OTTAWA – Coming off their bronze medal performance at the 38th Baseball World Cup, Rene Tosoni (Coquitlam, BC) and Adam Loewen (Surrey, BC) are among six Canadians who will take part of in the Arizona Fall League, starting later this month.
The other Canadians who will be participating are Nick Weglarz (Stevensville, ON), Scott Mathieson (Vancouver, BC), Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, QC) and Philippe-Alexandre Valiquette (Montreal, QC)
For Aumont and Valiquette, the Fall League is a chance to show their clubs that they have completely recuperated from injuries which prematurely ended their seasons. Both are looking to score some points going into Spring Training for the 2010 season. For Mathieson, this is a chance to continue his road back to the big leagues after undergoing a second Tommy John surgery.
Weglarz will also be looking to bounce back from a season shortened by injury. He hit .227 with 16 home runs and 65 RBI in 105 games this season with Double-A Akron in the Cleveland Indians organization.
Loewen will continue his highly publicized transition from pitcher to outfielder. In his first full season as a professional hitter, Loewen hit .236 with four home runs and 31 RBI, 22 doubles and three triples in 103 games with Class-A Dunedin of the Toronto Blue Jays organization. He hit .282 (11-for-39) with two home runs and 12 RBI, three doubles and a triple in 13 games at the World Cup.
As for Tosoni, he is coming off a stellar season where he was the XM All-Star Futures Game MVP. He hit .271 with 15 home runs, 71 RBI, 25 doubles and four triples in 122 games with Double-A New Britain in the Minnesota Twins organization. He led Canada with a .357 average with three home runs and 16 RBI in 15 games at the World Cup. He also added five doubles and three triples and scored a tournament high 18 runs.
The Arizona Fall League is a breeding ground for big league prospects, widely considered as a stepping stone toward the Majors. Every fall, Major League clubs send their top prospects to the Fall League to evaluate their potential against other highly touted talent.
