Elliott: Draft Day 2 blog

July 12, 2026

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

There are some unwritten rules in the game.

_ Put your weakest fielder in the game and the next thing you know he’ll be faced with a tough chance.

_ Watch a player make an error, hang his head and for sure either the next hitter or the one after that will hit another ball to him and who knows what happens.

As former San Francisco Giants coach Tim Flannery used to say after watching the opposing team made one highlight catch, line drive-turned-into “we’ll see that one on the highlights film at 11,” play after another.”

“Boys that lady Momentum is dancing on the roof of the other dugout ... we have to do something to get her back here.”

Greg Brons (Saskatoon, Sask.) pointed out last night which dugout roof top Lady Momentum was dancing upon.

On Friday night we dedicated this blog to former Baseball Canada director Jim Baba (Moose Jaw, Sask.) who passed Sept. 12 -- after the July draft had been completed.

And when it came time for the Atlanta Braves boss Alex Anthopoulos to made his club’s first pick at 26 overall on Saturday, he chose OF Carter Beck fromm Indiana State. It was the highest a Saskatchewan player had ever been selected besting Logan Hoffman (Muenster, Sask.) who went in the fifth round of 2020 draft to the Pittsburgh Pirates,

It was obvious lady Momentum was dancing lightly on the Saskatchewan dugout.

And I’ll bet you a case of Diet Coke, the late Jim Baba was smiling happily and proudly from a cloud high up above.

Fifth round Jays pick: Toronto went next door to land Michigan State Spartans RHP Nolan Higgins. The reliever pitched in 27 games, going 3-4 with a 5.20 ERA and four saves. He struck out 72 and walked 13 in 45 innings.

A three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, he made 75 career appearances with nine wins and six saves, with 160 strikeouts in 171 2/3 innings. He was a starter for the majority of Spartan career, including all 15 appearances coming as starts in junior season of 2025, before shifting to backend of MSU’s bullpen. He was the team’s primary closer as a senior in 2026.

Fifth Canuck pick: The Cleveland Guardians, who like Canadian catchers, drafted Deiten Lachance from the University of Oklahoma in the sixth round. For the College World Series Oklahoma Sooners, he batted .333 with 12 doubles, two triples, 16 homers and 65 RBIs with an 1.011 OPS in 62 games.

Baseball America

Lachance is an ultra-physical, 6-foot-5, 230-pound catcher who spent his freshman and sophomore seasons at McLennan (Texas) CC before transferring to Oklahoma for his junior year. He hit well in the first half of the season, but found a new level of power in the second half, which was a key factor in Oklahoma winning its third-ever national title. He finished the season with a .327/.396/.609 slash line, 18 home runs and 12 doubles in 65 games. He led the Sooners in home runs and with a 1.023 OPS. Lachance is an aggressive slugger who loves to swing the bat, and does so frequently. He’s not especially picky about the pitches he swings at, and will expand the zone regularly against all pitch types. Sharpening those swing decisions and becoming more selective will be key for Lachance to tap into his plus raw power at the next level. He has tremendous strength and great bat speed, with the ability to drive the ball out of the yard to all fields, but the swing can get lengthy and his bat-to-ball skills are below-average. Lachance could be a below-average hitter and still have great value, because he’s made great strides as a defensive catcher over the years and has the tools to stick there. He has plus arm strength and is as aggressive with his throwing as his hitting, with a willingness to backpick regularly behind runners at first. He earns praise for his receiving, though he’ll need to continue refining his blocking, mobility and stay on top of his conditioning. He’s a poor runner, which isn’t a problem for catching, but will limit his value on the bases.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 40 | Power: 55 | Speed: 20 | Field: 50 | Arm: 60

Jays sixth round pick ... SS Gable Mitchell from the Iowa Hawkeyes. Mitchell batted .360 with a .987 OPS, which included 15 doubles, five triples, five homers and 45 RBIs. He was 14-for-19 stealing bases in 56 games.