Pitching Woes

Many times in baseball we see that a team looks like it has the potential to reach the post season based on the lineups.  we all know the teams that start the season with what looks like a batting line-up with great potential, and a rotation that should go the distance.  But then, only one pans out.  The bats are hitting, but there’s no pitching.  Or, the pitching is solid, but the run support never materializes.

This is frustrating to the casual fan, as seeing half of your team develop and contribute is great, but the lack of the second half of the puzzle is more than just a little annoying.  The Toronto Blue Jays are a great example of this.  Last year it was all pitching an no hitting.  This year the hitting has been solid (with the exception of two notable players), but the pitching has experienced the greatest string of injuries that I have ever witnessed.

I was wondering if the same phenomenon can happen to a country.  Can the Canadians in the major leagues experience this bi-polar problem?  What lead me to thinking about this was reflecting on the World Baseball Classic, and the news that Colorado Rockies Jeff Francis is starting to throw again.

In the WBC, we had a very solid offense, with Jason Bay, Justin Morneau and Joey Votto leading the way.  They did OK, but nothing spectacular.  But then the pitching was very weak.  Our ace was Scott Richmond, who never got into a game.  The rest of our pitchers were minor leaguers, where a few had previous major league experience.  Sure, there were some prospects like Phillipe Aumont, but they were prospects and not proven starters.  This weak rotation was because Erik Bedard, Jeff Francis, and Rich Harden were injured.  Adam Loewen is no longer pitching due to multiple shoulder injuries, and Ryan Dempster … well, he just didn’t show up.  Overall, it was not the line-up we were expecting, and the results reflected this large weakness (yes, I am still bitter about those results).

So what is next for the set of Canadians who are major league pitchers.  Well, Demspter has had a good year for the Cubs, and Francis is on his way to an uncertain recovery.  Bedard has had a rough year, and is currently back on the DL.  Harden has pitched well and been one bright spot in the Cubs rotation.  But we also have not season any new pitchers emerge from the minors.

So all in all, next year seems to have a lot of potential for Canadian pitching.  But potential is just that … potential.  It is uncertain what we will see.  Hopefully the injuries will subside and new stars will emerge.  But lets just hope we don’t go through the same thing with the position players.

Morneau Stands Up for Canada

It hasn’t become a big story in the news over the past few days, but a few sports outlets have picked up Justin Morneau’s comments regarding the Canadian national anthem and the all-star game.

Although we at home would be oblivious to the situation as television only showed Sheryl Crow’s version of the U.S. anthem, apparently the Canadian anthem was not performed live, and the recording that was played was very poor.  Afterwards, Morneau spoke up and said that he ” … wasn’t very impressed … you figure they could find somebody to come and sing the song. They have a hockey team here, the Canadian teams play here.”

Justin Morneau at Last Year's All Star Game

I find it very refreshing, and ironically slightly ‘un-Canadian’ that Morneau spoke out.  Good for him for putting his country first and saying what he felt.  Many of us are used to being shoved aside by MLB (think ’93 World Series where the Canadian Flag was flown upside down, loss of the Expos, etc.), but Justin would not let this slide.  And nor should he.  If our anthem is going to be played along side the Star Spangled Banner, then it should received equal treatment.  You can be sure the Americans would demand the same level of respect if the game was played in Canada.

I don’t want to talk blame too much, but this definitely has to fall on the shoulders of MLB offices.  Reading an article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch today, it is quite clear that the extent of control that the head office has over the game is enormous.  So much so that the pregame ceremony with Stan Musial was cut short on their orders, which is saying something in St. Louis where he might be the most popular person in that state ever!  All anthems that are played should demand equal respect.  Period.

If Justin Morneau had not made these comments, nothing would have been said, and the issue ignored.  But he attempted to bring the issue to the forefront so this embarassing scene would not be repeated.   But surprisingly, very few media reporters went with the story.  Why?  Jeff Blair, a great baseball mind with the Globe and Mail seems to be the only one discussing the comments.  And I fully agree with the thesis of his blog posting, why even play the anthems at all?  It’s a sporting event, not a political event.  Just get the game going, and you will avoid controversies like this one.

Just another reason why I may not be a big Minnesota Twins fan, but I am a big Justin Morneau fan.

UPDATE:  Jason Bay’s take on the anthem “Morneau and I could have done it if they really needed somebody” !!!!!!!!

Slow Year for the Canadians, but …

As we pass the half way mark in the season, it becomes a time where people reflect on the year-to-date and what we should expect going forward.  I’ve always thought this is because the math becomes easy to do (i.e. take the stats, double them and you have a projected total for the year).  So why not look at the Canadians in the big leagues and see what has transpired to date.

So far this year we have seen a decrease in the number of Canadians playing at the major level.  2007 was a banner year with 23 appearances by northerners, but this year has lagged well behind, as we started the year with only 13 and have seen a few brief appearances by others (i.e. Chris Leroux in Florida).  A few injuries (such as Erik Bedard and of course don’t forget Jeff Francis who is lost for the season) have inhibited progress, and a few players in AAA are doing well and still might make an appearance.  Hopefully we can see that number rise.

The All-Star game is next week, and only 2 Canadians are representing … Justin Morneau and Jason Bay.  This is really no surprise, as these are the top two Canadians and are at the top of their games.  Many people, especially those located in the Cincinnati region, were not happy to see Joey Votto excluded.  He had a great start to the year, but of course his stuggles with anxiety and depression set him back.  I feel that based on the limited performance we saw of him, and giving no special consideration to his problems, he should have made the team.  At least they should have given him a second chance in the last chance voting that is going on now (vote Adam Lind!!).  A few Cubs fans wanted to see Ryan Dempster on the team, but his strong start has turned into a decent but not spectacular year.  Overall, we can always enjoy seeing Jason and Justin in the game, and it’s unfortunate that Morneau will not be defending his home run derby crown.

However, I was purusing a list of Canadians in the minor leagues, and to my great surprise there are 108 in the leagues from rookie level to AAA.  Yes, 108!  That should be some indication of the potential of these Canadians, and the possibility of seeing quite a surge over the next few years.  Now, baseball is not like the other sports where you can move through the development leagues rather quickly, so let’s not make any bold predicts about next year.  But in the upcoming years, 2007’s record of 23 should be challenegd, and I think surpased.  How long will it take until we see a canadian on every team?

One point of interest, the team with the most Canadians in the minors???   ———-  Your Toronto Blue Jays with 16, which included Scott Richmond who is now playing (and injured) with the parent club.  No surprise, given their recent drafting habits.  Second up was the Milwaukee Brewers (10 players), once again not a surprise given the amount of Canadians in their front office who bring a familiarity of the country to their team.  Last year’s draft star Brett Lawrie and Alexandre Periard are notables on the list.  Third place was, the New York Mets??  Wasn’t expecting that one, but they have 8 players in their system, including top prospects Shawn Bowman and Mike Nickeas.  So although there has been a dip in the numbers in the majors, the minors look strong.

The second half of 2009 should be a fun one to watch.  How taken with Jason Bay will Boston fans be, and can they sign him to a contract?  Can Mariner Erik Bedard, Cubs Ryan Dempster and Blue Jay Scott Richmond return from injuries to be successful pitchers?  Can Justin Morneau keep bing Justin Morneau, as he is on his way to being on of the greatest Canadian players of all time?  What new prospects will catch our attention?

Stay tuned, this should be fun …

The Next One

Fergie Jenkins, HOF Plaque

 

It has been 18 years since Canada has been able to celebrate the induction of a Canadian to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ferguson Jenkins, the great Chicago Cubs pitcher entered the great hall in 1991, and only a few weeks ago had his number 31 honoured by the Cubs, alongside Greg Maddox. The question many have been asking is ‘who’s next’?

This weekend, Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals great Larry Walker is inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame. This is a nice honour for him, and definitely not an unexpected one. He leads Canadians in almost all offensive categories, including 383 homeruns and a .313 lifetime batting average. The 5-time all star, 7-time gold glove winner and 1997 MVP has had a remarkable career.

Larry Walker, Colorado Rockies

The next step is hopefully the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Or is it? This is not like the Hockey Hall of Fame/mediocrity that lets in anyone with above average statistics. It has been very tough for many players to enter this hall, and debates remain about why some players have not been accepted. It will be tough for Canada’s greatest position player to make the cut. Here’s why:

1) Visibility. Most of his career was played in Montreal and Colorado. These aren’t the most highly watched baseball mediums, and many of the voting writers did not see him play very much, and don’t have an appreciation for his accomplishments.

2) Steroids. Let’s assume (because we have no definitive proof) that Walker achieved his numbers without  any ‘medical help’. These are excellent numbers, but they came in an era that we now know was filled with steroid users / cheaters. As a power hitter, he may  incorrectly be lumped into a category filled with suspicion and doubt. We don’t know what a player’s stats should look like during this period as they are all skewed with steroid using power hitters, and this may hurt his chances from a steroids point of view.

3) 383.  It appears that the magic number for a power hitter to make the hall is 500 homeruns.  Walker is 117 short of this benchmark.  Now, he was a great hitter with excellent averages, but the writers need to consider his total game, not just his HR output.

4) He’s Canadian. We’ve seen in the past the tendency of writers to give the ‘homer’ vote, or consider players because they played in their city / state or a from their city / state. Being from British Columbia and playing a great many games in Montreal, this factor will not help Walker. Unfortunate, but true.

So when he is finally eligible for consideration, we can only hope that the voters recognize his accomplishments, talents and do not make any false or unsubstantiated assumptions. I highly doubt he will make it on the first ballot, but Larry Walker is a deserving HOFer and we should someday soon be able to celebrate Canada’s second inductee.

What’s Up with Joey Votto?

It was a great start. Joey Votto started his season with a successful appearance in the World Baseball Classic (if you can call any aspect of Canada’s appearance successful), and continued his success when the Cincinnati Reds opened the 2009 baseball season.

This was the season where Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. were no more, and Votto and Bruce were handed the responsibility to return the franchise to a winning record. And it looked like they were on their way.

 

Joey Votto

Then early on  it appeared Votto was experiencing a mysterious sickness which later was diagnosed as an ear infection. After a stint on the DL, he came back but was quickly out again for ‘stress-related-issues’. These undefined issues have kept Votto out of the game for a great part of this season, but there’s hope he’ll be back soon.

These undefined issues are concerning. We don’t know what they are, or if they are physical or mental. Already this season we have been witness to Kahil Greene battle issues in St. Louis which have been recently revealed to be anxiety when playing in front of crowds (a tough diagnosis when you play in MLB). I’d hate to see this situation repeat itself with Votto.

Given the stats he was able to put up when he was healthy, it will be interesting to see how this gap in his year affects his performance. Let’s hope he can return to the form we witnessed earlier this year, and have the opportunity to witness yet another young Canadian become a star.

Adam Loewen … revisited.

A while ago I had a baseball blog that didn’t really go too far.  But one post that was quite popular was what I wrote about Adam Loewen.  You may remember him as a Canadian top prospect pitcher, who after being drafted by Baltimore, appeared to have a good career ahead of him.  But injuries slowed down his progress, and he made the brave decision to end his pitching career in order to prevent any more surgeries.  He was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays and has been working his way through their farm system as a position player.

Here is my original post …

Now Pitching … Not Adam Loewen

It takes a lot of courage to quit a job that you have been successful at and start over at a new one.  It also takes a great deal of intelligence to understand the long term risks to your health and put yourself first instead of money, fame, and a major league career.

But that’s exactly what Adam Loewen did this week when he announced that he was done with elbow surgeries and would restart his career as a position player.  He refused the suggestion of yet another surgery and decided to start over by picking up a bat and changing his career.  I can’t say I believe his would be the preferred choice of most MLB players, given the amounts they are paid in the majors versus the minors.  Loewen showed that money is not at at the top of his priority list.

Now, we’ve seen this happen before, with the notable case being that of St. Louis Cardinals’ Rick Ankiel.  Not too many people have forgotten his post-season pitching performance where he continually tested the strength of the screen behind home plate to the dismay of the catcher.  Most thought his baseball career was done, but he stuck with it, moving through the Cardinals’ farm system and eventually making it back to the majors last year where he’s had great success and is one of the reasons the Cardinals are still in contention.  Most had written the team off before spring training.

So now we get to see if Loewen can be as successful.  Let’s hope that the percervearavnce that got him to the majors continues, and we can once again head to Camden Yards to cheer on the Canadian.  Now that would be a great story.

Welcome

After being quite active on Twitter for a few months, and seeing the interest grow in Canadian baseball players and teams, I’ve decided to expand my Twitter experiment and create this blog.  Not limited to 140 characters, I can now add more thoughts and opinions to the news and events of Canadians playing in major league baseball.

My hope is this is a blog that will promote the great achievements of these Canadian players, and put into perspective their place in Canadian and baseball history.  Enjoy!