But What Do I Know? . . . Cal Quantrill, Michael Soroka, Will Hynes, Denis Boucher, Vladimir Guererro Jr.

July 20, 2025

By Kevin Glew

Cooperstowners in Canada

Some Canadian baseball news and notes from the past week:

Quantrill dominates in first post-All-Star Game start

In his best start of the 2025 season so far, Miami Marlins right-hander Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) permitted just two hits in six scoreless innings against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out three in the Marlins’ 3-1 win.

With his performance, Quantrill lowered his season ERA to 5.24 ERA.

The Ontario Terriers and Junior National Team alum, who signed a one-year, $3.5-million contract with the Marlins in February, is 3-8 in 19 starts. He has 70 strikeouts in 87 2/3 innings.

The Marlins’ win on Saturday was their fourth in the row, but they’re still six-and-a-half games out of a Wild Card position. That makes them likely sellers at the trade deadline and the durable Quantrill would be an appealing depth starter for a contender.

He is in his seventh major league season

Soroka shines in first post-All-Star Game start

Washington Nationals right-hander Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) allowed just one run on three hits, while striking out three, in five innings in his start against the San Diego Padres on Friday. The Padres rallied late to win the game 7-2

With that strong performance, Soroka’s season ERA dropped to 5.10 in 14 starts. He has fanned 77 batters in 72 1/3 innings.

The 27-year-old righty signed a one-year, $9-million contract with the Nats in December and with Nationals mired last in last place in the NL East division, he’s a good bet to be traded by the end of the month.

A Junior National Team alum, Soroka is in his sixth major league campaign.

Most Career MLB wins by active Canadian-born pitchers

65 – Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.)

46 – Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.)

21 – Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.)

20 – Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.)

14 – Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.)

8 – Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.)

6 – Rob Zastryzny (Edmonton, Alta.)

Guerreros make All-Star history

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.) played in his fifth All-Star Game on Tuesday at Truist Field in Atlanta. According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, that made him and his father, Vladimir Sr., the first father/son duo to be selected to at least five All-Star Games each.

The elder Guerrero was chosen to nine MLB All-Star Games in total.

Guardians replace one Mississauga native with another

On Sunday, the Cleveland Guardians selected right-hander Will Hynes (Mississauga, Ont.) 70th overall in the MLB draft with the Competitive Balance Round B pick they received from the Arizona Diamondbacks when they traded Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) to them in December.

Like Naylor, Hynes was born in Mississauga, Ont. and honed his skills with the Ontario Blue Jays and the Junior National Team.

The 6-foot-2 Hynes was the first Canadian high school pitcher selected in the draft. His stock rose after his dominant performance at the first annual 18U Perfect Game Canadian National Championship Tour event in Dorchester, Ont., in early June. In his start on June 4, Hynes struck out nine batters in six scoreless innings to lead the Ontario Blue Jays to a win over the Mississauga Tigers.

Kent’s son taken by Yankees in draft

Infielder Kaeden Kent was selected in the third round, 103rd overall, by the New York Yankees in MLB draft on Sunday. He is projected to be a power-hitting second baseman — just like his dad, former Toronto Blue Jay Jeff Kent.

The younger Kent, who is 21, batted .279 and had 13 home runs in 56 games for Texas A&M this spring.

Blue Jays’ bloodlines in draft

Aside from Kent’s son, there were at least three other players related to former Blue Jays that were chosen in the 2025 MLB draft:

RHP Cam Leiter – who was selected in the second round (65th overall), out of Florida State University, by the Los Angeles Dodgers is the nephew of former Blue Jays’ left-hander Al Leiter. Cam also spent part of his youth in Vancouver and played for the Langley Blaze.

RHP Isaac Lyon – who was chosen in the 10th round by the Seattle Mariners, out of Grand Canyon University, is the son of former Blue Jays right-hander Brandon Lyon.

RHP Rod Barajas Jr. – who was taken in the 11th round by the San Francisco Giants is the son of former Blue Jays catcher Rod Barajas.

O’s first-rounder’s father was former Jays prospect

With the 19th overall pick in the MLB draft, the Baltimore Orioles took catcher Ike Irish out of Auburn University.

His father, Jeff, was also a catcher and was a seventh-round pick of the Blue Jays in 1989 out of Milford High School in Highland, Mich. Jeff began his pro career with the Rookie Ball Medicine Hat Blue Jays in 1989. He split the following season between the Class-A Short Season St. Catharines Blue Jays and High-A Dunedin. In total, he batted .145 in 48 games.

Ike seems to be a better hitter than his father. He hit .364 with 19 home runs and 58 RBIs in 55 games in his junior season with Auburn this spring. He signed with the Orioles on Friday. Jim Callis, of MLB.com, reported Irish’s signing bonus to be $4,418,400.

Sixty-seven years ago, Bowsfield made MLB debut

On this date 67 years ago, left-hander Ted Bowsfield (Vernon, B.C.) made his MLB debut with the Boston Red Sox. He pitched a scoreless ninth inning in relief against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park, retiring Frank Bolling, Ozzie Virgil and Red Wilson. His debut, however, was overshadowed by Tigers righty Jim Bunning who tossed a no-hitter that game.

In total, Bowsfield made 16 appearances (10 starts) for the Red Sox in his rookie season and posted a 4-2 record and a 3.84 ERA.

Thirty-four years ago, Boucher recorded first MLB win

It was 34 years ago today that left-hander Denis Boucher (Lachine, Que.) collected his first MLB win.

He started for Cleveland and allowed just one run on five hits in 7 2/3 innings to the California Angels in Cleveland’s 4-1 win at Anaheim Stadium. He registered three strikeouts in the contest.

Anniversary of Paul Quantrill‘s MLB debut

On this date 33 years ago, Paul Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) made his MLB debut and earned his first win with the Boston Red Sox.

He entered the game in the sixth inning with the Red Sox tied 3-3 with the Royals. He pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings and the Red Sox tallied two runs in the seventh for a 5-3 victory.

Quantrill struck out David Howard in the sixth inning for his first big league K. In the seventh, he fanned Gregg Jefferies and Hall of Famer George Brett to finish with three strikeouts.

Blue Jays teammates remember Clancy

On Monday, I wrote a detailed obituary about longtime Blue Jays pitcher Jim Clancy who passed away at the age of 69. No cause of death has been released but the family obituary asks for donations to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

Some of Clancy’s former Blue Jays teammates have paid tribute to him on social media.

Morneau set career-high in RBIs 16 years ago

Sixteen years ago today, Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau (New Westminster, B.C.) went 3-for-5 and drove in a single-game career-best seven runs in the Twins’ 14-13 loss to the Oakland A’s at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. A second-inning grand slam accounted for four of Morneau’s RBIs.

Fun Fact of the Week

In 1985, Jesse Barfield, George Bell and Lloyd Moseby became the first three outfielders on the same MLB team to each record more than 55 extra-base hits and steal more than 20 bases in the same season. This stat comes from the Incredible Baseball Stats book released in 2019.

Trivia question

This week’s trivia question: Not surprisingly, Ernie Whitt was Jim Clancy‘s most frequent batterymate. He caught 193 games that Clancy pitched in. What catcher caught the second-most games that Clancy threw? Please share your answer in the “Comments” section below.

Last week’s trivia question answer

The answer to last week’s trivia question (Two Canadian pitchers have been chosen to three All-Star Games each. One is Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.), who is the other?) was Eric Gagne (Mascouche, Que.).