Elliott: Kingston's Brash has right stuff as Canada opens with Quantrill on mound
Kingston Thunder grad RP Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) has an “electric arm,” according to Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.).
March 12, 2023
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. _ It was an off-the-cuff remark delivered away back in 2017.
Mike Tevlin, who co-owns The Baseball Zone with his wife Nicole, Rick Johnston and general manager Kevvy Horton said to me:
“My son Joe says his roommate at Niagara is the real deal, he has a chance,” Tevlin said.
What is your son’s roommate’s name?
“Matt Brash ... heard of him?” asked Tevlin.
Yes, I met him at a camp ... I think.
“He’s from Kingston,” and then he added with that Tevlin wit, “heard of it?”
Yup.
Joe Tevlin might also say he had an indication of how brash Brash was when the Kingston Thunder right-hander pitched five hitless innings against the Terriers in a tournament hosted by Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa.
If there is a lead to protect, he will be the man with the ball in his hands -- if Canada is in the lead, whether Sunday afternoon against Great Britain or down the road as the Canucks then play Team USA, Colombia and Mexico in Pool C. RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) starts against the Great Britian.
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Probable pitchers:
Sunday _ Canada (Cal Quantrill, Cleveland, 15-5, 3.38) vs Great Britain (Akeel Morris, 5.65 With Long Island Ducks-IND)
Monday _ Canada (Mitch Bratt, class-A Down East, Rangers 5-5, 2.45) vs United States (Lance Lynn, 8-7, 3.99)
Tuesday _ Canada (Noah Skirrow, triple-A Lehigh Valley, double-A Reading, Phillies) 5-9, 4.36) vs Colombia (RHP José Urquidy 13-8, 3.94).
Wednesday _ Canada (Rob Zastryzny, Mets/Angels 0-0, 6.75, triple-A Salt Lake, triple-A Syracuse, 1-5, 6.75) vs. Mexico.
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Four things are obvious, besides the fact that Brash is the best arm in the Team Canada bullpen.
1) Every Canadian 14-year-old player and their parents should be reading about Brash.
2) For he is a rare jewel. He did not spend four years paying to play for an elite team.
3) Joe Tevlin should be evaluating for a major-league club or helping college recruiters adjudge talent.
4) And Kingston is a great place to play.
“My coach told me that if I was good enough teams would find me, plus it was a long drive from Kingston to Toronto,” said Brash the other day sitting in the dugout at Chase Field. “I went to a couple of tournaments with the Toronto Mets, but mostly I stayed at home.”
As Kingston catcher Jed “Apples” MacDonald used to say, “How ‘bout them apples?”
As Kingston Thunder coach Randy Casford told Brash, “If you are good enough they will find you.” The Ontario Youth Team found Brash for the Canada Cup, Niagara University found him and the San Diego Padres found him in the fourth round of the 2019 draft. He was dealt to the Seattle Mariners at the 2020 trade deadline for right-hander Taylor Williams.
Right-hander Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) posted a 2.13 ERA and had 80 strikeouts in 55 innings in 10 starts for the double-A Arkansas Travelers in 2021.
“It’s very rare in today’s landscape of elite academies for a player to reach the majors,” said Matt Spatafora (Scarborough, Ont.), now in his 11th year as an assistant and recruiter for coach Mike McCoy. “It shows that it can be done. Matt played a multitude of sports competitively throughout the year that I believe contributed to his athleticism and competitiveness.”
The last non-elite arm to be drafted and have success -- we can think of -- was Jamie Richmond, who pitched for the Mississauga Majors, then headed to Texarkanna College, and was drafted in the 31st round by the Atlanta Braves. Richmond, 20, was named the pitcher of the year in the rookie-class Appalachian league at Danville, going 7-1 with a 1.21 ERA striking out 52 in 67 innings. The hitter of the year was Blue Jays No. 1 pick Travis Snider.
Brash pitched for the Bayridge Blazers high school and coach Jeff Stewart, winning two high school championships.
Spatafora saw Brash at a camp, where he showcased as both shortstop and on the mound. He asked Brash to attend a camp in western New York. Brash threw a bullpen and Niagara made an offer.
“The recruiting process was a pleasure,” said Spatafora. “Matt was, and I am sure still is, very personable. The same can be said about his whole family.
Brash developed into a standout big league prospect while pitching for Niagara University. Photo: Niagara University Athletics
“Matt was on the mound for a playoff clinching game for back in 2018. I remember him thinking he didn’t have his good stuff that day. He was two outs away from a complete game and gave up one earned run.”
Brash roomed with Joe Tevlin for five seasons: the first two seasons in a dorm, then they shared a home in year three. He also spent parts of two years -- one was the COVID-19 seasons that wiped out the minor-league season -- and graduated with a degree in sports management. And when his career is over?
“I hope to be involved in baseball at some level,” said Brash, who is still close with former teammates CF Kyle Casford (Kingston, Ont.) and Ethan Hunt (Elginburg, Ont.).
“Randy talked to me a lot, explaining how to set up hitters and how to play the game: always play hard, run everything out.”
His father, Jamie, recently retired as supervisor of the township of South Frontenac, while mom, Sandra is the manager of the Norman Rogers airport. So, look for mom to lobby for direct flights from Kingston to Seattle.
To start the season, Brash opened in the Seattle rotation. Five starts later, he was hooked from the Mariners’ rotation and sent a few miles down the road to triple-A Tacoma.
“They thought I was tipping pitches a little, but they said I’d back as soon as I straightened some things out,” Brash said. As a starter he was 1-3 with a 7.65 ERA striking out 19 in 20 innings, as opponents hit .312.
Out of the bullpen he was a new man, going 3-1 with a 2.35 ERA fanning 43 in 30 2/3 innings, holding the opposition to a .202 average.
Blue Jays fans will remember Brash for restoring order in the fourth inning after Teoscar Hernandez homered off Robbie Ray for a 4-0 lead. Brash induced Matt Chapman to pop up, struck out Danny Jansen swinging and retired Whit Merrifield on a grounder.
How good is Brash? Well, he’s only the second player ever drafted from Canada’s first capital. The other was RHP Johnny Mazzeo (Kingston, Ont.) by the Montreal Expos in the 41st round in 1999.
Brash is the first major leaguer for Kingston. A list of Kingstonians who played pro, thanks to our George Farelli:
Pro players born with Kingston ties
Name Years Active In Minors Position Games Highest Level
Matt Brash 2019-2022 RHP 47 MLB
Jack Caffery 1955-1963 LHP 104 AAA
Edwin (Chaucer) Elliott 1899-1911 C/Manager 184 B
Arnie Jarrell 1945-1948 LHP 82 AA
Jeff Juden 1989-2002 RHP 184 AAA
Joe Lay 1946-1948 OF 272 C
Vinnie McQuaide 1946-1948 OF 79 C
Charlie Pester 1955-1956 RHP 24 C
Brash pitched for the rookie class Arizona League Padres; class-A Fort Wayne TinCaps; class-A Everett, double-A Arkansas, triple-A Tacoma and appeared in 39 games with Seattle in 2022. Member of Team Canada for 2023 WBC.
Caffery pitched for class-A Jacksonville Braves; class-B Evansville Braves; class-B Cedar Rapids Braves; double-A Austin Senators; Sacramento Solons; double-A Houston Buffs; triple-A Oklahoma City ‘89ers and class-A Durham Bulls. He also played 57 games in the National Hockey League with Toronto and Boston.
Elliott played with the class-A Concord Marines; class-D Brantford Indians, class-D Oswego and class-D St. Thomas Saints. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a referee and is the grandfather of Canadian Baseball Network founder Bob Elliott.
Jarrell played double-A for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the class-D Kingston Ponies, going 40-22. He has been inducted into the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame.
Juden pitched for the rookie-class Astros, class-A Osceola Astros, double-A Columbus Mudcats, double-A Jackson Generals, triple-A Tuscon Toros; triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons; triple-A Columbus Clippers, triple-A Charlotte Knights, Sioux City Explorers-IND and Nashua Pritle-IND. Juden was born in Salem, Mass., but would be WBC eligible since his father was born in Kingston, Ont. He pitched eight seasons in the majors, a total of 173 games, in stints with Houston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Montreal, Cleveland, Anaheim, New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox
Lay played for class-C Kingston Ponies, class-C Ottawa Nationals and Granby Red Sox-IND. He was inducted into the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame.
McQuaide played for the class-C Kingston Ponies. He was inducted into the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame.
Pester pitched and hit for class-C Burlington A’s, class-D Dubuque Packers and class-D Orlando Seratomas. He was inducted into the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame.
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Bilingual coverage: You should be reading Shi Davidi and watching Arash Madani of Sportsnet, along with Benoît Rioux of the Journal de Montréal for more coverage on the Canucks. Rioux does an excellent job, in fact he is as prolific in the mould of legendary Serge Touchette. He has interviewed Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.), as well as Freddie Freeman, whose parents are from Windsor as well as Quebec players Otto Lopez (Montreal, Que.), Edouard Julien (Quebec City, Que.), Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) and Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.), who is bilingual. Rioux’s cousin Frederic Rioux is the manager, minor league advance scouting, for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
* * *
Game 1: Columbia 5, Mexico 4 (10 innings).
The first game yielded the first upset. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit a two-run homer off the foul pole in the fifth and an RBI single in the seventh.
Randy Arozarena ripped a game-tying blast to left field off the bat tying the score and exciting the pro-Mexico crowd. It was deadlocked at 4-4 on RBI singles by Rodriguez and Alex Verdugo in the seventh.
Mexico gave up the lead on an error and then Guillermo Zuñiga shut down the Dominican with the meat of the order.
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Game 2: Team USA 6, Great Britain 2
Los Angeles Dodger Trayce Thompson gave Great Britain the lead with a first-inning homer off USA starter Adam Wainwright.
Kyle Schwarber belted a three-run home run to right centre in the fourth, while Nolan Arenado had three hits and two RBIs, with two doubles.
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Four right-handed hitters: The line on Canada always was to start a lefty. We remember when Canada beat Mexico to qualify for the Athens Olympics and asking how many left-handed bats he had in the final? Eight. “Did you not have any options? I asked. “Well, said Whitt, “I could have gone with nine.
This time if Canada faces a lefty, Whitt can start four right-handed hitters: CF Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC), SS Otto Lopez (Montreal, Que.), RF Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.) and switch hitter 3B Toro.
Pool C standings
TEAM W-L
Colombia 1-0
USA 1-0
Canada 0-0
Great Britain 0-1
Mexico 0-1