March 9, 2023

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

The young men fit the bill of what Team Canada is looking for in the World Baseball Classic.

On a day Canada played the Chicago Cubs in its first exhibition game and the score was deadlocked 4-4 after six innings, the Cubs scored seven times in their final two at-bats for an 11-7 win in a game with plenty of mistakes at Sloan Park.

“Sloppy, some mistakes were what you see at low-A level ball, some of it is guys from different organizations, but it’s called youth,” said manager Ernie Whitt. “I was happy after six innings.”

Two of the young men who made him happy were:

_ DH Jared Young, 27, who hit a two-run, first-inning double to right centre. The left-handed hitting DH put the ball into the gap off lefty Justin Steele, who made 24 starts for the Cubs in 2022. Young also scorched a liner to left in the seventh, with men on second and third and none out.

_ And even younger than Young, lefty Mitch Bratt, 19, pitched 1 1/3 scoreless against the Cubs ‘A’ lineup.

Young (Prince George, BC), who has a shot to make the Cubs’ Opening Day roster, batted fourth behind lead-off man Edouard Julien (Quebec, Que.), Freddie Freeman, whose parents are from Windsor and Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC).

Young is a man who wants to play the game. It doesn’t matter where. The saying around the game when a player is called up is, “It takes hours for him to report, but when players are demoted, it takes the allowed three days to report under the Basic Agreement.”

The Cubs demoted Young to triple-A Iowa on Sept. 27. The next day he took a 6 a.m. flight from Chicago to triple-A Iowa which was playing its final game of the season. Young begged manager Marty Pevey to insert him into the lineup. Pevey is a former Montreal Expos back-up catcher and Blue Jays minor-league manager who also starred with Robert Redford in The Natural. Well, maybe Pevey was an extra now I think of it.

Pevey started Young at third base and Young ended things with a two-run, walk-off, homer to left field ... No. 17.

With the Cubs, the 15th rounder from Old Dominion, hit .263 with two doubles and a .732 OPS in six games.

* * *

As for Bratt, the Texas Rangers prospect, he threw 29 pitches. He retired Nico Hoerner on a grounder, Dansby Swanson on a fly ball to the track, allowed a single to Ian Happ, walked Trey Mancini and retired Cody Bellinger on a fly ball. He came out for the second inning and got Eric Hosmer to ground out to second base before being lifted.

Bratt said Rangers farm director Josh Bonifay approved a 35-pitch outing. So he was under the set pitch limit. Whitt explained they wanted Bratt to sit and go out again for another inning.

“We could have gone longer, but why not end on successful result?” said Whitt, who will give the ball to Bratt Monday night against Team USA. Just Wednesday morn a scout asked who would face Team USA. Told it was Bratt -- 18 starts, none above class-A -- he replied, “I’ve seen him pitch, it will be Mitch Bratt’s coming out party.” Bratt wasn’t facing Team USA Wednesday, but he looked comfortable facing big league hitters.

Bratt’s welcome to the majors moment?

“Their No. 3 hitter (Happ) taking all those pitches that were oh so close, I’m not used to that,” said Bratt, “and facing Bellinger ... former NL MVP a couple of years ago.”

Bratt said he has seen the Team USA lineup ... adding, “how can you not? ... it’s everywhere.”

After pitching bantam for the Brampton Royals and coach Stan Wilson, he moved to the Toronto Mets where he met a coach named Rich Leitch, who also answers to Rick. He called Leitch the most influential man in his baseball life.

“He took me as a 15-year-old and put me on the Mets 18U team,” Bratt said. “He sat me down and explained how it works,” which covered the Junior National Team program and pro ball.

Bratt’s favourite player is former San Francisco Giants lefty Madison Bumgarner, whom he calls a “nasty lefty.” Once, when the Giants bus broke down on the way from the airport, Bumgarner told the busie to pop the hood and then fixed the engine problem. Bratt said he could not fix a bus ... “and I can’t ride a horse like him either.”

* * *

The other Young man was wearing a Team Canada uniform for the first time. He wasn’t a prospect in high school or playing for coach Evan Bailey with the Okanagan A’s.

“I wasn’t a prospect in high school, I think I’m a late bloomer,” said Young in full bloom yesterday. He headed to play for the Minot State Beavers and was All-Conference, then to the Connors State Cowboys and finally to the Old Dominion Monarchs, where he was a 15th round pick of the Cubs in the 2017 draft.

Old Dominion is where Matt Coutney (Wetaskiwin, Alta.), the Canadian Baseball Network college Player of the Year, went. He went in the 10th round last July to the Los Angeles Angels.

“We’ve talked,” said Young. “If you go to Old Dominion, you are going to hit.”

Is the park small? Does the wind blow out all the time?

“No,” said Young, “it’s the coaching, they produce hitters.”

This in Young’s seventh season of pro ball. Plenty of players go with a three-year plan: three years on the minors and move on to the “real world.” Did he ever consider quitting?

“No, because I was always improving,” said Young. “I didn’t have a problem leaving the Cubs. Today, they saw me swing the bat and in this day and age they can see all of my at-bats.

Now, that is a refreshing Young pro-Canadian look on the WBC if I do say.

“As soon as Greg Hamilton phoned me I said yes,” Young said.

What will it be like to hear ‘O Canada’ on Sunday while wearing CANADA across his chest.

Young answered in a millisecond: “Sensational ... it’s the dream of a lifetime.”

* * *

The Good: Damiano Palmegiani (Surrey, BC), who took over for Freeman at first, singled in the eighth and hit a three-run homer off Ben Leeper, who pitched at triple-A Iowa last season, in the ninth ... Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) made a highlight-reel grab leaping against the fence to steal a knock from Mancini and hit a solo homer to left facing Steele ... SS Otto Lopez (Montreal, Que.) had two hits ... RF Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) threw out a runner at third ... Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) singled, as did Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.) and Julien ... On the mound Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) had a 1-2-3 outing retiring Swanson, Happ and Mancini.

* * *

The Bad: The tie-breaking, run scored when an Adam Loewen (Surrey, BC) pitch went off C Kellin Deglan’s (Langley, BC) glove ... Loewen gave up three runs, walked one and threw two wild pitches in his outing ... LHP Evan Rutckyj (Windsor, Ont.) bounced a ball in the dirt, looked down and turned his back to the plate as the ball escaped Deglan (Langley, BC). Did they have a play on the runner? “You still have to cover the plate,” said Whitt ... Rutckyi followed Loewen, allowing four runs on two hits and two walks ... Caissie hurled a ball into no man’s land between first and second when there was a play at the plate ... Noah Skirrow (Stoney Creek, Ont.) walked a man with two out and allowed a homer to Tucker Barnhart.

* * *

Rough return: Loewen struggled with his control. “But how long has it been for him?” asked Whitt. Loewen’s last pitch in pro ball was in 2018 with triple-A Round Rock. Loewen’s fastball was 83-85 mph. “That’s good hitting speed, I don’t know if we can do it, but we’d like to get him to take off some more velocity and get him to 79 ... maybe like Frank Tanana (after his injury).”

* * *

Someone who wants to play: A scout told this story about C Bo Nayor (Mississauga, Ont.) watching the Junior National Team in 2018, his draft year. Naylor caught every inning of every game. “Whatever it was nine or 10 games I forget ... doesn’t matter. So on the last day they play an intra-squad game,” he said. “He gets the day off from being in the game but he decides to catch every bullpen -- for both teams -- since the other two catchers are with each team. He’s catching his last guy, the pitcher spikes it and the ball goes 30 feet behind him. Know what he does? He gets up and runs after the ball. I wouldn’t have done that. I don’t know of many catchers who would. His parents instilled a desire in him to play.”

* * *

Canucks in the box: Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.) stopped by the press box accompanied by his former teammate and Hall of Famer Billy Williams. Jenkins led the crowd in “Take Me Out to The Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch.

Three booths down Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, BC) was working the the Cubs TV broadcast for Bally’s. Proud dad said his son Brady Dempster made the varsity as a grade 11 student at Amundsen High School in Chicago.

I asked both the same thing 1-on-1.

“Did you talk to Ernie, did he tell you about Monday? ... You’ve got the ball.”

Both laughed.

Jenkins, 80, said: “I can give him two pitches.”

Dempster, 45, said “Ah, that didn’t work out too well the last time.”

Team USA’s lead-off man Ian Kinsler walked, an out later Christan Yelich singled, Nolan Arenado walked, Eric Hosmer doubled, Paul Goldschmidt walked and Andrew Albers came on in relief.

* * *

Sloan rocks: In honour of their guests between-innings tunes were songs by Canadian music legends Neil Young, The Tragically Hip (which has rocked many a Team Canada bus) and the Barenaked Ladies.

The General speaks: Mike (The General) Gauthier, a former Etobicoke Ranger emailed from Sussex, Wisc.

* * *

“Enjoyed the article on the World Baseball Classic and Joey Votto. That 2009 WBC was one of the most memorable weekends of my baseball life. We rented two field view rooms at the Skydome hotel and packed 80 Etobicoke Indians/Rangers guys in there for the Saturday Canada/USA game. Nifty (Etobicoke coach Bob Smyth) was front and centre holding court. Henry Andrulis, Greg O’Halloran and Joey Votto were Bobby’s faves over his 30 years being in Etobicoke. It was a pretty special moment for him. My favourite part of that week was a breakfast at the Dundas Street Grill with Nicky Rico, John Ferracuti Sr. (Mr. F) and Nifty. Etobicoke baseball royalty. What a morning of stories and laughs. A morning I will always cherish.”

That’s baseball ... no matter the level: laughs and memories ... for the old, the Young and younger.