As the Cleveland Guardians battled through a five-game American League Division Series win over the Detroit Tigers last October, they made history north of the border in the process.
No MLB team had ever featured four Canadians on its post-season roster until Cade Smith, Erik Sabrowski and brothers Josh and Bo Naylor suited up for the AL Central-champion Guardians in their ALCS run.
With veterans Joey Votto and James Paxton hanging up their cleats in 2024, Cleveland’s Canuck-heavy contingent signalled a changing of the guard in Canadian baseball. So, as we enter the 2025 campaign, a new wave of talent has the opportunity to step into the spotlight as the finest Canada has to offer.
It’s also a pivotal season for prospective members of Team Canada with the 2026 World Baseball Classic less than a calendar year away. Canadian decision-makers will be using the next 11 months to figure out who will give the team the best chance to win in Pool A play in Puerto Rico next March.
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In addition to the WBC stakes and the new era emerging, there are a number of storylines to follow this summer among MLBers born in the Great White North. Here are five of the most intriguing ones we’re watching ahead of Opening Day.
How does Josh Naylor fit in the desert?
Being traded isn’t exactly a new experience for Naylor, who had played in three organizations before being dealt from Cleveland to Arizona in December. But as he joins the Diamondbacks in a loaded NL West, the expectations are going to be at an all-time high for the Mississauga, Ont., native.
Naylor is coming off his first career All-Star appearance after posting a .776 OPS, 31 homers and 108 RBIs in 2024 and now enters his final season of team control.
The 27-year-old was brought in to replace the losses of Christian Walker and Joc Pederson, who served as middle-of-the-order producers for the highest-scoring offence in MLB a year ago.
At the beginning of spring training, Naylor expressed his desire to become a more well-rounded hitter by combining the approach that led him to a .308 average in 2023 with the one behind his power breakout in 2024.
Changing divisions and home parks will present a new challenge for Naylor. The five-foot-10 first baseman will be tasked with battling deeper rotations and bullpens more often with the groups in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco than most AL Central clubs run out on a nightly basis.
He’ll also be charged with conquering the massive outfield at Chase Field, which has been the least friendly stadium to left-handed home run hitters over the past three seasons, according to Statcast’s Park Factors. However, with all the extra green for outfielders to cover, he could see a boost in non-homer extra-base hits.
Can Michael Soroka rediscover rotation success with Nats?
After finally making it back to a major-league rotation on a full-time basis after four years of rehab and recovery, Soroka’s debut on the South Side of Chicago ended up being a tale of two seasons.
Soroka made nine starts for the White Sox, but struggled to find the form that made him an All-Star at just 21 years old. The Calgary native was ultimately moved to the bullpen in May, setting the stage for his mid-season turnaround.
|
|
IP |
ERA |
AVG Against |
HR/9 |
Sinker% |
4-Seam FB% |
Slider% |
K% |
BB% |
|
As Starter |
43.2 |
6.39 |
.251 |
2.06 |
31.1 |
22.3 |
31.9 |
12.4 |
12.4 |
|
As Reliever |
36.0 |
2.75 |
.189 |
0.75 |
10.9 |
43.1 |
41.5 |
39.0
|
13.0 |
As a reliever, Soroka altered his pitch mix, more frequently throwing his fastball than his sinker while upping how often he threw his slider. The results speak for themselves, showing that the 27-year-old seemingly unlocked what works best for him through the latter half of 2024.
Early in his career with the Atlanta Braves, the six-foot-five righty emerged as one of baseball’s top groundball artists thanks to his tough-to-square-up sinker.
But now, with two Achilles tendon surgeries behind him, Soroka has changed his mechanics to better protect his lower body, which ultimately has altered how his pitches work. That change limited the vertical movement on his sinker, making his fastball a more effective offering for the pitcher he has become.
In 2025, Soroka will return to a rotation in the NL East after inking a one-year, $9-million deal with the Washington Nationals, where he will look to build on his strong finish to 2024 and re-establish himself as a viable starting option for years to come.
What will Cade Smith do for an encore?
Smith was one of MLB’s biggest breakout stars in 2024. The Abbotsford, B.C., native was a shutdown weapon in the back of the best bullpen in baseball, pitching to a 1.91 ERA, 35.6 per cent strikeout rate and 103 strikeouts over 74 outings.
The 25-year-old received votes for both the AL Cy Young Award and the AL Rookie of the Year for his performance in a season that saw him lead all MLB relievers in fWAR (2.7).
But perhaps the most impressive stretch of Smith’s season came in October. Entrusted as Cleveland’s fireman, the 2017 draftee appeared in nine of the Guardians’ 10 post-season games, firing 16 strikeouts over 10.0 innings and allowing runs just twice when the stakes were highest.
The tall right-hander had the single-best four-seam fastball in MLB in 2024 — per Statcast’s Run Value — a pitch he threw nearly 70 per cent of the time and held hitters to a .174 average.
Heading into his second big-league season, it will be worth watching how Smith attacks opposing lineups, as he will no longer have the advantage of facing a majority of batters who had never seen his stuff before.
If he can return to the mound in the dominant form he displayed in 2024, Smith will cement himself as one of MLB’s top relief arms — closer or not. And if he does, don’t be surprised if he’s locking down the ninth inning for Canada at the 2026 WBC.
Can Nick Pivetta take a leap with the Padres?
Pivetta has profiled as a breakout candidate since joining the Boston Red Sox in 2020. With high strikeout rates, low walk rates, a riding fastball and a deep arsenal, the former fourth-round pick has many of the tools teams covet in modern-day starters.
The only issue is that Pivetta has struggled to deliver on that upside.
Pivetta has never delivered an ERA below 4.00 in a season, as he’s been consistently plagued by the long ball and his propensity to allow hard contact. He also hasn’t received much help from his home parks, pitching in Boston and Philadelphia, which are both hitter-friendly environments.
But after landing a four-year, $55-million contract with the San Diego Padres — the richest deal ever signed by a Canadian-born hurler — Pivetta will finally get to call a pitcher’s park home.
The hope for the Victoria, B.C., native as he joins the Padres will be that his extreme fly-ball tendencies turn into outs more often than they did with the Red Sox. If he can even moderately cut down on home runs allowed, Pivetta could finally make the long-anticipated leap and become a key piece for San Diego.
Will any Canadians make their MLB debuts in 2025?
Last summer, we saw the likes of Smith, Sabrowski and Tyler Black crack the majors for the first time, which raises the question as the new season approaches: Who is next in line for a call-up?
Owen Caissie is the biggest name that could debut in 2025. The Burlington, Ont., native ranks among the prospects in baseball on both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline’s top-100 list.
A six-foot-three outfielder in the Chicago Cubs system, Caissie hit 19 homers and posted an .848 OPS at triple-A Iowa in 2024. The 22-year-old’s path to the majors is blocked by a crowded outfield on the North Side, and his off-season core surgery could delay his MLB arrival.
Liam Hicks is a name that Miami Marlins fans may be hearing as soon as Opening Day. The left-handed hitting catcher was selected with the second pick in December’s Rule 5 Draft, meaning he must stay on the big-league roster or be returned to the Detroit Tigers.
Along with Hicks, Athletics centre fielder Denzel Clarke and Kansas City Royals reliever Eric Cerantola had their timelines bumped up this off-season, as both were added to their respective clubs’ 40-man rosters, making them prime candidates to debut this year.
