BWDIK: Brash, Naylor, Pivetta, Puhl, Smith, Soroka, Toro
Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team alum Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) has three home runs in his past five games for the Cleveland Guardians.
May 4, 2025
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
Some Canadian baseball news and notes from the past week:
Bo knows home runs
Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) has belted three home runs in his past five games. He now has five home runs this season to lead all Canadian big leaguers.
His latest homer was a solo shot to centre field off Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt in the fourth inning in the Guardians’ 5-3 loss on Friday. Earlier in the week, he went deep in back-to-back games against the Minnesota Twins.
Naylor clubbed a career-high 13 home runs for the Guardians last season and is on pace to surpass that number.
The Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team alum is in his fourth season with the Guardians.
Pivetta registers NL-leading fifth win
San Diego Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) recorded his National League-leading fifth win on Tuesday when he struck out nine and allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings in the Padres’ 7-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
The 32-year-old Canuck is now 5-1 with a 1.78 ERA (second-best in the National League) in six starts. He has 39 strikeouts and has permitted just 21 hits in 35 1/3 innings. His 0.82 WHIP (Walks/Hits Per Innings Pitched) is also second-best in the NL.
Pivetta is in his ninth big league season, but his first with the Padres after signing a back-loaded four-year, $55-million contract with them in February.
The Junior National Team grad will make his next start on Monday against the New York Yankees.
Smith tied for second among AL pitchers in appearances
Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) continues to excel out of the bullpen for the Guardians. In 16 appearances (which is tied for second among American League pitchers), he has posted a 1.15 ERA and has fanned 21 batters in 15 2/3 innings.
He has returned to a set-up role after collecting three saves as an interim closer while Emmanuel Clase worked his way back from some struggles and shoulder discomfort.
I can’t think of a Canadian big-league reliever who has had a better start than Smith to their career. In a combined 90 appearances since his debut, the Junior National Team alum is 7-1 with a 1.78 ERA. He has 124 strikeouts in 91 innings.
Brash activated by Mariners
Right-hander Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.), who had not pitched in the big leagues since undergoing Tommy John surgery last May, was activated by the Seattle Mariners yesterday and proceeded to pitch a scoreless seventh inning in the M’s 2-1 win over the Texas Rangers.
Leading up to his return, Brash made six appearances for the triple-A Tacoma Rainiers as part of a minor league rehab assignment.
In 2023, the 6-foot-1 righty developed into a go-to late-inning reliever for the Mariners. He led major league pitchers with 78 appearances and had a 9-4 record and a 3.06 ERA. He fanned 107 batters in 70 2/3 innings, good for a 13.6 strikeout-per-nine-inning rate.
Red Sox call up Toro
The Boston Red Sox called up infielder Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) on Saturday. The switch-hitting infielder was promoted to replace Triston Casas who has been placed on the 10-day injured list after he suffered a left patellar tendon rupture in Friday’s contest.
Toro had been off to a strong start with the triple-A Worcester Red Sox. In 28 games, he was hitting .310 with seven doubles and two home runs. The versatile Canadian had made 18 starts at third base, five at first and two at second.
Toro batted .310 in 21 games with the Red Sox this spring and was one of the team’s final cuts.
In total, Toro, 28, has played in parts of six previous major league seasons with the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Mariners and Oakland A’s. In 365 big league games, he owns a .220 batting average with 34 home runs and 134 RBIs.
Hicks knocks in three more runs
Miami Marlins catcher Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.) drove in three more runs on Wednesday when he went 2-for-4 with a double in his club’s 12-7 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. That gives him 15 RBIs this season, which ranks second on the Marlins.
Over his last seven games, the former Toronto Met has gone 8-for-23 to boost his batting average to .242.
The Marlins selected Hicks in the Rule 5 draft from the Detroit Tigers in December. He was originally chosen in the ninth round of the 2021 MLB draft by the Rangers.
O’Neill on 10-day IL with neck soreness
Baltimore Orioles outfielder Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) was placed on the 10-day injured list on April 26 with neck inflammation. The move was retroactive to April 24.
“He missed a couple games earlier with a similar issue in his neck. It was improving, and he tried to play on it, but it’s continuing to bother him a little bit. So, I think the right thing to do is to try and get him healthy and back,” O’s manager Brandon Hyde told reporters on April 26.
The O’s believe O’Neill will not need longer than the 10 days to recover.
“That’s obviously the goal,” O’Neill told reporters of the prospect of returning after 10 days. “I’m just unfortunately dealing with some pain and some mobility [issues] for the better part of the week, and it’s better to have it dealt with now and not lingering around over the course of the season.”
In 18 games this season, O’Neill is batting .215 with two home runs and 10 RBIs.
The Langley Blaze and Junior National Team grad signed a three-year, $49.5-million contract with the O’s in December. He belted 31 home runs for the Red Sox last season and played his first six big league campaigns with the St. Louis Cardinals.
39 years ago, Puhl made history at Big O
It was 39 years ago today that Terry Puhl (Melville, Sask.) belted a grand slam for the Houston Astros against the Montreal Expos at Olympic Stadium. It came in the third inning off Bryn Smith. It was the second grand slam of Puhl’s career, but his first on Canadian soil.
It also marked the first time that a Canadian player had hit a grand slam in a Canadian major league stadium.
The Expos ultimately won the game 7-6.
Fanning family represented at Expos Fest
It’s great to know that Jim Fanning was well-represented at Expos Fest last weekend. Marie Fanning, Jim’s wife, and his son, Frank, attended the sold-out event which raises thousands of dollars each year for the Montreal Children’s Hospital and the Kat D Foundation, which is named in honour of organizer Perry Giannias’s niece Catherine Demes. Kat died July 22, 2015 at the age of 5 from diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a rare form of brain cancer.
Marie Fanning and Frank Fanning, with longtime Expos manager Felipe Alou, who has credited Jim Fanning for much of his success.
In August 1968, Jim Fanning was named the first general manager of the Expos. In his 25-year tenure with the club, he helped build the franchise from scratch and served in several different capacities, including vice-president, scout and even two stints as the field manager (1981-82, 1984).
When he took over as the field boss in 1981, he had drafted or helped develop the skills of 21 players on the roster. Known as “Gentleman Jim,” the respected baseball man would guide the Expos to their first and only playoff berth in 1981.
In his quarter century with the Expos, he established himself as one of baseball’s best talent evaluators, counting fellow Canadian Baseball Hall of Famers Larry Walker, Steve Rogers and Tim Wallach – all of whom were present at Expos Fest – among the players he had a hand in scouting and signing.
Fanning passed away in 2015.
Soroka strikes out 11 in third rehab start
Washington Nationals right-hander Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) struck out 11 batters and allowed just one run in five innings in his rehab start for the triple-A Rochester Red Wings against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Friday. He threw 94 pitches. Sixty of them for strikes.
This was the third start of his minor league rehab assignment. His previous two were with the double-A Harrisburg Senators. Soroka is working his way back from a right biceps injury that he suffered in a start against the Blue Jays on March 31.
Nationals manager Dave Martinez told MASN Sports that Soroka will rejoin the big-league club and throw a bullpen session on Monday. Following that, a decision will be made on whether or not to activate the Canuck right-hander.
The Nationals placed Soroka on the 15-day injured list on April 4. The move was retroactive to April 1.
The 27-year-old Junior National Team alum signed a one-year, $9-million contract with the Nationals on December 19 after pitching for the Chicago White Sox in 2024.
He is in his sixth major league season.
Fun Fact of the Week
Closer Jeff Hoffman is leading the Toronto Blue Jays in both wins (3) and saves (6).