Glew - BWDIK - Bratt, Gausman, Lopez, Naylor, Quantrill, Sinclair, Smith
Miami Marlins shortstop and Canadian national team alum Otto Lopez (Montreal, Que.) is leading MLB with 139 hits.
August 2, 2026
By Kevin Glew
Cooperstowners in Canada
Some Canadian baseball news and notes:
Gausman: Great pitcher, great Blue Jays ambassador
Kevin Gausman might not be the greatest pitcher to grace the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays, but he might be the happiest one.
Speaking with the media on Saturday, after what was likely his final start as a Blue Jay before Monday’s 6 p.m. E.T. trade deadline, Gausman said signing with the Blue Jays prior to the 2022 season was the best decision he ever made.
Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins might reflect similarly on his decision to sign the right-hander to a five-year, $110-million deal, which expires at the end of the season.
Gausman has been a model of consistency with the Blue Jays and a breath of fresh air in the clubhouse and in the city.
Just how consistent has Gausman been with the Blue Jays?
Here’s how he ranks among MLB pitchers from 2022 to present:
-920 strikeouts (2nd)
-148 starts (3rd)
-861 innings pitched (3rd)
-3 complete games (tied for 7th)
-53 wins (9th)
-3.62 ERA (17th among pitchers with at least 100 starts)
Lopez still leading MLB in hits
We are now more than 110 games into the MLB season and Miami Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez is still leading MLB hitters with 139 hits.
He also ranks third in batting average (.322), trailing only San Francisco Giants second baseman Luis Arraez (.328) and Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez (.324).
The 27-year-old shortstop, who spent part of his youth in Montreal, is also tied for second in MLB with seven triples.
Lopez has played for Canada at the last two World Baseball Classics.
Quantrill earns fourth win of season
On Tuesday, in his sixth start of the season, right-hander Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) allowed just one run on two hits, while striking out seven, in 5 2/3 innings to pick up his fourth win of the year in the Texas Rangers’ 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.
With that win, Quantrill equaled his win total for the 2025 season that he split between the Marlins and Atlanta Braves.
The 31-year-old righty has been effective as a swingman for the Rangers this season. In total, in 22 appearances, he is 4-3 with a 3.84 ERA and has 39 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings.
O’Neill homers for O’s
On Monday, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) belted his seventh home run of the season. It was a pinch-hit, solo shot off Detroit Tigers’ left-hander Tyler Holton in the Orioles’ 8-5 win at Comerica Park.
It was O’Neill’s second pinch-hit home run of the season and the third of his career.
That homer was also the 125th of O’Neill’s MLB career which moved him ahead of Corey Koskie (Anola, Man.) into sole possession of ninth place on the all-time Canadian MLB home run list.
Smith first to 30 saves
Cleveland Guardians closer Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) recorded his 30th save of the season on Tuesday. The following day I wrote that Smith had become the sixth Canadian to register 30 saves in a major league season. What I neglected to mention, however, was that Smith was the first major league pitcher to reach 30 saves in 2026.
With two months left in the season, Smith could become the first Canadian to collect 40 saves in a season since John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.) had 46 with the Brewers in 2011.
The record for most saves in a season by a Canadian is held by Eric Gagne (Mascouche, Que.) who had 55 saves for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003.
Naylor to report to Brewers’ triple-A Nashville Sounds
Catcher Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) will report to the Brewers’ triple-A Nashville Sounds after being acquired from the Guardians in a four-player trade yesterday.
I wrote about it here.
Naylor will join his 2026 World Baseball Classic teammate Tyler Black (Stouffville, Ont.) in Nashville.
For the record, the last Canadian catcher for the Brewers was George Kottaras (Scarborough, Ont.) who played parts of three seasons with the Brewers from 2010 to 2012.
Former Blue Jays lefty Steve Sinclair (Victoria, B.C.) turns 55 today.
Happy Birthday to Steve Sinclair!
Happy 55th Birthday to former Blue Jays reliever Steve Sinclair!
Born in Victoria, B.C, Sinclair was selected in the 28th round of the 1991 MLB draft by the Blue Jays. He spent the bulk of his first three seasons in the Blue Jays’ organization with their Rookie ball affiliate in Medicine Hat as a starter.
He eventually rose through the club’s ranks to make his big league debut on April 25, 1998. In 24 appearances for the Blue Jays that season, he posted a 3.60 ERA. After just three games with the Blue Jays in 1999, he was dealt to the Seattle Mariners along with right-hander Tom Davey for first baseman David Segui just prior to the trade deadline. Sinclair closed out his big league career by registering a 3.95 ERA in 18 appearances for the Mariners in 1999.
Since hanging up his playing spikes, Sinclair has returned to his home province to serve as the director of operations of the Victoria International Marina.
Quirky Romano stat
Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) has pitched well for the Colorado Rockies since being called up on July 4.
He is now five-for-five in save opportunities with them.
But he began the year with the Los Angeles Angels, and though he had four saves for them, he struggled to a 10.13 ERA in 11 appearances and was released on April 27.
I tell people my favourite kind of baseball stat is a quirky Canadian baseball stat. So I would like to thank Sam Blum for posting this one (below) about Romano on Tuesday (As noted earlier, since Blum’s post, Romano has notched his fifth save with the Rockies).
16 years ago, Blue Jays set doubles record
On this date 16 years ago, the Blue Jays tied a major league record when they clubbed six doubles in one inning.
They accomplished this in the fifth inning against the New York Yankees in their 8-6 win at Yankee Stadium. Travis Snider had two of the doubles for the Blue Jays. The other Blue Jays to double in the inning were Fred Lewis, Jose Bautista, Vernon Wells and Aaron Hill.
Anniversary of Canada’s first win in international competition
Fifty-nine years ago today, the Canadian men’s national team won their first game in an international competition when they beat Cuba 10-9 at the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg.
Maurice Oakes (Sturgis, Sask.) homered and drove in four for Canada. Larry Wilson (Hamilton, Ont.) also homered.
It was Cuba’s first loss of the tournament.
Bratt puts together best MLB start yet
Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.) put together the best start of his young big league career on Friday when he held the Guardians to one run on three hits in five innings. He got a no-decision but the D-Backs eventually won 4-1.
Bratt is still searching for his first big league win, but he lowered his ERA to 5.23 in five MLB starts.
The 23-year-old Toronto Mets and Junior National Team grad was excellent for the D-Backs’ triple-A Reno Aces this season, posting a 2.41 ERA in 13 starts before he was promoted to the big league club for the second time this year on July 12.
Four years ago, Blue Jays acquired Pop
On this day four years ago, the Blue Jays landed right-hander Zach Pop (Brampton, Ont.) and reliever Anthony Bass from the Marlins in exchange for infield prospect Jordan Groshans.
Pop proceeded to post a 4.89 ERA in 90 appearances in parts of three seasons with the Blue Jays from 2022 to 2024.
Groshans batted .262 in 17 games with the Marlins in 2022 but has not played in the big leagues since. He is currently with the Braves’ double-A Columbus Clingstones.
Baseball in Dorchester has come a long way
Some of the best nights of my youth were spent playing baseball at a diamond in Dorchester, Ont. where we had a gravel infield and foul balls would regularly end up in the backyards of my friends. I played centre field and there was no outfield fence. If a ball went over my head, I had to run across a soccer field – sometimes with a game in progress – to retrieve it.
Fast forward to 2026, I spent Friday at beautiful Royal Field in Dorchester taking in the Canadian Premier Baseball League’s 2029 Prospect Game. The field has major league dimensions, the turf is from the Rogers Centre and the players were some of the top 15- and 16-year-old prospects in Canada. There was a scoreboard, a PA announcer and a black backdrop in centre field (so players can see the ball better out of the pitcher’s hand). And if you scanned the stands, among the scouts and college recruiters, you would have seen at least four ex-big leaguers – Adam Stern (London, Ont.), Chris Robinson (Dorchester, Ont.), Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) and Pete Orr (Newmarket, Ont.).
Stern, Robinson and Romak run the Great Lake Canadians who play their home games on this field and are producing big leaguers like Eric Cerantola (Oakville, Ont.).
My kudos to Stern, Robinson and Romak for what they have accomplished with the Great Lake Canadians and what they have done for baseball in my hometown. When I was growing up, I never would’ve imagined that Dorchester would become a baseball hotbed but they have made it one, and I’m delighted to see this.