Russell Martin of Chelsea, Québec has taken the lead among National League catchers in voting for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which will take place on July 10 in San Francisco. The Los Angeles Dodgers star and former Junior and Senior National Team member leapfrogged Paul Lo Duca of the New York Mets and Brian McCann of the Atlanta Braves to lead the voting. The 24-year-old catcher is in his second Major League season and leads the Dodgers with 40 RBIs and 39 runs scored. He is batting .299 with seven home runs and has 10 stolen bases. There is still time to vote for Russell and other players for the MLB All-Star Game. Go to MLB.com and vote for all the deserving all-stars. Voting ends on June 28.
The first day of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft saw five Canadians selected, including Phillippe Aumont of Gatineau, Québec who was selected 11th overall by the Seattle Mariners. On the second day of the MLB draft, 28 Canadians were selected. A total of 33 Canadians were selected over the two day event. Here are the Canadians selected on the second day of the draft: RHP Evan Hildenbrandt; Abbotsford, B.C. (6th round, 199th/Reds) RHP Guillaume Leduc; Boucherville, QC (6th round, 213th/Mets) OF Tim Smith; Toronto, ON (7th round, 230th/Rangers) RHP Chris Kissock; Fruitvale, B.C. (9th round, 293rd/Phillies) C Joel Collins; Richmond Hill, ON (10th round, 225th/Blue Jays) C Jordan Wideman; Mississauga, ON (11th round, 349th/Reds) SS Steve Condotta; Mississauga, ON (13th round, 385th/Blue Jays) C Chris Dennis; Amherstburg, ON (13th round, 401st/Brewers) RHP Colin Buckborough; Niagara Falls, ON (16th round, 495th/Mariners) RHP John Mariotti; Toronto, ON (18th round, 549th/Orioles) RHP Henry Mabee; Victoria, B.C. (19th round, 599th/White Sox) 1B Cameron Robulack; Toronto, ON (20th round, 611th/Brewers) 1B Mitch Delaney; LaSalle, ON (21st round, 659th/White Sox) SS Kyle Gilligan; Etobicoke, ON (27th round, 835th/Blue Jays) RHP Travis Nevakshonoff; Castlegaar, B.C. (29th round, 881st/Brewers) C Kirk Bacsu; Maple Creek, SK (32nd round, 982nd/Phillies) CF Ryan Jensen; Langley, B.C. (33rd round, 999th/Brewers) CF Cody Phipps; Round Hill, AB (33rd round, 1009th/Astros) RHP Tom Boleska; Burlington, ON (35th round, 1054th/Pirates) RHP Kyle Benoit; Brampton, ON (36th round, 1098th/Brewers) LHP Kai Tuomi; Sault Ste. Marie, ON (40th round, 1197th/Nationals) RHP Adam Arnold; London, ON (41st round, 1224th/Brewers) OF Terrell Alliman; Waterloo, ON (43rd round, 1290th/Angels) RHP Kyle Haas, Pitt Meadows, B.C. (46th round, 1356th/Mariners) INF Devery Van de Keere; Barrhead, AB (48th round, 1392nd/Royals) RHP Michael Henry; Sarnia, ON (48th round, 1404th/Reds) RHP Cameron Gray; Toronto, ON (49th round, 1425th/Reds) OF Nick Purdy; Cobourg, ON (50th round, 1486th/Mariners) Baseball Canada would like to congratulate all the Canadians selected during the two days of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.
The first day of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft saw five Canadians taken within the first four rounds. Here are the players chosen: RHP Phillippe Aumont, Gatineau, QC (1st round, 11th/Mariners) RHP Kyle Lotzkar, Delta, B.C. (1st round*, 53rd/Reds) RHP Trystan Magnuson, Vancouver, B.C. (1st round*, 56th/Blue Jays) C Lars Davis, Grande Prairie, AB (3rd round, 102nd/Rockies) RHP Mitch Hodge, Vancouver, B.C. (4th round, 106th/Royals) Aumont is the highest Canadian chosen in the draft since Adam Loewen of Surrey, B.C. was chosen fourth overall and Jeff Francis of Vancouver, B.C. was chosen ninth overall in 2002. The First Year Player Draft continues Friday with rounds 6 to 50 and it is expected that many more Canadians will be selected. The second day of the draft starts at 11:30 am ET. * supplemental pick
The President of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), Dr. Harvey Schiller, announced that Miquel Ortin, the IBAF Executive Director, has been relieved of his duties as Executive Director effective immediately. “We have received advice from Miquel and his medical advisors that Miquel will be unable to return to work for at least the next 12 months and that he will require long-term recuperation,” says Dr. Schiller in a written statement. “This was a most difficult decision as Miquel has been the IBAF Executive Director since 1993,” adds Dr. Schiller. “But with the lead up to the Beijing Olympic Games and campaign for baseball to be re-admitted as an Olympic Sport in the 2016 Olympic Games, the IBAF faced no other alternative as a full time, focused Executive Director was required.” Dr. Schiller also added that John Ostermeyer will replace Mr. Ortin as Executive Director on an interim basis.
Baseball Canada would like to congratulate Phillippe Aumont of Gatineau, Québec who was chosen 11th overall by the Seattle Mariners in the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. The 18-year-old right handed pitcher is 6’8” and 230 lbs and scouted heavily with his fastball reaching speeds up to 97 mph. Phillippe has been a member of the Junior National Team since 2006 and was part of the Junior Team that won the bronze medal at the World Junior Baseball Championships in Cuba in September, 2006. He is the fifth Canadian taken in the first round since Canadians have been eligible to be drafted in 1985.
Baseball Canada would like to congratulate Kyle Lotzkar of Delta, B.C. who was chosen by the Cincinnati Reds 53rd overall as a sandwich pick in the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. A right-handed pitcher, the 6’3”, 180 lbs Lotzkar can reach speeds over 90 mph with his fastball The 17-year-old was with the Junior National Team for the Fall Instructional League and Spring Training Camp in Florida this season.
Minnesota Twins first baseman and former Junior and Senior National Team member Justin Morneau was named the American League's player of the month for May. The native of New Westminster, B.C., hit .380 in 27 games with 10 home runs, 29 RBIs, 21 runs scored and a slugging percentage of .667. Morneau had a 10-game hit-streak from May 13-27 and three multi-homer games over the course of the month. This is the first career AL Player of the Month award for Morneau. Overall, the defending AL MVP is hitting .283 with 16 home runs and 44 RBIs.
Amanda Asay of Prince George, B.C. has established herself comfortably in the Prince George Senior Baseball League. She is the only girl in a league of men and she hasn’t been intimidated. In three games with the Big League Citizen Knights and the Westwood Sports Pub Royals this season, Amanda is hitting .429 (3-for-7) with one RBI, two runs scored and three walks. The catcher/first baseman with the Women’s National Team is not only talented on the field, but is exceptional off the field. “She’s pretty happy-go-lucky,” says teammate and friend Kate Psota. “She’s a joker. She likes to joke around and she’s a good friend.” On the field, Amanda is like a horse. She is powerful, strong, agile, quick and imposing. “She’s the type of player that inspires you to be a better player,” says Psota. “She works really hard. She’s very intense, very focused.” Amanda continues to succeed at all levels while she helps destroy the stereotype that girls can’t play baseball. “She didn’t back down one iota,” says Jim Swanson, a teammate in the Prince George Senior League. “Her first at-bat, she battled for something like 10 pitches against a tough pitcher, finally drawing a walk. Next time up, she hit a sharp single to right. Next time, drew another walk.” “Hopefully she’ll bring a little more attention to (the women’s) program and what we’re doing and just prove to everyone that girls can play the game,” adds Psota. Amanda is certainly doing that.
The Junior National Team’s final game of their Dominican tour against the Philadelphia Phillies was rained out and will not be rescheduled. The juniors will return to Canada on Friday and rejoin their respective club teams. They will reunite in August for an exhibition series against the American Junior National Team in Missouri before heading to Mexico for the World Junior Baseball Championship Qualifying Tournament.
The Junior National Team held this game close, but they could not stop the Toronto Blue Jays from capitalizing on their opportunities as the juniors would lose 4-2 in Dominican Summer League action. Corey Pappel of Mississauga, Ontario was solid in his start for the Canadians, pitching three innings and allowing one run on one hit with three walks and four strikeouts. Colin Buckborough of Niagara Falls, Ontario, who took the loss, threw three innings, giving up two runs on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts in his outing. Ryan Kennedy of Calgary, Alberta allowed one run on two hits with one walk and two strikeouts in three innings of relief. Five different players collected hits for the juniors in this game. Chad Stang of Surrey, B.C. went 1-for-3 with a double, Leslie Williams of Scarborough, Ontario went 1-for-3, Carter Bell of Courtenay, B.C. went 1-for-3, Tanner Craswell of Charlottetown, P.E.I. was 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored and Jeff Hunt of Cambridge, Ontario went 1-for-1 with an RBI. The juniors were able to score runs in the third and ninth innings, while the Blue Jays scored one in the third inning, two in the fourth inning and one in the seventh inning. The next game for the Junior National Team will be their final contest of their Dominican Tour when they take on the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday at 11 am.
