BWDIK: Bratt, Julien, Naylor, Pop, Quantrill, Soroka, Thomson

Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) has stolen six bases since joining the Seattle Mariners on July 24. Photo: Seattle Mariners

August 3, 2025

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Some Canadian baseball news and notes from the past week:

Naylor makes stolen base history with Mariners

With his stolen base in the Seattle Mariners’ 3-1 win over the Oakland A’s on Monday, slugger Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) became the first player in Mariners’ history to steal four bases in their first four games with the team.

Naylor swiped another base in the M’s 6-4 loss to the Texas Rangers on Saturday to give him 17 this season. According to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, that set a new record for the most in a major league season by a first baseman born in Canada. First basemen Bill Phillips (Saint John, N.B., 1887) and Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont., 2010) each had 16 in a season.

Naylor’s previous high was 10 stolen bases with the Cleveland Guardians in 2023.

The Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team grad also belted his first home run as a Mariner – a solo shot off JP Sears in the second inning – on Monday. It was his 12th of the season.

In total, in his nine games with the M’s, Naylor is 8-for-34 (.235 batting average).

Naylor was dealt to the Mariners on July 24 by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He is in his seventh major league season.

Soroka latest Canadian pitcher to join Cubs

Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) was dealt to the Chicago Cubs by the Washington Nationals on Thursday.

Soroka is the latest Canadian right-hander to pitch for the Cubs. He joins a list that includes Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.), Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, B.C.), Rich Harden (Victoria, B.C.) and Jim Henderson (Calgary, Alta.).

The 27-year-old righty is slated to start against the Cincinnati Reds tomorrow at Wrigley Field. That will also be his 28th birthday.

Prior to heading to the Windy City, Soroka posted a 3-8 record with a 4.87 ERA in 16 starts for the Nationals this season. He struck out 87 batters in 81 innings.

Soroka, who signed a one-year, $9-million contract with the Nats in December, will be part of a Cubs’ rotation that has been hampered by injuries. Starting pitchers Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad and Justin Steele are all on the injured list.

In all, Soroka has pitched in parts of six major league seasons with the Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox and Nationals.

Left-hander Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.), shown here with the Texas Rangers’ double-A Frisco RoughRiders, was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday. Photo: Frisco RoughRiders

Bratt traded to D-Backs at deadline

Left-hander Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.) was dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks by the Texas Rangers as part of a package for starter Merrill Kelly on Thursday.

A Toronto Mets and Junior National Team alum, Bratt, whom MLB Pipeline rated as the No. 9 prospect in the Rangers’ organization, was 6-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 18 games (17 starts) for the double-A Frisco RoughRiders this season. The 22-year-old southpaw fanned 106 batters in 90 1/3 innings.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2021 MLB draft by the Rangers, Bratt was in his fifth season in the Rangers’ organization. In 81 games (72 starts) in total, Bratt posted a 21-17 record and a 3.20 ERA and struck out 408 batters in 348 2/3 innings.

The Diamondbacks have assigned Bratt to the double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles.

Quantrill stays with Marlins, enjoys another strong start

Signed to a one-year, $3.5-million contract by the Miami Marlins in February, Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) was another Canadian pitcher expected to be moved at the deadline.

But after his third consecutive strong start on Wednesday and with the Marlins on the fringes of the National League Wild Card race, they opted to hold on to the Canuck right-hander.

After tossing five scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 30, Quantrill has permitted just one earned run in 16 innings since the All-Star break and has lowered his season ERA to 4.79.

In his last seven starts, the Ontario Terriers and Junior National Team grad owns a 3.15 ERA and has fanned 29 batters in 34 1/3 innings.

He is in his seventh major league season

Pivetta earns career-best 11th win

San Diego Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) surrendered just one run on one hit in seven innings to the Cardinals on Friday to pick up his 11th win of the season. That set a new career-high for him. He had 10 wins with the Boston Red Sox in 2022 and 2023.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Pivetta has been the best pitcher in the majors over his last seven starts. In that stretch, he is 4-1 with a 1.01 ERA and has fanned 45 in 44 1/3 innings.

The veteran right-hander leads Canadian big league pitchers in almost every category this season, including wins, starts (22), innings pitched (128 2/3) and strikeouts (136).

The Junior National Team grad is in the first year of a backloaded, four-year, $55-million contract with the Padres. Overall, he is in his ninth major league season.

Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) has seven home runs for the Baltimore Orioles this season. Photo: Orioles

O’Neill one of only O’s left standing after deadline

It seems like Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) is the only everyday player left in the Baltimore Orioles lineup after the team’s fire sale at the trade deadline. Though he has cooled off somewhat, the 30-year-old slugger is batting .333 with four home runs and 10 RBIs in his last seven games.

It has been a challenging first season with the O’s for O’Neill. He has had two lengthy stretches on the injured list – first with neck inflammation and then with an impingement in his left shoulder.

In total, in 41 games in 2025, O’Neill is batting .210 with seven home runs and 21 RBIs.

The Langley Blaze and Junior National Team alum 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 Cardinals.

Most MLB Home Runs by a Player Born in Canada in 2025

16 – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.)

12 – Josh Naylor

11 – Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.)

7 – Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.)

6 – Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.)

4 – Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.)

3 – Jared Young (Prince George, B.C.), Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.)

2 – Edouard Julien (Quebec, Que.)

Julien recalled by the Twins

Speaking of fire sales, the Minnesota Twins conducted one of their own prior to the deadline and one of the beneficiaries was infielder Edouard Julien (Quebec City, Que.) who was recalled from the triple-A St. Paul Saints on Friday.

In recent weeks, Julien had been swinging a hot bat for the Saints, boosting his on-base percentage (OBP) to .415 in 70 games. He also had 11 home runs, 53 walks and five stolen bases.

Since his return to the Twins, the 26-year-old Canadian has started two games at second base and has gone 1-for-6 with a double.

This represents Julien’s second stretch with the Twins this season. He cracked the Opening Day roster but batted just .198 with two home runs in 29 games before being sent down.

Over the past two seasons, the left-handed hitting infielder has struggled to duplicate the success of rookie big league campaign in 2023 when he batted .263 with a .381 OBP with 16 home runs in 109 games.

Pop signed by Cubs

Right-hander Zach Pop (Brampton, Ont.) was signed to a minor league contract by the Cubs on July 22. He has been assigned to the ACL Cubs but he has yet to pitch for them.

The Cubs are the fourth major league organization Pop has spent time with in 2025.

The 28-year-old right-hander was designated for assignment by the New York Mets on July 8 after he was roughed up for three runs in 1 1/3 innings in his sole appearance with them two days earlier.

Pop then cleared waivers and became a free agent.

On July 5, he had signed a major league contract with the Mets. This came after he posted a 13.50 ERA in four relief appearances with the Mariners who designated him for assignment on June 26.

Pop had signed with the Mariners after spending the bulk of spring training with the Blue Jays before he was shelved with elbow discomfort and then subsequently released.

In total, in parts of five major league seasons, Pop owns an 8-6 record and a 4.88 ERA in 163 relief appearances with the Marlins, Blue Jays, Mariners and Mets.

Thomson gives up number for Duran

Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson will do almost anything to improve his team, and if that means giving up his uniform number, so be it.

That was the case after the Phillies landed much coveted Twins closer Jhoan Duran prior to the trade deadline. Duran had worn No. 59 with the Twins and it was Thomson’s number with the Phils.

The two talked and Thomson said he would gladly give up the number if it was important to Duran. So Thomson is now wearing No. 49.

“The only one that’s upset at this point is my wife,” Thomson told reporters on Friday. “All her merchandise has 59 on it. Now she has to go buy new stuff.”

Street named after Cormier in Moncton

Thank you to Steve Kee for letting me know that the street entering the CN Sportsplex in Moncton, N.B. was renamed Rheal Cormier Drive in a ceremony last Sunday. Cormier spent a lot of time on the ball fields in Moncton before and after he pitched parts of 16 seasons in the majors.

Cormier passed away in 2021 fron pancreatic cancer when he was just 53, but his widow Lucienne was on hand for the ceremony.

A memorial plaque that tells the story of Cormier’s career was also unveiled.

It’s the second such posthumous honour Cormier has received in recent months. In June, a trail named in honour was officially opened in his hometown of Cap-Pele, N.B.

Cormier was selected in the sixth round of the 1988 MLB draft by the Cardinals. The crafty left-hander would make 683 appearances (second-most by a Canadian pitcher) during his major league career that included stops with the Cardinals, Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Reds. Cormier also toed the rubber for Canada in multiple international competitions, including at the 1988 and 2008 Olympics and in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. For his efforts, he was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012.

Stairs’ homer streak in 1998

Twenty-seven years ago today, Oakland A’s slugger Matt Stairs (Fredericton, N.B.) homered in his fifth consecutive game when he went deep against New York Yankees right-hander Orlando Hernandez in the second inning of a 14-1 A’s loss.

Stairs’ streak would end the next game, but that was the longest home run streak of his career.

32 years ago, Siddall registered first MLB hit

Batting eighth and starting at catcher for the Montreal Expos 32 years ago today, Joe Siddall (Windsor, Ont.) singled off Mets left-hander Frank Tanana in the fourth inning in the Expos’ 3-1 win at Olympic Stadium for his first major league hit.

Siddall also threw out Mets outfielder Ryan Thompson while trying to steal in the contest.

Anniversary of Dave Wainhouse‘s MLB debut

Thirty-four years ago today, Dave Wainhouse (Toronto, Ont.) made his MLB debut with the Expos. He pitched two innings in relief and allowed one run on one hit in the Expos’ 7-1 loss to the Phillies at Olympic Stadium.

Fun Fact of the Week:

Right-hander Rich Harden (Victoria, B.C.) was one of the Cubs’ greatest pre-trade deadline acquisitions of all-time. After being acquired by the Cubs from the A’s on July 8, 2008, Harden went 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA in 12 starts down the stretch. He allowed just 39 hits and struck out 89 batters in 71 innings to help the Cubs to the National League Central division title.