March 31, 2026
By Kevin Glew
Cooperstowners in Canada
Some Canadian baseball highlights from the first few days of the MLB season:
Soroka throws immaculate inning
Michael Soroka tossed an immaculate inning for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Detroit Tigers in his regular season debut with the club on Monday.
The 28-year-old right-hander struck out Javier Báez, Kerry Carpenter and Gleyber Torres on nine pitches in the fifth inning to close out his outing.
The D-Backs eventually won the game 9-6.
Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) became the first MLB pitcher in 2026 to throw an immaculate inning and just the third Canadian to do so. Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) tossed an immaculate fourth inning for the Miami Marlins against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 18, 2025.
The first Canadian to throw an immaculate inning was Rich Harden (Victoria, B.C.). He did it with the Oakland A’s in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels on June 8, 2008.
There have been just 120 immaculate innings in MLB history.
Soroka also matched a career-high with 10 strikeouts and set a D-Backs’ franchise record for most strikeouts by a pitcher in their debut.
The Canuck righty limited the Tigers to four hits in five scoreless innings to pick up the win. It was the D-Backs’ first victory of the season.
Caissie clubs walk-off home run
On Sunday, Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) hit the first walk-off home run of his MLB career.
With the Miami Marlins trailing the Colorado Rockies 3-2 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Caissie belted a two-run home run to right field off right-hander Victor Vodnik.
Caissie is off to an excellent start with Marlins this season. In four games, the Fieldhouse Pirates and Junior National Team grad is 5-for-13 (.385 batting average). He has two doubles and four RBIs.
Hicks socks second homer of season
Marlins catcher Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.) became the first Canadian to hit a regular season home run in 2026 when he connected for a two-run shot in the fifth inning off Rockies right-hander Michael Lorenzen on Saturday.
He followed that up with another two-run blast in the fourth inning on Monday off Chicago White Sox right-hander Davis Martin.
In three games this season, Hicks has a team-leading six RBIs, which is also tied for the most in MLB.
The Toronto Mets alum is 3-for-8, good for .375 batting average.
Sabrowski off to sensational start
Cleveland Guardians left-hander Erik Sabrowski (Edmonton, Alta.) has an MLB-leading three holds to start the season.
In three appearances for the Guardians, he has not allowed a hit or a run, while fanning five, in 3 1/3 innings.
He is in his third MLB season.
O’Neill goes deep in third game
No, he didn’t hit a home run on Opening Day for the first time in seven years, but Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) did sock a three-run homer for the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday to help them to an 8-6 win over the Minnesota Twins.
O’Neill’s homer was a fourth-inning blast off Twins right-hander Bailey Ober.
It was the 119th home run of O’Neill’s MLB career – the 10th most by a Canadian. The Langley Blaze grad needs just five home runs to tie Corey Koskie (Anola, Man.) for ninth on that list.
Peters registers first two-hit game
Just two days after collecting his first MLB hit, Chicago White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.) had his first two-hit game on Monday.
The Okotoks Dawgs alum had two singles in three at bats in the Sox 9-4 victory over the Marlins.
Peters now has a mini three-game hitting streak. For the season, he is 4-for-9 (.444 batting average).
Maier signs with Mariners
After being released by the Atlanta Braves on March 26, right-hander Adam Maier (North Vancouver, B.C.) has signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners.
The deal was first reported by Bob Elliott, of the Canadian Baseball Network, on Monday.
Selected in the seventh round of the 2022 MLB draft by the Braves, Maier underwent an internal brace procedure on his arm that sidelined him for the 2023 season. He has since pitched in two seasons in the Braves’ system.
The 23-year-old UBC alum spent the bulk of 2025 with the Braves’ High-A Rome Emperors, going 4-11 with a 5.76 ERA in 22 appearances (19 starts).
He has been assigned to the Mariners’ High-A Everett AquaSox to begin the season.
Jays set Opening Day record for TV viewership
According to Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae, the Toronto Blue Jays home opener on Friday was the most-watched home opener in franchise history.
Mae notes that on average 2.15 million Canadians were watching the game on Sportsnet, with 4.6 million Canadians tuning in for at least part of the game.
Thanks for the update on these four Canadians.
Thanks for reading this.
I’m rooting hard for Caissee!!
He’s off to a great start. Thanks for your comment.