BWDIK: Caissie, Dykxhoorn, Jenkins, Morneau, Smith, Whitt
Justin Morneau (New Westminster, B.C.) had eight doubles for Canada in WBC games. That is tied for the all-time tournament record.
February 22, 2026
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
Some Canadian baseball news and notes
Dykxhoorn replaces Loewen on Canada’s WBC roster
As first reported by Bob Elliott, of the Canadian Baseball Network, on Saturday morning, right-hander Brock Dykxhoorn (Goderich, Ont.) will replace Carter Loewen (Abbotsford, B.C.) on Canada’s World Baseball Classic pitching staff.
Dykxhoorn, 31, went 7-9 with a 4.13 ERA in 21 starts for the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) last season. The 6-foot-8 right-hander has excelled in his six seasons with the CPBL club, twice winning the Canadian Baseball Network’s Claude Pelletier Award as top Canuck pitcher in the independent or foreign ranks. Dykxhoorn’s finest season was in 2021 when he went 17-4 with a 1.83 ERA in 27 appearances (26 starts) for the Lions.
Selected in the sixth round of the 2014 MLB draft by the Houston Astros, the Junior National Team grad spent five seasons in the Astros’ minors, rising to the triple-A level before opting to head overseas.
Dykxhoorn has pitched for Canada at multiple international competitions, including for the 2015 gold medal-winning Pan Am Games team.
Loewen, 27, is heading into his sixth season in the San Diego Padres’ organization. Bob Elliott reported that Loewen isn’t being allowed to compete. In 20 games between double-A and triple-A in 2025, the 6-foot-4 right-hander (who’s not related to Adam Loewen) posted a 2.16 ERA in 20 relief appearances.
Smith on declining WBC invite
Cleveland Guardians reliever Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) shed some light on why he won’t be pitching for Canada in the World Baseball Classic in March in an interview with A.J. Pierzynski on Foul Territory on Wednesday.
“It was my decision,” Smith told Pierzynski. “In ‘23, it was a phenomenal experience. Like, that was my first experience pitching in major league stadiums in front of sold-out crowds and that kind of environment. I had so much fun and enjoyed that. So, just this year, being at, kind of where things are contextually, I didn’t feel that it was wise for me to take that time away. I wanted to make sure that I was here and completely present and focused on the year coming up.”
Smith will serve as the Guardians’ closer this season with Emmanuel Clase facing several criminal charges, including conspiracy to influence sporting events by bribery.
In 2025, Smith posted an 8-5 record and a 2.93 ERA in 76 relief appearances and struck out 104 batters in 73 2/3 innings. The 26-year-old Canadian took over as the Guardians’ closer from Clase in late July and finished with 16 saves.
Caissie happy to be a Marlin
Prized outfield prospect Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) is happy to be a Miami Marlin. He was dealt to the club on January 7 as part of the package for right-hander Edward Cabrera.
“The emotions at first were mixed,” Caissie told Craig Mish of Sports Grid on Monday of his trade to the Marlins. “I mean I was with the Cubs for five-and-a-half years . . . but ultimately when the dust settled, I was pretty happy. It’s a good opportunity for me and it’s a good young ball club. And I’m happy to be here. All of the guys have welcomed me with open arms, so I’m really excited about that.”
In 99 games with the Cubs’ triple-A affiliate in Iowa in 2025, Caissie batted .286 and posted an .937 OPS with 22 home runs, 55 RBIs and five stolen bases. For his efforts, he received his first big league call-up on August 14. He belted a home run and had four RBIs in 12 major league games, but the 23-year-old slugger never received an extended big league look from the Cubs.
“I thought I was pretty blocked [in the Cubs organization] . . . Chicago was pretty stacked and it was pretty tough for a guy to break through when there is a big payroll and everything like that,” Caissie told Mish.
Caissie has a good chance of cracking the Marlins’ Opening Day roster as a starting outfielder. But first he will play for Canada at the World Baseball Classic. He also competed for Canada at the 2023 event.
Jenkins in Cubs camp again this spring
Every spring, I look forward to seeing a photo of Canadian baseball legend Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.) at Chicago Cubs camp in Mesa, Ariz. So, thank to Scott Changnon, of Marquee Sports, for sharing this photo of the 83-year-old Jenkins (far right) at Cubs camp this week.
Rest in peace, Bill Mazeroski, onetime Expos coach
Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski died on Friday at the age of 89.
Most will remember him as a perennial Gold Glove Award-winning second baseman who belted a walk-off World Series-winning home run against the New York Yankees for the Pirates in 1960. But following his playing career he enjoyed a short coaching tenure with the Montreal Expos.
When Bill Virdon was hired as Expos manager in 1983, he brought in Mazeroski, his former Pirates teammate, to work with the infielders, including Tim Wallach who was learning how to play third base.
“He (Mazeroski) was a huge help to me,” said Wallach back in 2014. “He helped me so much over at third base that spring. I had my ups and downs that year, but I continued to work on the things he showed me . . . I worked hard and became a good third baseman and I loved it over there. You’re always in the game. Obviously, you’ve got the big boys coming up there and when that [Olympic Stadium] turf got wet, you better be ready, but I just loved it over there. And Bill Mazeroski was a huge, huge help for me.”
For the record, Wallach ended up winning three Gold Gloves at third base for the Expos.
Jaschinski named MLB spring training umpire
Steven Jaschinski (Mount Hope, Ont.) will be one of the umpires working MLB spring training games. He spent the bulk of 2025 calling games in triple-A, but he did work 20 big league contests and had four home plate assignments.
Jaschinski made his MLB debut as the second-base umpire in the Toronto Blue Jays’ 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Rogers Centre on May 16, 2025. Two days later, he made his MLB debut behind the plate in the Blue Jays’ 3-2 loss to the Tigers.
A former Intercounty Baseball League umpire, Jaschinski also worked MLB spring training games in 2024 and 2025.
Jaschinski is vying to become the third active full-time Canadian MLB umpire, joining Stu Scheurwater (Regina, Sask.) and Alex Tosi (Markham, Ont.).
Sparky Anderson with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Photo: Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
Remembering Sparky Anderson
Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson was born in Bridgewater, South Dakota on this date in 1934
Most associate the fiery, white-haired skipper with the Cincinnati Reds’ Big Red Machine or the powerful ’80s Detroit Tigers teams, but the legendary dugout boss spent a significant portion of his career in Canada.
Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1953, Anderson advanced to the triple-A Montreal Royals in 1956, where he hit .298 and rapped out 135 hits. After toiling with the Pacific Coast League’s Los Angeles Angels for one season, the hard-nosed second baseman returned to Montreal to sock 35 doubles and lead the Royals to a league title in 1958.
His sole big league season came with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1959 before he came back to Canada to man second base for the International League’s Toronto Maple Leafs for four seasons.
In all, Anderson played six of his 10 minor league seasons north of the border. During that time, he was voted the International League’s Smartest Player five times. In 1964, when he was just 30 years old, Anderson accepted his first professional managerial post with the Maple Leafs.
After compiling an 80-72 record for the Leafs, he made his way up the managerial ladder to become one of the most successful skippers in big league history. After Anderson was named field boss of the Reds in 1970, the Big Red Machine won National League pennants in 1970, 1972 and 1973 and World Series titles in 1975 and 1976.
He joined the Tigers in 1979 and led the club to a Fall Classic title in 1984. With this, he became the first manager to win a championship with both an American League and National League club.
Anderson was also the first skipper to win more than 800 games with two major league teams and ranks seventh all-time with 2,194 big league wins.
For his efforts, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000 and into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ont., seven years later.
He passed away on November 4, 2010 in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
My dad and Elroy Face
Former Pirates relief ace Elroy Face died on February 12 at the age of 97.
In 1959, Face set a major league record when he recorded 18 wins as a reliever with the Pirates. One of the best relievers of all-time, he finished his 17-season major league career by posting a 3.94 ERA in 44 appearances with the Expos in 1969.
But when I think of Elroy Face, I think of a car ride with my parents in 1981.
When I was young, my family lived in Dorchester, Ont., and on weekends, we’d often visit my grandma, Elma Jewitt, in Clinton, Ont., which was about a one-hour, 15-minute drive.
To kill the time on the drive, we used to play a game called “Who am I?” The game required us to think of a person and have the others ask you questions until they guessed who the person was.
My brother, Paul, and I were very young, so we often chose friends or neighbors. My mom was a teacher so she teneded to select a person who was challenging, but one that she knew Paul and I could guess (for example a Prime Minister we had learned about in school).
My sports-minded dad was always the wild card. And on one drive, it was his turn to pick somebody.
We eagerly started asking him questions about the person he picked just north of London and were still grilling him when we reached the outskirts of Clinton, one hour later.
Eventually we established it was a baseball player.
“Is it Gary Carter?” asked my eight-year-old self.
“No.”
“Was it a pitcher?,” asked my 10-year-old brother.
“Yes.”
“Is it Dave Stieb?” I asked.
“No.”
“Is it Steve Rogers?” my brother asked.
“No.”
The Blue Jays and Expos rosters were about the extent of my brother and I’s baseball knowledge at that age. And my mom knew little more about baseball.
“It is Cy Young?” my mom asked.
“No.”
Eventually, as we pulled into the laneway to my grandma’s house, we gave up.
“It was Elroy Face!” my dad blurted out.
“Who the heck is Elroy Face?” my mom responded.
My brother and I, of course, had no idea who Elroy Face was either.
My dad then proceeded to tell us about Face’s heroics as reliever with the Pirates. And you can bet that the next time I went to the library, I researched Face.
I laugh at this story now, but I guess it also explains a lot about me – in particular, why my brain is a stockpile of mostly useless baseball trivia.
Morneau WBC record holder
Sarah Langs, of MLB.com, put together an excellent article about all-time WBC record holders and Justin Morneau (New Westminster, B.C.) is the co-holder one of them.
Morneau, who played for Canada in the first four World Baseball Classics, accumulated eight doubles, which is tied for the most with Cuba’s Frederich Cepeda in WBC history.
In another article, Langs and Francys Romero shared that Morneau is the only player to have four-hit games at multiple WBCs. On March 9, 2009, Morneau went 4-for-5 with two doubles against Italy. Then exactly four years later, he had the same stat line against Mexico.
Whitt to manage in WBC for record sixth time
Ernie Whitt has been the field manager for Canada in each of the first five World Baseball Classics. No other country has had the same manager for all five tournaments, and Whitt will add to that record when he manages Canada in March.
No other manager has been close to managing a country six times in the tournament.
This year’s WBC will be Mark DeRosa‘s second as the U.S. manager, but they employed different managers in the four previous WBCs: Buck Martinez (2006), Davey Johnson (2009), Joe Torre (2013) and Jim Leyland (2017).
February 22nd Birthdays
1934 – Sparky Anderson, former Toronto Maple Leafs player and manager and Montreal Royals player (died in 2010)
1963 – Don Wakamatsu, former Blue Jays coach
1965 – Eric Yelding, Blue Jays’ 1984 first-round pick
1982 – Kelly Johnson, former Blue Jays infielder
1989 – Chris Bassitt, former Blue Jays pitcher