Latest news with #SamShaw
The Province
31-07-2025
- Sport
- The Province
Sam Shaw watched games at Nat Bailey as a kid. Now he's playing there with Vancouver Canadians
The 20-year-old outfielder from Victoria is trying to climb the Toronto Blue Jays system after being a 2023 ninth-round draft pick Get the latest from Steve Ewen straight to your inbox Vancouver Canadians Sam Shaw, a 20-year-old from Victoria who was a ninth-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2023. Photo credit: Mark Steffens. Photo by Mark Steffens Sam Shaw played his first games for the Vancouver Canadians at Nat Bailey Stadium last week. But his first games there as a fan came 10 years ago. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Shaw is a 20-year-old outfielder from Victoria trying to climb the Toronto Blue Jays system after the team picked him in the ninth round of the 2023 MLB Draft. He began this season with the single-A Dunedin Blue Jays and was promoted to high-A Vancouver officially on July 18. Shaw's initial trip to the Nat came in 2015, when his team of 9- and 10-year-olds from Beacon Hill Little League had a break during the provincial championships hosted by Jericho Little League and took in some C's action. This past week, Beacon Hill made its first trip back to the B.C. tournament in that age group since Shaw's team. His father Craig was one of their coaches again this time around, and the squad was in the midst of winning the districts in Victoria when he got a text from Sam hinting that he was on his way to the C's. Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It was all of five words: 'I'll see you guys soon.' His family instantly figured it out. 'What's the better message — I just got drafted by the Blue Jays or I'm being promoted to Vancouver? They're both pretty cool, to be honest. They're pretty equal,' Craig said. Shaw had family, former teammates from that 2015 squad and members of this latest 9-10 Beacon Hill team check out his first games at the Nat. Beacon Hill was playing in the provincials hosted by Hastings Little League. The C's followed up visits from the Spokane Indians and Eugene Emeralds by hitting the road to face the Tri-City Dust Devils this week. They are back at the Nat for six straight starting next Tuesday against the Hillsboro Hops. Check out the team's website for ticket information. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Shaw says that as a youngster he went to watch more games with the summer college all-star league Victoria HarbourCats than the C's, which is logical considering proximity. His memories of the Nat do include 'getting a foot-long hotdog and an ice cream helmet.' He has ample company in that. The C's have been a Blue Jays' farm team since 2011 at the short-season single-A and now high-A levels, and there has been a small handful of homegrown players line up for the home team at the Nat in that time. Damiano Palmegiani, a third baseman who grew up in Cloverdale, is the most notable of late. He hit 13 homers and drove in 46 runs while batting .224 in 63 games with Vancouver in 2022. He advanced to the triple-A Buffalo Bisons by the end of the following season. He has had his struggles making consistent contact in the two years in Buffalo since, though, and Toronto has him currently in Dunedin on a development list reassignment, trying to work it all out. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Another prominent name in that category is Tom Robson, a Ladner right-hander who was a driving force in Vancouver's 2013 run to the Northwest League championship. That included tossing six and one-third shutout innings in a 5-0 win over the Boise Hawks in the title clincher that campaign. single-A baseball at the Nat in its various forms dates back to 2000, and the best B.C. player to come through in that time has to be righty Rich Harden, a Victoria native who struck out 100 hitters in 74 and one-third innings for the C's in 2001 when they were an Oakland Athletics affiliate. He went on to pitch nine years in the majors. MLB Pipeline has Shaw as Toronto's No. 25 best prospect in its most recent rankings. Shaw's bat is going to be his main carrying tool. He's not a massive guy — listed at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds — but he has enough pop that he hit seven home runs in 62 games with Dunedin. He showed discipline, too, with 45 walks compared to 54 strikeouts. He batted .253 there. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Shaw's started slow with Vancouver, hitting .111 (3-for-27) through his first seven games going into Wednesday. That's standard for someone getting accustomed to the new level. Finding him a defensive position does seem to be a work in progress for the Blue Jays. His initial games with Vancouver have come with him manning centre field. He made 45 starts at second base in Dunedin. He was a shortstop mainly coming through the ranks in Victoria. 'I've put some good swings on the ball. I haven't had the best of luck so far,' Shaw said before the C's headed off for the series with the Dust Devils. 'I'm just getting my timing down and trying to hit line drives around the field, and I think I'll have success. I haven't had too much yet, but I'm confident. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I think the bat can be a lot better. I think getting stronger and getting even more bat speed to do more damage will be a big thing for me. 'I don't know if I'll be playing centre field next year but that's what I'll be trying to work toward this off-season. And I know that I can steal more bases. I haven't tried too much yet, but I know that could be a bigger part of my game.' Among the hitters he's studied is former Houston Astros outfielder Michael Brantley, who was a five-time all-star game participant during his 15-year big league career. He retired in 2023. Like Shaw, he's a lefty hitter, although he's a little bigger, coming in at 6-foot-2 and 209 pounds. Shaw first caught on with Brantley's talents while playing the MLB The Show video game, and then started watching him in real life. 'Mr. Smooth. Kind of cool, really professional hitter, and he's always fun to watch,' Shaw offered up as a scouting report. @SteveEwen SEwen@ Read More Vancouver Canucks Columnists News News Celebrity
New York Times
27-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Prospect Sam Shaw one step closer to becoming next Canadian-born Blue Jay
TORONTO — Somewhere in Victoria, British Columbia, there's a tiny plastic cup resting on a basement shelf. It's a mini red helmet, emblazoned with a fading Vancouver Canadians logo, that once held Sam Shaw's serving of ballpark ice cream. Shaw, 20, grew up attending Canadians games at Nat Bailey Stadium, the home of the Toronto Blue Jays' High-A affiliate. It's a short drive and two-hour ferry ride from his childhood home. His memories of The Nat are faded and patchwork — swinging in the kids' batting cage down the left-field line, watching rising prospects and scooping soft serve out of a mini helmet. But as Shaw slipped on a much bigger, much more real Canadians batting helmet for the first time last week, the memories flooded back. Advertisement The Jays promoted Shaw to Vancouver after the All-Star break. It's a homecoming of sorts for the lifelong West Coast fan of the Blue Jays, who selected him in the ninth round of the 2023 draft. It's also a hard-earned trial run — a promotion earned by burgeoning power and a test of what it could be like for a rare Canadian player on the country's only MLB team. 'There's going to be a kid like me that gets to watch me play for the first time, that dreams of being a hometown kid in Vancouver or on the Blue Jays,' Shaw said. 'That's kind of what helps me in the weight room, or helps me with whatever. It's like, this is my chance to show that.' Last year, while scuffling in the Florida Complex League for a second-straight season, Shaw said that Vancouver — let alone the big leagues — felt particularly distant. The 5-foot-10 utilityman entered the season as Toronto's 20th-ranked prospect, per The Athletic's Keith Law. He walked at a 16.7 percent clip last year, second best on his FCL team, but a lack of power limited his ceiling. 'I sucked,' Shaw said. Perhaps a harsh diagnosis, but it's a blunt honesty that lives in Shaw's every word. 'What I had last year was I made a lot of contact,' he said. 'I controlled the zone, I didn't swing and miss too much. But my damage, my power, was not very good.' On the field, Shaw's jersey is often drenched with the dirt of a stolen base or diving defensive play. But while discussing his search for power, the second baseman and outfielder sounds more like a data analyst or baseball blogger than a gritty ballplayer. For him, it's swing speed, comparable swing paths, barrel rates, exit velocities and contact quality. His favorite movie, naturally, is 'Moneyball.' 'It's going to sound like I'm overthinking it,' Shaw said. 'And maybe rightfully so. But there's a puzzle in the numbers that I do like to look at to try and figure out how to be better.' Advertisement That mindset made Shaw the perfect candidate to attend Driveline Baseball for an offseason boot camp. He spent a week at the data-driven player development lab in Washington state. They broke down his swing in a batting cage filled with flashing cameras and computer monitors, looking for imperfections and concocting a plan to improve his bat speed and power potential. Shaw ate more, hit the gym more and swung with a weighted bat. 'Sammy is pretty dynamic in the box,' Blue Jays director of player development Joe Sclafani said. 'So with that as a foundation, the recognizing pitches and the plate discipline being there, the next step was an ability to impact the ball.' Shaw entered spring training with harder swings and increased exit velocities, earning a spot with Low-A Dunedin to start the season. In 62 games, he hit seven homers and 10 doubles, posting an .801 OPS — all career-high marks in just half a season. Ahead of every home game, Shaw drove past the Dunedin library, turning into the TD Ballpark players' lot. Each day, pausing for the security fence to open, Shaw looked out at the barren patch of concrete he stood on as a kid. Waiting at that same gate on spring training trips with his family, Shaw hoped that exiting Blue Jays players would stop to sign an autograph after a spring game. Darwin Barney, Shaw recalls with a chuckle, snubbed him for an autograph. But he had better luck with Jason Grilli, J.A. Happ, Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin. Shaw sat in TD Ballpark's outfield seats one year, baking under Florida's spring sun. Young Blue Jays right fielder Jonathan Davis drifted back for a ball, snagging it with his glove before turning to the stands. As Davis launched the ball into the crowd, Shaw reached up and caught the souvenir. Now, as Shaw joins High-A Vancouver, Davis is the hitting coach. Advertisement There's an added element to being a Canadian player in the Blue Jays' organization. Shaw cheered on Martin as the hometown catcher for the ALCS runs in 2015 and 2016. He watched Jordan Romano lock down saves the last few years. He knows what fans expect — how much they latch on to that rare Canadian — because he was that fan. Shaw remains several years and many promotions away from Rogers Centre, but this bump to Vancouver, Shaw said, is a hopeful trial run. 'Any Canadian that plays in Canada, you're kind of the hometown guy, ' Shaw said. 'It's gonna be different.' But more than any added bat speed or uptick in power, Shaw's success this season comes from an ability to silence that noise and calm the pressure. Before games, he's a self-proclaimed nerd, poring over swing data and game plans. At first pitch, Shaw looks to his wrist, at the red beaded bracelet his mother, Stephanie, gave him before the season. On it reads a simple message: 'Have Fun' — a gentle reminder to leave the deep dives in the clubhouse. It's helped ease the weight of his dream, Shaw said, simplifying the eight months and 132-game schedule of a minor-league season back to the game he grew up playing in Victoria. In the batter's box, his mind is clear. Playing in front of friends, family and hungry Canadian baseball fans at Nat Bailey Stadium, Shaw knows that mindset will be all the more important. If, one day, Shaw becomes the next Canadian to suit up for the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, he hopes this Vancouver test will have prepared him. 'He's done a much better job of being where his feet are this year,' Sclafani said. 'Just a focus, locking in on what he needs to do day to day. But he's going to need to continue to do that up there. Because, of course, how cool is that, the prodigal son comes home.'
