MLB: Canadian Born Players Currently on Big League Rosters

While Canadians are most known for being hockey players, there are a few Canadian prospects found on MLB teams. Here is a list of current Canadian players.

If I were to ask you which sport you would associate the most with Canada, chances are you won’t say MLB. Instead, most people would say either hockey or curling.

To be completely honest, they wouldn’t be entirely wrong either, as both of those sports are basically Canadian national pastimes. The rink is where family and friends meet for years and years every weekend. It is where friendships are made and where disputes are settled.

While Canadian athletes usually lace up their skates in the winter, a lot of hockey players trade in their hockey sticks for baseball bats in the summer. Some of them even stick with baseball when the NHL dream ends. Some of them are also quite good at it too.

In Canada, there are not a lot of routes to MLB in terms of college or high school ball within the country. There is just not enough time in the season for ball games compared to our friends in the south and most Canadian baseball programs have to start indoors when spring rolls around.

That is why many Canadian baseball players head down south to play in college ball, just to receive national attention from scouts other than the Toronto Blue Jays. While scouting in Canada is becoming increasingly popular, there is just more attention to collegiate and high school players in the United States.

Canada also does support many independent leagues within each province and even a few teams apart of leagues in the states, but many of these players are products of the farm systems of MLB teams looking for a place to play ball.

The one route that many Canadian high school prospects can take is through the Junior National U-18 team. This team is made up of the best Canadian high school prospects under the age of 18, and are all draft eligible in their last year (when they meet the requirements). They receive national attention because they participate in tournaments in the United States and sometimes in countries such as the Dominican Republic.

While many Canadians still pursue the hockey dream when it comes to athletics, if you look closely at your favorite baseball team, you may find some prospects, current players, or even alumni that have Canadian roots.

Joey Votto

The first current Canadian baseball player you can probably think of is Joey Votto, and it is for a good reason.

Born in Etobicoke, Ontario, Joey Votto has been an absolute machine at the plate, producing incredible slash lines year after year. His career MLB slash line is an outstanding .310/.427/.529 over 13 seasons, which is quite frankly an absurd number for any major league hitter.

Votto went away from the norm for Canadian baseball players, as he was selected in the second round of the 2002 amateur draft by the Cincinnati Reds while playing for his Canadian high school. He would forego his college career and would move right into the Cincinnati Reds minor league system, working his way through the ranks until his major league debut in September of 2007.

Since 2008, Votto has been a staple in the Reds lineup every game, appearing in more than 145 games in 8 of the 13 seasons he has been in the majors (this number is a bit skewed since 2007 was short lived and 2019 is only 10 games in). He has even had 2 seasons where he has appeared in each game for the Reds, in 2013 and 2017.

If his slash line wasn’t enough, he also won the NL MVP award and Hank Aaron Award in 2010, a Gold Glove award (1st base) and has been named an All-Star 6 times in his career. He has also won the Tip O’Neill Award, given to best Canadian baseball player in the MLB, 7 times.

While Joey Votto did hail from the Great White North, he also was quite outspoken about Canadian baseball. When asked about James Paxton‘s no hitter (he too is a fellow Canadian, spoiler alert), he stated to Yahoo sports podcast that quote, “As far as Toronto, and Canadian baseball, and the country of Canada, and (James Paxton) being Canadian, I don’t care at all.”

That really didn’t sit well with many Canadians, but Votto did later apologize and said that he felt bitter at the time because of how much time he spent in America playing and was ashamed and embarrassed by his comments.

Like a true Canadian, he said sorry.

James Paxton

Nicknamed the” Big Maple,” James Paxton was born in Lander, British Columbia on the west coast.

Like many Canadian baseball players, Paxton would go down to play college ball in the United States with the University of Kentucky.

While playing with Kentucky, the Toronto Blue Jays would draft Paxton in the 1st round at 37th overall during the 2009 amateur draft. It was a great storyline, a Canadian baseball player selected in the first round by Canada’s only baseball team. Until it unraveled into a nightmare scenario.

Paxton and the Blue Jays could not agree on a signing bonus, and when the Blue Jays ‘questioned’ super agent (and number one Blue Jays fan) Scott Boras involvement in the process, not only did Paxton not sign with the team, the University of Kentucky would not take him back either. This is due to NCAA athletes not being allowed to have representation, in that if you sign an agent, you must go pro.

So with no major league deal, and no college ball to go back too, Paxton would head to the Texas Airhogs (formerly Grand Prairie Airhogs) in the independent league, where he would garner enough attention to be selected in the 2010 amateur draft by the Seattle Mariners in the 4th round. He would spend his most of his career with Seattle until the offseason of 2018, where he was flipped to the New York Yankees.

Do you think there were any hard feelings between Paxton and the Blue Jays? Well if there was, Paxton won the argument when he threw a no-hitter against them while playing at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. He became the second Canadian player to throw a no-hitter (Dick Fowler was first), and the first Canadian to do it within his home country.

For good added measure, the Jays now have to face Paxton on a continual basis because of his new team, the New York Yankees. His career 3.43 ERA and 42-27 record will be fun to play against.

Take that Blue Jays!

Nick Pivetta

Nick Pivetta is another example of why Canadian baseball players head to the United States for exposure. There is just more professional scouts in the stands when you compare Canada to the United States college and high school baseball.

Pivetta would go on to attend New Mexico Junior College before he was selected in the 2013 amateur draft (4th round) by the Washington Nationals. The Victoria, BC native would spend 2 years in the organization before being dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Jonathan Papelbon.

He would grind away in the Phillies farm system until 2017, where he would officially make his debut on April 30 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Pivetta has spent the last three years with the Phillies organization, and he has thrown a career 5.37 ERA with a 16-24 record. While his stats are most likely not what he would like them to be, with the recent acquisitions by the Phillies this past offseason, I can only imagine that his ERA and record may stand for a better result this year.

Another Canadian in the big leagues with a long career ahead of him.

Tyler O’Neill

Another Canadian from British Columbia, Tyler O’Neill is an up and coming prospect that cracked an MLB opening day roster in 2019 for the first time in his career.

Like Votto, O’Neill was also selected by the Seattle Mariners while playing for his Canadian high school, further proving that scouting in Canada is starting to become more prevalent (I mean Seattle is right near the border but a win is a win).

Drafted in the third round in the 2013 amateur draft, O’Neill would forego his commitment to the Oregon State Beavers and would sign with the Mariners. He would start his professional baseball career later that year and would work his way up to AAA before he was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for pitcher Marco Gonzales.

With St. Louis, he would again be assigned to the AAA roster where he would complete the 2017 season.

In 2018 season, Tyler O’Neill would appear in 61 games for the Cardinals, being sent down and brought up again on two different occasions. His slash line for the season would be .254/.303/.500 with 9 home runs, 7 walks, and 57 strikeouts. All in all, an average season for the rookie.

The 2019 season would see O’Neill slot in the opening day roster, and so far this season he has appeared in 10 games for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is off to a bit of a rough start, with a slash line of .235/.235/.353 and only 3 RBI’s with 0 home runs. The season is young and there is still quite a few ball games left in the year for a turnaround.

The future is bright for this young outfield prospect.

Russell Martin

Russell Martin has the distinguished honor of being drafted by a team no longer in the league or playing baseball.

Born in East York, Ontario, he was selected in the 35th round by the Montreal Expos in 2000, and then by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2002 in the 17th round.

Like Canadians at this time, he would go down to Chipola College where college ball would help Martin gain more exposure to professional scouts.

He would play for the several MLB teams: the Dodgers, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates and eventually in Toronto. A Canadian player playing Canada, the headlines went crazy as the Blue Jays have finally brought home a reliable catcher who can even speak French!

Martin would be signed to a long term deal with the Blue Jays but would see his talents taken back to the Dodgers when the Jays traded him this past offseason. The Jays would also send a significant amount of cash to the Dodgers as part of the deal as well.

His career line is .250/.350/.400 (right on the dot) and he has been widely known for his defensive abilities. He has a great ability to frame the ball for umpires and can block curveballs 5 feet in front of the plate. If he can keep staying healthy, he may have to switch positions to the 3B or SS, but there are still many miles left in Martin.

Over the past couple years, Martin has seen time at various infield positions as his 14 MLB years behind the plate have worn down his body. He is currently on the 10-day injured list.

Russell Martin has had a great career as a Canadian athlete.

Why you should have a Canadian baseball player

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While Canadians still probably prefer NHL over MLB, there is a lot of talent in the North when it comes to pitching, fielding, and batting. There are players who are born in Canada, but also players with Canadian ties such as Freddie Freeman or James Taillon.

If you ever look through your MLB organization’s depth charts, chances are there will be a Canadian prospect lurking in the farm system, waiting for their opportunity to crack the major league roster.

Even if you look back on your teams’ history, you can probably find noted Canadian Alumni. With prospects using social media to gain more attention, Canadian players may be staying in Canada to garner more attention instead of going to the States to play college ball. This would create a major shift in scouting, as teams would have to hire more professional scouts to come to Canada. And not just in Ontario either, most of the players on this list are found on the west coast.

Even if the Canadian players sit on the bench, they are a luxury to have. When a bench brawl breaks out, Canadian players will also rely on their hockey instincts, and that is someone you want in your corner and on your team. Just remember to pull the jersey over the head.