has only the last three weeks left before WBC starts playing. This article brings an analysis of the combat power of Canada who is also in Group C.
1. Introduction
Canadian team has participated in the past three competitions. Although the lineup is not as star-studded and mostly small league players, its strength cannot be underestimated. However, due to the counterattack of the same group as the United States and the strong hostility to Italy, all three games were stopped in the first round and could not achieve better results. This year Canada was assigned to Group C in the preliminary round and will compete with the United States, Colombia and Dominicans to seize the opportunity to advance to San Diego. What is the prospect of the Canadian team?
2. Player list
Head coach : Ernie Whitt
Pitching hand : Albers, John Axford, Kevin Chapman, Shane Dawson, Ryan Dempster, Eric Gagnea, Jim Henderson, Chris Leroux, Adam Loewen, Scott Mathieson, Dustin Molleken, Nick Pivetta, Limeng S.R., Rowan Wick
Catching hand : Kellin Deglan, George Kottaras
Infielder : Freddie Freeman, Jonathan Malo, Josh Naylor, Justin Morneau, Pete Orr, Daniel Pinero, Jamie Romak, Eric Wood
outfielder : Michael Crouse, Tyler O'Neill, Dalton Pompey, Rene Tosoni
specifies replacement pitcher : No
3. Pitcher combat power
from the list. Last year, there were still many pitchers who were MLB, but most of them are supported. The pitcher's grade is still based on 2A to 3A.
Canada's starting strength is not strong, and there are only five pitchers who have started as the main role last year. They are: Albers, Shane Dawson, Chris Leroux, Nick Pivetta, Scott Richmond. However, the players have a lot of experience in major competitions. Albers, Leroux and Limeng are all regular visitors in international competitions. They have had experience in the last WBC, Top 12, and Pan American Games. Among them, Chris Leroux was the top 12 last year, and he made an indelible contribution to helping Canada advance to the second round with a complete victory in the preliminary round.
Philadelphia 3A's Nick Pivetta is also the highlight of this competition. Last year, he scored 11W-6L, 3.41 ERA and rose to 3A in the middle of the season. During the offseason, the Phillies pulled him onto the forty roster and participated in the major league spring training as a regular player. Pivetta, who just turned 24, is also optimistic that he has the opportunity to realize his dream of the major league this year, and he will be one of the combat powers that the Canadian team relies on. The back-up part of
is the athlete's John Axford, and Yomiuri's Scott Mathieson are two major indicators. Axford played the role of Set-up as an athlete last year, mostly taking the seventh and eighth rounds of the game, and will continue to be responsible for the finale of the later period at this WBC. In addition, Yomiuri's Fireball Patron Scott Mathieson also had a good performance last year. He successfully won the Central United Relay King with 41 relays in a single season and was selected for his first star game in his career.
On this list, we also saw two familiar old friends, former Dodge patron saint, and former Bear pitcher Ryan Dempster, who also announced their return to play for the country.
is a very outstanding terminator in the history of the Dodgers. He successfully rescued 55 times in the entire season in 2003, and broke the Dodgers' record of the lowest 50-innings ERA with 1.20 ERA (later surpassed by Guo Hongzhi) and was selected into the Star Game. Later, he became the winner of the Cy Young Award in that year, which is rare in history. However, a series of injuries after 2005 made the Terminator's position replaced by Takashi Saito, and then completely left the stage of the major league in 2009.
Dempster's military achievements are also very brilliant. He was selected for two star games, with a career record of 132 wins and 133 losses, and has as many as 2387 innings. In 2014, Dempster announced a year off and announced his retirement at the end of the same year. There were no records of any leagues of all sizes.
These two old pitchers in the 40s have a lot of oil left in the fuel tank and whether they can provide substantial help is worth observing.
4. Strike combat power
Compared with the average combat power of the pitcher, the strikes seem a bit uneven. There are top players at the moment and unknown Independence League players.
For the catcher, the 24-year-old young catcher Kellin Deglan will take the lead. Deglan was selected as a high school student in the 2010 draft by the Rangers with the 22nd pick in the first round. However, as time passed, Deglan's growth could be said to be quite slow. The newcomer contract had been completed, but it was still stuck in A+. This season, with a rather bleak 2A performance, the Rangers decided not to renew his contract with him and will switch to the Yankees minor leagues to continue their hard work in the next season.
infielder part, the biggest highlight is Freddie Freeman, the leading star of the Warriors. Freeman is also Canada's biggest player. Last year's blowout score once again wrote a new career page. The number of home runs exceeded the 30 mark for the first time. Off (offensive benefit score) ranked second in the first baseman, and even left all competitors with a 6.1 WAR. In 2014, the Warriors, who entered the reconstruction, signed an eight-year, $135 million extension with Freeman, and will directly tie him until he was 31 years old. It can be seen that Freeman has been regarded as a cricket star and is also the core of the team building in the future.
2nd and third base part, tool people Malo, Wood, and Romak are all available candidates. The guerrilla mark may be handed over to the 22-year-old young man, Daniel Pinero of Tiger Short A.
specifies the attack part, Justin Morneau, who overlaps with Freeman's position, is eager to make contributions to the team. Morneau started his career in Twin Cities and formed a "MM link" with Joe Mauer, and is also a very top first baseman. He was selected into the Star Competition for four times in his career and also won the MVP award in the United Nations League in 2006. In 2013, the Twin Cities entered a period of reconstruction and were traded by the team to the Pirates. They then signed contracts with Rockies and White Sox, but they failed to replicate their skills again. Still a free person at the moment.
outfield part, right outfielder Tyler O'Neill is the biggest. O'Neill represented Canada in the top 12 years ago and shone in the tournament, with a cumulative score of 2 home runs and a hit rate of .455, which left a deep impression on Taiwanese fans.
At the beginning of the 2016 season, O'Neill was selected as one of the top ten rookies of each team in "Baseball America" for the first time in his career, ranking fourth in the Mariner system. O'Neill's 2A score also shines, with attack index and home runs maintaining high performance, and the originally less outstanding ball selection has also made considerable progress. This season, this year it has squeezed into the three authoritative top 100 rookies, including Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus. It is expected that mid-season, there will be a chance to see him show up at Safeco Field’s outfield.
5. Comprehensive evaluation
This Canadian team still faces the same problems as in the past. They are not able to meet the strength of the young and old. In addition to being able to make up a set of top-quality starters, the strength of the bench is not enough. Moreover, the recruitment situation was not smooth. Russell Martin, Joey Votto, Brett Lawrie and other good players all declined to participate, and had to have the stars of the previous era participate in the battle vaguely.
Faced with the challenges of the old-fashioned powers of the United States and the Dominican Republic, as well as Colombia, which is playing strongly this year, the Canadian team's chances of winning are not as high as they imagined.
prediction results : 0 wins and 3 losses, stop in the first round
