Russell Martin sized up Canada?s roster for the World Baseball Classic and hinted at the team?s most obvious shortcoming.
?Our bullpen?s strong, but you have to get the ball to the bullpen,? said the East York-born, Montreal-raised catcher, who signed this off-season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. ?We?re going to have to be creative.?
Martin was among the 23 players named to Canada?s preliminary roster for the 2013 World Baseball Classic on Saturday in Toronto before Baseball Canada?s annual awards banquet.
Canada?s lineup ? featuring the likes of Martin, Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie and, hopefully, Etobicoke?s Joey Votto ? should be able to compete with the tournament?s top teams, and its bullpen, anchored by Milwaukee closer John Axford, looks formidable.
But starting pitching is Canada?s most glaring weakness heading into baseball?s quadrennial international competition, which opens March 2.
As it stands, Canada?s rotation will include Mississauga?s Shawn Hill, a former Jays farmhand now with the Detroit Tigers? Triple-A club; Chris Leroux, also from Mississauga, a reliever for the Pirates; and Andrew Albers of North Battleford, Sask., a starter in the Minnesota Twins? farm system.
With the Classic scheduled in the middle of spring training, when pitchers are getting themselves conditioned for the rigours of baseball?s regular season, making the choice to participate is toughest for starters, especially those who may be on the bubble to make their big-league clubs.
Colorado Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis, for example, declined an invitation to Canada?s team so he could focus on major-league camp.
Canada would love to have Boston Red Sox right-hander Ryan Dempster, the country?s best starter, in the mix, but the 35-year-old B.C. native remains undecided.
?We?re still just trying to work through a few things to see if it?s something I?m able to do,? Dempster said Saturday, before he was inducted onto Baseball Canada?s ?Wall of Excellence.? Dempster said the Red Sox and preparing for his 16th major-league season are his main priorities.
Other starting pitchers with major-league experience not named to Canada?s roster include Erik Bedard, Scott Diamond and Rich Harden.
Martin understands how difficult a choice it can be. He declined invitations to join the team in 2006 and 2009 because he was fighting for a roster spot with the Dodgers.
?On the one side your heart can be with Canada and another part of you wants to think rationally about what?s going to be the best for your future.?
Jason Bay, another player who declined an invite, is coming off an injury-riddled 2012 season and will be fighting for a job with the Seattle Mariners in spring training.
Votto, the 2010 NL MVP, was not included in the provisional roster but is expected to be added before the competition begins.
Since Votto spent almost two months on the disabled list last year with a knee injury, he is required to pass additional physical tests in order to receive the required insurance coverage to participate, explained Greg Hamilton, director of Baseball Canada?s national team.
?We?re very confident that it?s going to work out and he?s going to be playing for us in the World Baseball Classic.?
Former Blue Jays catcher Ernie Whitt is back to manage the Canadian team, which will be looking to redeem itself after 2009?s disappointing loss to Italy in front of a paltry Rogers Centre crowd of just 12,411. Since the competition began in 2006, Canada has never made it out of the first round.
?Hopefully we?ll have a shot at redemption,? said Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, a native of New Westminster, B.C. ?We didn?t fare too well last time. I think we have a lot to prove ? prove that we?re one of the best baseball countries in the world. It?s a short tournament, but it?s a chance for us to prove that we belong with the best.?
Canada will once again be in tough, facing the likes of the United States, Mexico and Italy in the first round.
One advantage Canada has, according to Martin, is the camaraderie forged from being a smaller baseball nation.
?Guys are tight,? said the former Yankees backstop. ?It?s more of a family atmosphere because a lot of the guys grew up together and there just aren?t that many players. It?s like a bunch of brothers going out there and playing the game. . . .
?Overall we don?t have as much talent as USA or the Dominican or Japan, but we can definitely compete with those guys and the way the tournament is set up, you get a couple of guys play good games and the next thing you know you?re in the next round. That?s why it?s exciting ? anything can happen.?
More from the Canadians:
RUSSELL MARTIN
?Thinking about the national anthem playing, being on the line, having Canada across your chest. You stand out there, you stick your chest out there a little bit, you feel good. ... When you get nationalistic pride involved it seems like the crowd is even more intense and that rubs off on the players and it makes for energetic baseball.?
JOHN AXFORD
?I?m excited. I?m really looking forward to it. . . . I just want to do whatever I can to help the team win. That?s the most important thing right now. We have a great team and I think it?s just a matter of trying to put all those pieces together and do what we can to carry on to the second round.?
JUSTIN MORNEAU
?It?s always an honour when you get to play for your country. ... We?re very prideful as Canadians. A lot of us where our hearts on our sleeves and there?s usually only one or two of us in a major-league clubhouse if we?re lucky and we stick pretty close together.?
RYAN DEMPSTER
?It?s just a tremendous honour to have your country?s name across your chest. . . . You?re playing for each other, but you?re playing for a country and that?s a really big deal and it?s a really big honour. I know from my personal experience what an honour it was to put it on.?
Canada's provisional roster* with team and hometown:
PITCHERS
RH John Axford, Brewers, Port Dover, Ont.
RH Phillippe Aumont, Phillies, Gatineau, Que.
RH Jesse Crain, White Sox, Toronto
LH Andrew Albers, Twins (AA), North Battleford, Sask.
RH Jim Henderson, Brewers, Calgary
RH Shawn Hill, Tigers, Georgetown, Ont.
RH Chris Leroux, Pirates, Mississauga
RH Trystan Magnuson, Jays (AA) Vancouver
RH Scott Mathieson, Yomiuri (Japan), Aldergrove, B.C.
RH Dustin Molleken, Nippon (Japan), Regina
CATCHERS
Russell Martin, Pirates, Montr?al
Chris Robinson, Orioles (AAA), Dorchester, Ont.
INFIELDERS
3B Brett Lawrie, Jays, Langley, B.C.
1B Justin Morneau, Twins, New Westminster, B.C.
2B Pete Orr, Phillies, Richmond Hill
2B Taylor Green, Brewers, Comox, B.C.
SS Cale Iorg, Tigers (AAA), Toronto
SS Jonathan Malo, Quebec (Can Am), Jolliette, Que.
1B Jimmy Van Ostrand, Nationals (AA), Richmond, B.C.
OUTFIELDERS
Tyson Gillies, Phillies (AA), Vancouver
Adam Loewen, Mets (AAA), Surrey, B.C.
Micahel Saunders, Mariners, Victoria
Tim Smith, Orioles (AA), Toronto
COACHES
Manager: Ernie Whitt (Clinton, Mich.)
Hitting/1B coach: Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, B.C.)
Pitching coach: Denis Boucher (Lachine, Que.)
Bullpen coach: Paul Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.)
Hitting coach: Stubby Clapp (Windsor, Ont.)
3B coach: Tim Leiper (Vierra, Fla.)Coach/director: Greg Hamilton (Ottawa)
*Teams can carry 30. Joey Votto likely to be added.
CLASSIC AT A GLANCE
The World Baseball Classic begins March 2 in Fukuoka, Japan, with the final March 19 at San Francisco's AT&T Park. The 16 countries are split into four pools in four different countries.
Pool AFukuoka, Japan
Japan, Brazil, Cuba, China
Pool BTaichung, Taiwan
Australia, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Netherlands
Pool CSan Juan, Puerto Rico
Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Spain, Puerto Rico
Pool DPhoenix, Ariz.
Canada, USA, Mexico, Italy
Canada's schedule (times Eastern):
Fri. March 8 vs. Italy, 2:30 p.m.
Sat. March 9 vs. Mexico, 2:30 p.m.
Sun. March 10 vs. USA, 4 p.m.
Canada must finish first or second in Pool D to advance to a double-elimination tournament in Miami, March 12-16, where four teams Four teams advance to the championship round in San Francisco, March 17-19.
JAYS TO WATCH
With the Blue Jays unlikely to let Jose Bautista play after last season's wrist injury, here are the Toronto players likely to see WBC action:
3B Brett Lawrie (Canada)
SS Jose Reyes (Dominican Republic)
RH R.A. Dickey (USA)
1B/DH Edwin Encarnacion (Dominican Republic)
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