Nat Notes has been running a daily feature for the ‘Player of the Game’ for each hitter and pitcher that we feel did the best on a given night for the Canadians, based on the stats, and judging by how we saw them play.  At the end of each month we’ll add up that respective month’s totals, and this is what we got for June:

Hitter: Conner Crumbliss, Kent Walton, Nino Leyja (2)

Pitcher: Chad Lee, Nathan Long (2)

So, Leyja, Walton and Crumbliss each had two, while Lee and Long had a pair on the pitcher side of things.

Stay tuned to find out what will happen for the winner of each category at the end of the year.

Now, onto the Canadians as a whole:

There isn’t much to be said, more than the 5-7 record that accompanies this team, because that’s how they’ve played.  They’ve won 5 games, and they’ve lost 7.  Most of the 7 they haven’t lost, they’ve given up.

One problem with short-season ball is the hitters are straight out of college or the Arizona League, and struggle at Nat Bailey, due to no ball being carried out, or the fact the walls are deep and high.

Something every player should keep in mind, is that they don’t necessarily look at your stats to judge how you’ve been doing, it’s more important to grow as a player, as well as a person.

There’s’ no better example than Jeremy Barfield last year, who after July 1st was hitting .205 for the Canadians.  Right now, there are 7 players for Vancouver hitting under that mark.  There is no one more comparable to Barfield than Rashun Dixon, who is batting .213 at the moment, as an 18 year old.

Dixon should keep in mind that Barfield batted .303 over his next 8 games, raising his average considerably.  July 2nd is the stepping stone for a player to change how they’re hitting.

Last year’s SS Jason Christian is another example, batting .256 heading into July 2nd, before going .436 into July 11th.  

You tend to pick favourites as the season progresses, whether it be because they’re playing great, or making phenomenal plays on defense.  This year, there is a player hitting below .200 who always looks upset after his at-bats, and doesn’t get as much credit as his teammates hitting above .300.

Conner Crumbliss is batting .172 this year, second-last on the team for players with the minimum plate appearances per game.  Here’s the thing: Crumbliss leads Vancouver in on-base percentage, and is 13th in the league, in addition to leading the Northwest League in walks (12).

Crumbliss is the best example for average means nothing, because in my opinion, he is one of only a few Canadians who are playing well this season.  All of the outfielders have done well, and Anthony Aliotti and Nino Leyja are also impressing fans as the season is just getting underway.  

Conner hit .397 in college this year, and may not like his performance to date because if you see a .172 average besides your name, it’s not the happiest thing in the world.  However, he has the best record of getting on base on the Canadians (415 times out of 1000), and even threw out a runner tagging up yesterday, before a balk called off the play.  Crumbliss is this year’s JD Pruitt.

Short-season ball is not for average, it’s for improvement.  Ryne Jernigan knows that, he is batting .400 this year after hitting .111 last year in Canada.  Jernigan had a 3-hit performance on Monday night, and with runners in scoring position he is 4-5 with a walk.

Michael Gilmartin was 0-7 to start his pro career, before two multi-hit nights in three games put him back on the map.  Going 1-1 with two walks yesterday, Gilmartin is now hitting .250 at Nat Bailey, as he looks to bring his average in that range for the season in the upcoming days.

Anthony Aliotti is batting .571 in 4 games at Nat Bailey, with a hit in each one, after starting out 2-12 on the road.  The Boise native is heating up, as the C’s permanent first baseman, and Aliotti is trying to make a name for himself with the Nat Bailey faithful.

Nino Leyja and Kent Walton are both playing very well, with Leyja cranking two doubles off of the LF wall, and Walton having three doubles on the year (most on the team), to combing for an average of .293 with 5 doubles and 11 RBI.

Jose Crisotomo should be hitting higher than .250, but he’s been robbed by base umps, blinded by his speed.  Rashun Dixon has been unlucky thanks to great catches by the defense, and his .213 average is no indication of how well he’s played, impressing fans.  Dixon may pull a Jeremy Barfield, and bring his average up considerably in the next couple of weeks.

Crumbliss, Dixon and Crisotomo is the best OF corps I have seen in years, with all three making an impact night in, night out.  Rodney Rutherford and Ryan Ortiz are both struggling to find hits, but both are great baseball players so I know they can make the necessary adjustments.  

On the hill, there’s not much to be said for Chad Lee, Hector Garcia and Julio Ramos who are the Top 3 on the mound, and if Joselito Adames and Ricardo Penalba can just have a good start or two, it’ll be a staff to be reckoned with.

The bullpen has been impressive, giving up 23 runs over 56.2 innings, but more importantly 6 pitchers have a WHIP at or under 1.00.

If starting pitchers limit the runs they give up, and the bullpen can stay clutch, the hitting just needs to come through early and often, and then the Canadians can go after their first NWL title.