TORONTO -- The future of Canadian baseball was on full display in Toronto.
Over 160 of the country’s top amateur baseball players took the field at Rogers Centre this week for the annual Canadian Futures Showcase, hosted by the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Academy. The event highlighted the next generation of Canadian ballplayers while underscoring the growth in the nation’s baseball talent.
“The goal of the showcase is to get all the players to the next level,” tournament director TJ Burton said. “They've worked so hard to get here and getting them into college and getting them into professional baseball -- and hopefully one day into the big leagues -- that's the goal.”
Representatives from over 25 U.S. colleges and 26 professional teams were in attendance for the five-day showcase event. For 2024 MLB Draft-eligible players like infielder Brendan Lawson, the tournament was an opportunity to "get seen by as many people as possible," he said.
"It's been a great experience playing with a lot of my friends," Lawson said. "I've gotten a lot of exposure, talking to the various pro scouts that were here. Overall, it was a great time."
Since its debut in 2013, the Canadian Futures Showcase has seen 117 participants drafted by MLB organizations and more than 600 receive college scholarships. Some former tournament participants currently playing in the big leagues include Guardians slugger Josh Naylor, Twins infielder Edouard Julien and Mariners reliever Matt Brash. The next household names in Canadian baseball may have been on the field this week in Toronto, according to Burton.
“In this [year’s] group, there's three or four Major Leaguers,” Burton said. “We just don't know who they are right now. You can try to make a guess, but the level of competition is very high.”
Former Blue Jays pitcher and Showcase coach Jeff Francis has watched Canadian baseball grow since his MLB career ended in 2015. The sheer physical size of the players -- ranging from ages 14 to 19 -- stuck out to Francis, but so did the rising level of talent. With that increasing talent has come opportunity, and the former big league lefty doesn’t see many remaining obstacles for young Canadian players to get scouted, noticed and make the jump to the next level.
"We've seen kids committed here to some of the highest-rated schools in the U.S. and some kids who have education as a priority have committed to those types of schools, too,” Francis said. “I don't think there's anything missing opportunity-wise."
While the event is put on by the Blue Jays Academy, scouts from all professional teams are allowed to attend. The Blue Jays could “lock the doors and not let anybody in,” Burton said, but the priority is to get this crop of young Canadian ballplayers opportunities and exposure. If any of them go on to flourish with other MLB clubs, that’s still a win for Canadian baseball and the Blue Jays, too.
“Any Canadian having success at the top level -- and having other Canadians see that -- is tremendously good for baseball in this country,” Burton said. “And it’s great for the Blue Jays.”
Showcase Returns To Rogers Centre
The 2023 Showcase was the event’s return to Toronto after a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19 cancellations and a relocation to Ottawa last year. Bringing the players back to Toronto and Rogers Centre was particularly important, Burton said, as the Blue Jays’ ballpark and Canadian baseball are intertwined.
“It’s so much different when they’re playing on the field that they just watched the Blue Jays sweep the Red Sox on,” Burton said.
After growing up watching Blue Jays games as a Toronto native, the Futures Showcase was 17-year-old Lawson’s first time on the turf at Rogers Centre. He remembers watching from the right field seats as Josh Donaldson dashed home with the winning run in Game 3 of the 2016 American League Division series. This week, Lawson was manning that same infield.
"I've been coming here since I was like three or four years old, with my dad," Lawson said. "It's amazing to actually be able to play on the field instead of sit in the stands and watch.”
Flewelling Snatches Derby Belt
On the final day of the showcase, the tournament’s top prospects gathered along the first-base line at Rogers Centre to watch eight young Canadian sluggers step into the batter's box for their two-minute crack at the event’s Home Run Derby.
Lefty catcher Nathan Flewelling set an early pace in the Derby, yanking towering fly balls down the right-field line and over Rogers Centre’s outfield wall. He smashed six homers in the opening round, before winning the event in the finals with six more long balls. After sealing the win, the Alberta native was awarded with a Derby belt for his victory.