There have been plenty of great baseball players to play for the Vancouver Canadians over the past 30 years, including the likes of Sammy Sosa, Garrett Anderson and Troy Glaus.  What’s the difference between them and the Single-A studs we have now a days patrolling ‘The Nat’?  For one thing, those guys were just one step down from the Majors, while these players are 5 stops away.

Another, is that once a player leaves Vancouver nowadays, you can follow their career through to the Bigs or as far as they make it.  I like this more, as it gives you a chance to see Nick Swisher from ‘amateur pro’ to New York Yankee, Ben Hornbeck from lefty reliever to Midwest royalty.  The list goes on and this season we have many intriguing story lines to follow.

One that has been nice to look at since the start of the 2008 season, is OF Jeremy Barfield.  Hitting .323 this year, he is bettering his 2008 numbers, which included a great season at a pitchers-park, including a Grand Slam in the bottom of the 9th against Boise.

Barfield had a three-HR game a few weeks ago, and we interviewed him about it, but has since been on a tear, including a 4-4 game today. In my opinion, the kid needs some at-bats in a hitters-friendly California League, my guess would be after the Midwest All-Star Break.

Dusty Coleman was a HR away from the cycle on May 24th, going 4-4 with a double and triple, and has reached base safely every game since May 23rd.  He’s swinging a great .282 this year, with 8 dingers and three triples.  He leads the .OPS category on the Cougars by .041.

Grant Desme has 6 homers and a .272 average in his return from two seasons limited by injuries, and Steve Kleen who missed all of last year, is hitting .270.  Dusty Napoleon and Juan Nunez are both batting .244 behind the plate, while Mitch LeVier WAS batting .246.  LeVier went into pitch on May 4th, and gave up a run in an inning, but it had serious consequences.

LeVier now requires Tommy John Surgery after this appearance, where he hurt his elbow, although he had two multi-hit games after the relief stint.  LeVier will probably be out 12-18 months (as is standard for pitchers, I’m not sure about position players), and this is a huge blow.  Best of luck to Mitch, he’s a great ballplayer, and a great person.  Shoutout to his agents from BKK Sports as well, readers of the blog.

On the hill, Shawn Haviland has been spectacular after a great off-season training program, going 3-1 with a 2.58 ERA.  Haviland leads all current starters with a 1.22 WHIP.  I cant wait to see him join Stockton either this year, or next year, he’s a very smart baseball player.

Pedro Figueroa is 4-2, and Kenny Smalley is 4-1 with a 1.96 ERA between relief appearances and 4 starts.  The one knock against Smalley may be if he is promoted soon, to a hitter-friendly league, he may struggle.  My notes have him being a lot better at the friendly confines of Nat Bailey last year, than on the road.

Scott Deal, three years removed from Vancouver has had injury troubles, but has maintained a 1.73 earned run average. 

Jason Ray was here in 2005, but had injury years, and is 1-0 in KC.  Trey Barham is 1-0 in just two games in the Midwest.

Mike Hart has a 2.75 ERA, and averages over a strikeout per inning, but perhaps the best stat is that he’s given up runs in only four games, out of  his 13 bullpen stints.  He holds a 1.98 ERA against right-handed hitters, and is holding them to a .173 average.  Do I hear Stockton a-calling?  Certainly Hart and Deal deserve some consideration, as both are tearing up the MWL.

Speaking of the Ports, heading into tonight, top prospect Jemile Weeks is 5-16 since re-habbing many injuries in Phoenix.  He is finally healthy, and fans are excited to see what he can do.  He had a 10-month layoff from games with a full-season affiliate.  He has two dingers already in his three games. 

Yusuf Carter, a Rule V acquisition, is hitting .342 in 20 games, and Raul Padron is batting above .300.

Todd Johnson, ex-Canadian is averaging almost 3 hits per 10 at-bats, while Christian Vitters has played in 16 games, picking up 18 hits.  Alex Valdez and Mike Richard are hitting above .250, while Shane Keough, David Thomas and Jermaine Mitchell (left) are just below that mark.

On the hill, Scott Hodsdon is 2-4, while Derrick Gordon holds a 2.70 ERA.  Justin Friend is 1-2, with a good ERA (2.86) and has struck out more than one an inning (31).  Pat Currin is being consistent out of the pen, and Matt Poirier, in 4 starts and one relief appearance, has allowed 11 runs, while K-ing 15.  He holds a WHIP of 1.29.

Chad Kerfoot is 2-1, and Nick Walters 1-0.  Daniel Thomas was 0-1 before hitting the DL, and Lance Sewell holds the same win-loss ratio.  Leo Espinal has given up a run in 7 innings, and Steven Sharpe has yet to give one up.

Ben Hornbeck had a stellar game last Friday, and tonight, picked up the loss in a 7-4 Ports loss.  Hornbeck gave up four earned in 4 innings, giving up 5 hits, 3 walks and striking out 6.  He has 18 strikeouts in just 10 innings since being promoted.

The Midland Rockhounds are being lead by Corey Brown (.333) who has 40 hits in just 31 games.  He has a whopping 1.020 for his OPS, and has 4 home-runs, third on the team.  Brown won player of the week a few weeks back.

Tommy Everidge is slugging .480 (slugging percentage not average), and hitting .306.  He has 43 RBI in 46 games.

Anthony Recker, Danny Putnam and Josh Horton are all around .300, while Matt Sulentic is batting .283.  Mike Affronti has a .221 average in 21 games since his promotion from Stockton.

Jason Fernandez is 5-4 with the ‘Hounds, and Travis Banwart sports a 2.47 ERA through 9 starts, with a 5-1 record.  James Heuser has 26 strikeouts in 19.2 innings, and since being promoted from Stockton, Carlos Hernandez is 2-0.

Up in AAA, where the C’s used to play, Gregorio Petit is hitting .270 with just 3 errors, as he has turned into a defensively-sound infielder. 

Sean Doolittle is batting .267 with a .811 OPS, and Anthony Recker was just promoted from Midland, hitting 9-25 since his call-up.

Vin Mazzaro never played in Van-City, but owns a 1.04 WHIP, and a 2.38 ERA after 10 games.  He is sure for an Oakland call-up very soon.

Jeff Gray was 2-1 before going up to the big club, and Brad Kilby holds a 1.17 ERA. 

Anthem Tryouts:

If you’ve been reading this post only to find out what the big ‘tryout’ is at The Nat this weekend, it’s not Colour Commentator auditions like in 2007.  They have one, and a damn good one in Chris Pritchett (left).

These tryouts are for the Anthem Singers, who want to sing one or both anthems at C’s games.  The tryouts are this Sunday at 1:30 at Nat Bailey.  You will perform in front of staff and on-lookers.  Contact Heather Colvin for details.

21 days.