two triples, 13 homers, 41 RBIs and an 1.086 in 54 games.

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Jays eighth round choice (248th) ... OF Dylan Rock of Texas A&M, a fifth-year senior with a slot value of $173,800. Rock swung a big bat for the Aggies hitting .318 with 13 doubles, a triple, 18 homers and 65 RBIs. In 63 games he compiled an OPS of 1.109.

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The seventh Canadian ... selected was C Gavin Logan from Oregon State, who went to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the ninth round (258th)/ Logan is a product of the Okotoks Dawgs program. At 5-foot-11 and a 212-pounder. slot value for the pick is $167,300.

Logan finished with a .281 average, along with 12 doubles, two triples, three homers and 26 RBIs in 45 games, while totaling an .801 OPS.

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Jays ninth round choice (278th) ... RHP Devereaux Harrison from Long Beach State with a $158,500 slot. Appearing in 17 games -- two starts -- Harrison was 5-1 with five saves and a 6.15 ERA. He walked 17 and struck out 32 in 33 2/3.

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The eighth Canadian chosen ... was 1B Matt Coutney, of the Old Dominion Monarchs, who went in the 10th round (298th) to the Los Angeles Angels. He had one heck of the season: earning Conference USA Player of the Year, First Team All-Region, All-Conference USA, All-Conference USA tournament team, Second Team honors by Collegiate Baseball All-American, NCBWA All-American, ABCA All-American, D1 Baseball All-American

The 6-foot-1, 230 pounder hit .376 with 18 doubles, a single-season school record of 27 homers and 70 RBIs, plus a 1.281 OPS. He slugged .808 and had an on-base mark of .473 ... Finished third in the country in homers, fifth in slugging and third in total bases. Slot money is $152.700.

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And the ninth Canuck chosen …. was former Langley Blaze RHP Jacob Zibin by the Cleveland Guardians. in the 10th round (301st). He was the highest-rated player for 2022, but like Cal Quantrill and other players other years signability become a question.

As the old saying goes -- the round does not matter -- it’s how much your signing bonus is. The slot for the 6-foot-4, 218 pounder is $151,900. He could receive more if the Guardians have dough left over or he could attend South Carolina.

After two days …. Players selected …

By major league organizations: Atlanta Braves 2, Arizona Diamondbacks 1, Los Angeles Angels 1, Milwaukee Brewers 1, New York Mets 1, San Diego Padres 1, Washington Nationals 1, Toronto Blue Jays ZERO.

By Province: Ontario 5, Alberta 2, British Columbia 2.

First 10 rounds over the last 10 years _ 2012: four players; 2013: five players; 2014: three players; 2015: 10 players: 2016: nine players; 2017: four players; 2018: four players; 2019: five players; 2020: five players; 2021: nine players and 2022: nine players.