By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

A lot of people predicted dire results for Canadians in the 2021 draft.

And with good reason, since diamonds had been shut down for 17 months and the Canadian Junior National Team had missed five or six trips south to Florida and the Dominican Republic where scouts watch every pitch. And that’s not one summer missed -- it was two.

Plus with minor league teams contracting -- some teams lost two minor-league clubs, while some only lost one -- the draftees had a tougher road ahead of them. Without class-A Lansing and class-A Bluefield rosters to stock that was minus 60 roster spots for the incoming draft class to take.

The nine Canadians selected in the first two days of the draft are the most since 2015 when 10 Canadians were selected in the first 10 rounds when ...

RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) went to the Padres in the first round from Stanford University, C Andrew Yerzy (Toronto Ont.) of the Toronto Mets went to the Diamondbacks in the second, Curtis Taylor (Port Coquitlam, BC) of UBC went to the Diamondbacks in the fourth, INF Charles Leblanc (Laval, Que.) of Pitt went in the fourth round to the Rangers, Jordan Balazovic (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Ontario Blue Jays went in the fifth round to the Twins, 3B Abraham Toro (Greenfield Park, Que.) of Seminole State went in the fifth to the Astros, OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) of Mississippi State went in the eighth to the Tigers, Alex Webb (Surrey, BC) of UBC went to the Reds in the ninth and former Mississauga Majors and Ontario Blue Jay Daniel Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) was chosen in the ninth from the University of Virginia.

Each top Canadian drafted 1985-2021

Day 3 saw eight more: Great Lake Canadians LHP Adam Shoemaker (Cambridge, Ont.) went to the Atlanta Braves in round 11 (337th overall). He joins former Langley Blaze Indigo Diaz (North Vancouver, BC) in the Braves system.

Two rounds later, LHP Thomas Ireland (Regina, Sask.) a Martin Academy grad went to the Rangers at 374th overall. If he signs, Ireland will join INF Charles Leblanc (Laval, Que.) now with the triple-A Round Rock Express and C Jordan Procyshen (Calgary, Alta.) of the Frisco Roughriders.

With the 422nd pick, the Toronto Blue Jays chose re-drafted 3B Damiano Palmegiani (Surrey, BC) from the College of Southern Nevada in the 14th. The Jays had selected him before and came close on Day II. If he signs, he’ll join RHP John Axford (Simcoe, Ont.), OF Dasan Brown (Oakville, Ont.), OF Tanner Kirwer (Sherwood Park, Alta.), INF Otto Lopez (Montreal, Que.), RHP Will McAffer (North Vancouver, BC), OF Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, Ont.), RHP Curtis Taylor (Port Coquitlam, BC) and RHP Alex Nolan (Oakville, Ont.) in the organization.

In the 15th round, the Rangers struck again selecting RHP Evan Elliott (Toronto, Ont.) (434th overall) of the Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs. The Rangers became Canada’s team winning the day with four selections: LHP Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.) - a fifth rounder from the Toronto Mets, who is close to signing, C Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.) a ninth rounder from Arkansas State and Ireland.

RHP Conor Angel (Lachine, Que.) of the Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin Cajuns, was selected in the 15th round by the Tampa Bay Rays. If Angel signs, he’ll join RHP Trevor Brigden (North York, Ont.), who is with the class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods, in the Rays’ organization.

RHP Micah Bucknam (Abbotsford, BC) of the Abbotsford Cardinals, was the Toronto Blue Jays’ second Canadian pick of Day III going in round 16. Already in the Jays system are Axford, Brown, Kirwer, Lopez, McAffer, Orimoloye, Taylor and Nolan.

LHP Adam Tulloch (Toronto, Ont.), of the West Virginia Mountaineers, went in the 17th round to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

And the final pick was RHP Dominic Hambley (Victoria, BC), an 18th rounder, from the Victoria Mariners. If he signs with the Chicago Cubs, he’ll join OF Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.), RHP Tanner Jesson-Dalton (Lethbridge, Alta.), LHP Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.), OF Jordan Nwogu (Orleans, Ont.), 1B Jared Young and 1B Matt Warkentin (Leamington, Ont.) in their system.

Totals

Canadians by team: Texas Rangers 4, Milwaukee Brewers 2, Toronto Blue Jays 2, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Oakland A’s, San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays one apiece.

By province: Ontario 10, British Columbia 3, Saskatchewan 2, Manitoba and Quebec one each.