*This article was originally published on Alberta Dugout Stories on May 6. You can read it here.

May 8, 2024

By Joe McFarland

Alberta Dugout Stories

Joe Sergent knew Matt Wilkinson was going to be special mere moments into an impromptu game of catch.

Knowing he was a “sucker for left-handed pitching,” fellow Dawgs Academy coaches Jeff Duda and Lou Pote convinced Sergent to join them and check out the young hurler, known affectionately as “Tugboat.”

Wilkinson was fresh off an incredible performance at the Little League World Series where he struck out 16 batters in just five innings.

At the request of fellow B.C. native and friend Alejandro Cazorla, the Dawgs coaching staff met with Wilkinson in hopes of finding some more pitching depth.

After a couple of tosses with Wilkinson, Sergent says he saw something you don’t see a lot of from young pitchers: it looked like the ball was defying physics like a rise-ball in fast-pitch.

“It’s just the way the ball comes out of his hand – we call it the ‘Invisi-ball,’” he told Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast.

“He’s got a certain run and life on his fastball that you don’t see in regular pitchers. There’s just another gear that comes out of his hand.”

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Listen to Alberta Dugout Stories interview Joe Sergent about Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson here.

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Minor league batters are learning about it for the first time this spring, as Wilkinson has captured the baseball world’s imagination.

A 15-strikeout, no-hit performance over six innings with the Single-A Lynchburg Hillcats has made him go viral while his starts have now become “must-see TV” in Okotoks and across Canada.

GETTING HIS CHANCE

A 10th round selection of the Cleveland Guardians in 2023, Wilkinson is now sporting a 3-0 record with a 0.35 earned-run average after his first five starts this season.

He seemed to get stronger with every start, with his fourth being the aforementioned gem where he only allowed one baserunner against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

While it has impressed many, Sergent says he’s not surprised by Tugboat’s early success as he’s been doing it for years.

“He’s finally getting to show the world and show all of minor league baseball what we’ve been seeing up here in Okotoks and in Canada since he was a 12- or 13-year-old.”

After his incredible Little League World Series performance, the lefty was a key piece of the pitching staff for the Dawgs Academy, the Okotoks Dawgs, Central Arizona College and the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod League before being drafted.

However, listed at 6-foot-1 and 270 pounds, Wilkinson isn’t your prototypical ace.

“I feel like, too many times, guys like him don’t get a chance, for whatever reason, when we’re all believing he’s going to be in the big leagues and somebody just has to give him a chance,” Sergent said.

“I’m so glad that Cleveland gave him a chance because he’s showing it right now.”

He says some scouts still worry more about whether a player “looks good in a uniform” versus their level of compete, whether they can throw strikes, or have a determination to be the best, which he says Wilkinson brings to the table.

‘THIS GAME IS OVER, IT’S HIS‘

If there was one moment that Wilkinson had in a Dawgs uniform that stands out more than any others, Sergent says it was the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) championship finale against the Moose Jaw Miller Express in 2022.

But for context, he takes us back to the start of the year, when the hurler made a start against the Miller Express and he was shelled for five runs on eight hits and a walk over five innings in an 8-3 loss.

“I remember I pulled him out and he came up to me after the game and he goes, ‘I’ll never let you down again,’” Sergent recalled.

“That was all he said – and I was like, ‘Oh okay,’ and didn’t think anything of it at the time.”

From that moment on, Wilkinson was virtually untouchable, allowing no runs on 17 hits in 21-plus innings during the regular season, striking out 36 while going 3-1 with four saves in 11 games.

He saved his best for the playoffs, making four relief appearances in which he struck out 12 batters in five innings.

Fast-forward to the winner-take-all game three against Moose Jaw, and Sergent says Wilkinson was ready to be called in at any time.

Starter Brady Baltus left the game with a 4-1 lead, allowing just two hits while striking out nine, while relievers Rylan Penner and Cade Hermann combined on the seventh inning hold.

Then, it was Tugboat Time.

While Sergent had been working with catcher Caleb Lumbard on how to pitch to each Moose Jaw hitter, he says Wilkinson shook off his battery mate wanting nothing but fastballs.

“That’s just that confidence he has – it was just like, ‘This game is over, it’s his,’” the coach laughed.

“He was going fastball down the middle, challenging you and going with it – he was in full-on attack mode.”

Wilkinson struck out four in two innings while allowing no hits and just one walk as the Dawgs claimed the title.

THE TUG CAME BACK

Wilkinson became a hot commodity in the eyes of MLB scouts after a phenomenal 2023 spring with the Central Arizona College Vaqueros.

He went 10-2 with a 1.07 ERA in 16 appearances, striking out 136 batters in 84 innings while being named the National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association Pitcher of the Year.

The southpaw came back home to Okotoks to prepare for the draft with no intention of pitching with the Dawgs.

“He was talking with Lou (Pote) and Lou asked if he wanted to start Opening Night and he said, ‘I’d love to,’” Sergent said.

“He just went out there and started Opening Night.”

Wilkinson started May 26 against Brooks, striking out three in two innings, then started against Sylvan Lake on June 3 and picked up a three-strikeout, three-inning save.

It’s that focus on “team” that also helps set Wilkinson apart, according to Sergent, who adds it was shown when the lefty came back during the winter to help coach at the Dawgs Academy.

“Even though he’s working towards his goal and his dream, he’s still there for all the guys,” Sergent said.

“Even though he’s hopefully going to reach the pinnacle of the sport, he still comes back to us on a Tuesday night, sits in the office with us, and talks about ball and stuff like that. He’s just an all-around good guy.”

SETTING SAIL FOR OHIO

Only time will tell whether Wilkinson continues to amaze in Lynchburg or if he gets promoted to a higher level like the High-A Lake County Captains.

While he was fastball-centric in Okotoks, Sergent says he has always had good off-speed pitches which he will need as he moves up through the Guardians’ system.

“In high school and college, he never really needed it, even though they were there,” he said. “That’s why you’re seeing these video game-like numbers right now.”

The key, in Sergent’s eyes, for Wilkinson’s continued development will be to keep finetuning himself and not be okay with what he has done to this point.

The Guardians are no strangers to bringing Canadians up their system, including Josh and Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) and current triple-A Columbus Clippers hurler and Albertan Erik Sabrowski (Edmonton, Alta.).

So the roadmap is there, and coupled with Wilkinson’s bulldog mentality as a player, Sergent can’t help but smile at seeing his young protégé throwing heat every fifth day.

“Just the sheer optics of it – it’s just another level with that fastball that comes out of his hand,” Sergent said. “If you could ever see it, if you see it live, it’s like art or poetry. That’s the best way I could describe it.”

With Wilkinson’s stat lines being some of the best in all of Minor League Baseball, it’s hard not to imagine a day where more people will get to see his stuff in bigger stadiums and on national broadcasts in the not-too-distant future.