Three professional baseball players who made brief stops in Kelowna, B.C., will be competing in next month’s World Baseball Classic, with two of them playing for Team Canada.
The tournament runs March 11 to 21, and features 20 teams divided into four pools of five. Canada will play in Pool C in Phoenix, Ariz., a grouping that includes the U.S., Mexico, Colombia and Great Britain.
Canada’s roster includes Curtis Taylor of Port Coquitlam and Trevor Brigden of North York, Ont., who respectively played for the Kelowna Falcons of the West Coast League in 2015 and 2018.
Meanwhile, Alex Webb of Surrey will play for Great Britain. He played for Kelowna in 2015.
Canada will open the tournament on Sunday, March 12 against Great Britain.
Taylor is a right-handed pitcher who went 3-3 with two saves in seven appearances for Kelowna during the summer of 215. He fanned 36 hitters and had an earned-run average of 3.37.
The next year, he was selected 119th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2016 Major League draft. Currently 27, the six-foot-six-inch Taylor plays for the Iowa Cubs, the AAA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
Brigden went 4-4 with an ERA of 2.94 for Kelowna during the summer of 2018. The six-foot-three-inch righty also struck out 69 batters that year, second most in Falcons franchise history.
The next year, Bridgden was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2019 draft, albeit in the 17th round at 518th overall. He’s still in the Rays’ organization, and finished last season with the AAA Durham Bulls.
Webb primarily played out of the bullpen for Kelowna in 2015. He made 13 appearances, striking out 30 batters over 27 innings and recording a 2.60 ERA. He also had a 2-2 record with three saves.
The six-foot-three-inch Webb was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 2015 draft, but in the 36th round. The next year, the Cincinnati Reds took him in the ninth round.
The Kelowna Falcons say Webb has been keeping sharp by pitching for Great Britain, where he has dual citizenship.
The championship game of the tournament will take place on March 21 in Miami.
Comments