CAROLINA, Puerto Rico — Security had to step in when fans got a little too rowdy around the visitors’ bullpen back on Aug. 12, 2023, as Jordan Balazovic warmed up for the ninth inning of an 8-1 Minnesota Twins win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I can’t really repeat what they were saying … they don’t really have a filter there,” the right-hander from Mississauga, Ont., making his 16th appearance in the majors at the time, recalled Monday with a grin. “As long as you take it and light a fire under yourself there, you can use their words against them, right? So, I don’t mind it, honestly. I like that more than a silent crowd. Get me upset, get me mad. That’s going to light me up.”
The hostile fans awaiting him Tuesday night, when he starts for Canada against host Puerto Rico (7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet) in a high-stakes Pool A clash at the World Baseball Classic, are sure to dial up his adrenaline even more.
Balazovic isn’t going to be fazed by any of it and he’s relishing the opportunity to silence the crowd, the way he did for the national team at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, when he pitched four innings of an 8-6 win over Cuba.
It’s the type of moment the 27-year-old — four years removed from being on top-100 prospect lists — made a priority when he signed with CPBL’s Uni-President Lions, securing the team’s approval for his participation with the national team.
“This is a big tournament and I’ve always wanted to pitch in this, even before I was in pro ball, watching the older guys play,” said Balazovic. “I always rooted for the guys, but of course you want to be one of the guys on the field and help do what you can.”
His path to the national team and this tournament is a winding one, filled with stops and starts. A fifth-round pick by the Twins in the 2016 draft, he pitched in the 2019 Futures Game, appeared on top-100 prospect lists on either side of the 2020 pandemic season, worked through injuries in 2021 and 2022, debuted in the majors on June 18, 2023 with 3.2 shutout innings against the Tigers, was designated for assignment in 2024, ended up with Doosan in the KBO, pitched in the Detroit system last year and now is off to Taiwan.
Balazovic is aiming to take the WBC experience with him back to the Lions and use it and his season as a springboard back to the majors. The date of his big-league debut is tattooed where the inside of his left arm meets the elbow and he’s got plans for the area beneath it.
“I want to fill in a sleeve (with other dates to commemorate), but I haven’t been able to do that yet,” he said. “But hopefully we can do it in the upcoming years.”
To accomplish the feat, he’ll need to find the right mix with his fastball, splitter, curveball and slider, a repertoire he’s bounced back and forth with as he’s gone from starting to relieving and now back to a rotation. He feels like he’s in a better spot physically and with his usage now, and the Puerto Ricans will provide him with an ample challenge.
Cal Quantrill will start Canada’s finale versus Cuba on Wednesday, the two results deciding whether the club advances to the Classic’s quarterfinals for the first time. Colombia’s 4-3 win over Panama on Monday afternoon cleared the decks in Pool A as both teams finished 1-3, ensuring two of Canada, Puerto Rico or Cuba will advance.
“We have confidence in Jordan, otherwise, we wouldn’t have put him down as a starter and the same with Cal,” said manager Ernie Whitt. “We felt that maybe that game on the Wednesday was going to determine us going on or going home, but it might just be the opposite. You have to pick sooner or later and I’m happy with the way it lined up.”
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So, too, is Balazovic, who’s heard the Puerto Rican players describe the crowds at Hiram Bithorn Stadium as their 10th man and watched how the environment impacted the Panamanians as they gave up leads in the ninth and 10th innings of a 4-3 loss to the hosts.
His approach will be simple.
“Let that adrenaline take over,” Balazovic said. “It’s hard to get up when it’s silent and you don’t really have anybody cheering anybody on, there’s no electricity. You want to get going. So I’m going to use it to my advantage. Maybe they’re not cheering for us, but I don’t care. It’s noise and that’s all you need.”
While some players on the roster bubble with their clubs opt to skip the Classic, Canadian third baseman Abraham Toro, on a minor-league contract with the Kansas City Royals, didn’t entertain the thought.
Good thing for the national team, too, as he went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs in the opening 8-2 win over Colombia before ripping a run-scoring double in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to Panama.
“I’ve gotten that question before, somebody that’s fighting to make a team, if I should’ve come here, but for me it was no doubt,” he said. “This experience, you’re not going to get it every time. If I’m going to make the team, I’m going to make the team. I didn’t think too much about that. It was really important for me to represent Canada for a second time.”
Pushed off the Toronto Blue Jays’ 40-man roster during the off-season, Yariel Rodriguez made some adjustments to his delivery he’d been working on at spring training and employed them to great effect for Cuba at the World Baseball Classic.
He struck out three and was up to 96.6 m.p.h. over 2.1 shutout innings versus Panama on Friday and then added three more strikeouts in two shutout innings during Sunday’s 7-4 win over Colombia, when he sat 94.4 with a heater that topped out at 95.8.
“To me it’s very important to pitch for Cuba,” he said in comments translated from Spanish. “To me it’s always been pride to have those four letters on my chest and represent my people, which is the most important thing.
“I’m working on some things that were hurting me, but nothing big. I think these changes have been quite positive for me, and I’m going to keep working on that to keep the season the same.”
The Canadians are seeking permission from clubs to make certain relievers available for Tuesday’s game against Puerto Rico. The Blue Jays have already said yes on Adam Macko, who faced two batters and threw 10 pitches Sunday. Originally, the plan was for him to have two days of rest between outings, but a shorter outing led to the flexibility. … Owen Caissie has four hits, including a homer and a double, and three hits out of the eight hole and there’s a good case to be made for moving him up in the batting order. “There are thoughts going on all the time about mixing up the lineup a little bit,” said Ernie Whitt. “Sometimes, you move up, maybe you put a little more pressure on yourself as a young player. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.” … Whitt didn’t like the way Josh Naylor took the blame for Canada’s 4-3 loss to Panama due to his sixth-inning error. “That’s bull,” he said. “We’re a team, my gosh. There’s no one individual that’s going to take heat for that. No one.” … Whitt planned to watch Monday night’s Puerto Rico-Cuba game from his hotel room, not in person. “I like my TV,” he quipped. “We’ll watch the whole game, dissect it and see if there’s anything we can take.”