Canadian content fuelling Fish

It’s very fitting that the Winnipeg Goldeyes take the field in red and white.

This year’s lineup features seven Canadians which is the most the Fish have ever boasted in their 30-plus years of existence. They’re not just here to fill out the roster.

“It is a coincidence,” said Goldeyes manager Logan Watkins, as he doesn’t go out of his way to seek them out. “But I’d say three or four of them are maybe our best players.”

One of the top Canucks is first baseman Matthew Warkentin, a Leamington, Ont., product who was recently named the American Association’s Batter of the Week for having 13 hits, including five doubles, two home runs, and eight runs batted in, during a six-game stretch.

The others from The Great White North include pitchers Ben Onyshko (Winnipeg), Landen Bourassa (Lethbridge, Alta.,), Landon Leach (Toronto), Will Sierra (Montreal), James Bradwell (North Vancouver), and outfielder Jacob Robson (London, Ont.,).

“It’s awesome. I haven’t played with too many Canadians in pro ball, and definitely not six others at once,” said Warkentin, 28, before the Goldeyes lost 12-7 to the Sioux Falls Canaries Thursday night.

“We all have different stories, but I think everybody from Canada gets what it takes to come out of Canada to play professional baseball so it’s pretty cool that we got seven of us like that.”

Warkentin, who towers over the average ball player at 6-6, headed into Thursday as the team leader in home runs (11) and was second in batting average (.290) and RBI (37). The first-year Goldeye made his way to Winnipeg after a pro club in Mexico released him in April. With not much time to latch on with another team, the Manitoba capital was an easy fit as he wouldn’t have to scramble to secure a work visa.

After finishing his college career at Xavier, playing two seasons of affiliated ball under the Chicago Cubs, and then appearing in the Pioneer and Frontier leagues, Warkentin is finally once again swinging a bat on home soil. Having maple syrup in his diet again has served him well as it was announced Wednesday that Warkentin was selected to the West Division all-star team. Outfielder Max Murphy and pitchers Tasker Strobel and Ryder Yakel were the other Fish to get the call.

“I think I was a bit sour at first getting released in Mexico because I thought I did enough to stay and I really wanted that opportunity, but everything here has been great… The organization as a whole is really professional and helpful,” said Warkentin.

He also finally has some teammates that can relate to the misery of being a Toronto Maple Leafs fan.

“There was definitely some Leafs jokes during the playoffs. We got a couple guys from Florida who jumped on the Panthers bandwagon during the Stanley Cup, and then we’d ask them to name a few players, and they didn’t know anybody,” laughed Warkentin.

If you want to be generous, you could add the two Canadians in training to the list with Murphy and left-handed starter Mitchell Lambson now residing in Winnipeg after meeting their partners here.

Lambson, a Montclair, Calif., native, might end up a late addition to the all-star crew as the Goldeyes nominated him for the final spot in the West which is decided by a fan vote.

Lambson, the AA’s Pitcher of the Year in 2019, signed on with the Fish in their championship-winning 2017 season and is now in his sixth campaign with the club after rejoining them late in 2024.

“I was just coming up here with really no idea what to expect, it was my first year in indy ball and I just got released,” said Lambson, who spent three years in the Milwaukee Brewers system.

“I was just seeing where my life was going to take me, where my career was going to take me at that point. Now, here I am still, and it’s been awesome. I love being here in Winnipeg, and it’s home now.”

Lambson, 34, still has one of the best arms in the league. He’s 6-1 and leads all pitchers in innings pitched (73.1) and complete games (three). The trusty southpaw — who plans on coaching up the local scene when he hangs up the cleats in a few years — tossed 10 innings last Sunday in a 2-1 road loss to the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.

“He does it in a little bit of an unothodox way,” said Onyshko, who entered Thursday with a 2.65 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 19 appearances out of the bullpen.

“He’s not an absolute fireballer, so it’s really cool to watch him take the ball every fifth day because you know he’s pulling out everything he’s got to get through the lineup and he manages to get through the lineup four or five times every time he takes the ball which is super impressive.”

The Goldeyes (25-29) host the Kansas City Monarchs (33-21) for a four-game series this weekend that kicks off Friday with a doubleheader starting at 5:30 p.m. The two sides will pick up from the third inning of their June 8 game that was suspended due to rain. They’ll take a short break before playing a seven-inning Game 2.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca