ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -It’s not often you dig into the batter’s box as a 17 year-old player and have an established major leaguer staring down at you from the pitcher’s mound.
Members of the Junior National Team will face that reality on tomorrow (1:05pm ET) when the Toronto Blue Jays pay a visit to Al Lang Stadium for a split squad game and bringing a roster that includes some established big league players.
As he did in 2011 and 2012, Canadian third baseman Brett Lawrie will make the trip over from the Blue Jays Spring Training home in Dunedin along with first baseman Adam Lind and crowd favourite Munenori Kawasaki.
The Blue Jays are expected to start Brandon Morrow on the mound with big-league relievers Sergio Santos and Steve Delabar slated to follow, while top pitching prospect Aaron Sanchez is expected to see time on the mound as well.
“We’re real fortunate to have the support of the Blue Jays organization,” said Baseball Canada’s Director of National Teams and Head Coach Greg Hamilton. “It starts right at the top with Paul (Beeston) and Alex (Anthopoulos) sending over their major league guys which is very special.”
Facing the Jays will be left-hander Ben Onyshko (Winnipeg, MB) who is looking forward to facing players that he would normally see on TV.
“It’s pretty exciting knowing that I’ll be facing major league hitters on Tuesday,” said Onyshko. “This opportunity doesn’t come around everyday so I want to make sure that I enjoy the experience and try and have some fun out there.”
The Jays roster will also include some of the Canadian minor leaguers currently in the system and the coaching staff will feature former National Team player Stubby Clapp and long-time National Team coach Tim Leiper.
Listen Live: Can’t make it to the game? No problem! You can listen to all Junior National Team Spring Training games live by visiting radiostpete.com. You can also follow along with live scoring available at MLB.com
Tickets: For more information on the series, visit stpeteinternationalbaseball.com. All game tickets are $10 (General Admission only) and are available in advance at the St. Petersburg Museum of History or online at SPMOH.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the Al Lang Field Box Office.
Twitter: @baseballcanada I @Team_C_Updates
