2026 Season In Review: June

*About this series: The 2026 season of the Vancouver Canadians, the High-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, is being told month by month. The club plays at historic Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium, which marked its 75th anniversary this year. Each installment looks at the games, players and moments that shaped that month, while adding another chapter to a season that began in Pasco and wrapped up in September.*

June was a month of two beginnings. Vancouver closed the first half on June 18 with a 13-9 win and a 27-39 record, good for sixth place and 15 games behind Eugene. The Emeralds had already secured the first-half title. The next night, the second half began, and for a few days the standings offered a different picture. The Canadians took two of three in Spokane and, at 2-1, shared first place. By June 28, they were 5-5 in the half and still within two games of the lead.

Vancouver scored 158 runs and allowed 148 in June, a plus-10 differential. Through the end of the month, the club had scored 412 runs and surrendered 394, yet sat 12 games below .500. The Canadians went 1-4 in one-run games, endured a five-game losing streak and put together one three-game winning streak. Manager Jose Mayorga reached a milestone, three regulars moved up to Double-A and another Canadian-born player joined the roster.

Pasco, Again

June opened where April had, at Gesa Stadium in Pasco, against a Tri-City Dust Devils club that had given Vancouver trouble all season. The opener followed a familiar script. Landen Maroudis fell to 0-4 in an 8-4 loss. Carter Cunningham’s two-run single gave the Canadians a 2-0 lead in the third, but Tri-City answered immediately and later strung together six consecutive two-out hits in the seventh. Every Vancouver starter contributed a hit, reached base or drove in a run. It still wasn’t enough.

Daniel Guerra stopped the slide with a 5-3 win in the second game. The finale brought another narrow defeat. Danny Thompson Jr. held Tri-City scoreless for four innings and left with a 2-0 lead, but Randy De Jesus hit his second three-run homer of the series in a 4-3 Dust Devils win. Maddox Latta, representing the tying run, was stranded at second in the ninth.

The series’ lone blowout belonged to Vancouver. On June 5, Johnny King—then ranked the Blue Jays’ No. 3 prospect—struck out eight over 5 2/3 innings in a 14-2 win. Tucker Toman and Brennan Orf each came within a hit of the cycle, and the Canadians scored three times before King took the mound. It was the most comfortable night of the week. Ryan Nicholson homered twice in an 8-3 loss Saturday, and Maroudis was chased in the third inning Sunday in a 6-1 defeat. Jacob Sharp’s solo homer off Angels prospect Tyler Bremner accounted for Vancouver’s only run. The Canadians went 2-4 in Pasco and left at 23-34.

Rain, Sellouts and the Tomanator

Back at The Nat, the Canadians found some momentum. In front of a rain-soaked sellout on Tuesday, June 9, they routed Everett 10-1. Sam Shaw, a Victoria, B.C., native, hit the first High-A home run of his career in his first at-bat of the night. He finished with two hits, two walks and four RBI. Kendry Chirinos also homered, Dub Gleed sent a drive 416 feet, and Carson Myers struck out a personal-best six over the final three hitless innings.

The next night’s 7-2 win, called after eight and a half innings, was the 100th regular-season victory with Vancouver for manager Jose Mayorga. A third straight win followed Thursday, 4-2, as Toman’s first-inning two-run homer supplied an early lead and Alexis Hernandez and J.R. Freethy came through with two-out hits in an eighth-inning rally.

The run ended there. Before sellout crowds of 5,536 over the weekend, the Canadians dropped three straight: 11-1, 10-6 and 9-7. Everett hit four homers Saturday, including a grand slam, and led 9-0 before Vancouver mounted a late push. Toman, Manny Beltre and Hernandez all homered, and newcomer Eric Snow collected his first High-A hit and RBI. On Sunday, Vancouver led 7-5 in the sixth before Jonny Farmelo’s go-ahead three-run homer capped a four-run Everett seventh. The six-game series finished even, but the Canadians were still looking for their first home series win of the season. By mid-June, they were 6-17 in weekend games and 7-17 in day games.

Toman supplied the week’s biggest individual performance. He was named Northwest League Player of the Week for June 8-14 after going 10-for-16 with two doubles, three homers, 21 total bases and six runs scored. It was his second weekly honour of the season. At the time of the award, his .410 on-base percentage ranked third in the league. Hernandez continued to produce, reaching 11 home runs and 40 RBI by June 28. Freethy, who hit .160 in April, was batting .310 over his previous 12 games.

The Last Gasp of the First Half

The first half’s final week was a rough one. In Spokane on June 16, Vancouver fell behind 7-0 and later 10-3, then erupted for eight runs in the eighth. The rally wasn’t enough. The Indians answered with a two-run homer in the bottom half to win 15-11. All four Canadians pitchers allowed multiple runs, including Nolan Perry.

The following night brought a ten-inning heartbreaker. Peyton Williams and Snow hit back-to-back homers in the fourth to give Vancouver its first lead of the series. King struck out seven over five innings, and Shaw’s go-ahead homer in the eighth made it 4-3. Toman made a diving stop on a hard grounder in the ninth to keep the tying run at second, but Spokane tied the game with a two-out single and won it on Jack O’Dowd’s first-pitch single in the tenth. It was Vancouver’s fifth straight loss.

The Canadians finished the half on a high note. On June 18, Toman homered twice, including a 428-foot drive over the right-field caboose that put the game away. Edward Duran had four hits, including the go-ahead two-run single in the sixth, while Snow hit his second homer in 25 hours. Matt Scannell added a highlight-reel catch that prevented multiple runs. Vancouver scored five times in the seventh to secure a 13-9 win, with Trace Baker recording his third save. The first half ended at 27-39.

A Fresh Start in the Lilac City

The second half began in Spokane, and the Canadians opened with a 12-5 win on June 19. All nine starters had a hit, and seven drove in a run. Shaw homered, Sharp hit the first triple of his professional career, and Holden Wilkerson earned his fourth win despite allowing nine hits in five innings.

Vancouver was an out from taking the next game before Spokane tied it in the ninth. Sharp’s single put the Canadians ahead in the tenth, but O’Dowd—who hit four homers in the series—answered with a walk-off two-run shot in a 9-8 loss. Freethy homered on the 11th pitch of his first at-bat, Hernandez crushed a 429-foot homer and Toman hit his third of the series. The Canadians salvaged the finale, 9-5, behind Jonathan Todd and a save from Baker. They left Spokane tied for first in the second-half standings.

The early optimism faded in Hillsboro. On June 23, Hernandez hit two homers and drove in five runs, but Vancouver lost 7-6 after falling behind 6-0. The next night, King struck out six over five innings of one-run ball, only to take a 4-2 loss to Hops prospect David Hagaman. Hillsboro’s bullpen walked five consecutive batters with two outs in the ninth, forcing in Vancouver’s only two runs, before a strikeout stranded the tying and go-ahead runners.

A rain-shortened 7-2 win Thursday, keyed by Alex Stone’s two-run double and a strong outing from Dylan Watts, briefly steadied the club. The Canadians then dropped consecutive 7-4 games Friday and Saturday. In the latter, Edward Duran hit his first homer of the year and Sharp cleared the bases with a double, but a six-run Hillsboro third—all with two outs—proved decisive.

The road trip ended on a better note. On June 28, Jack Nedrow, Baker and Todd combined for seven hitless innings. All five Hillsboro baserunners reached on walks. Mathieu Vallee, back from the injured list, doubled in two runs during a three-run seventh, and Vancouver won 7-2 to finish the trip 2-4.

A Roster in Motion

No month had changed the club’s look more. Gleed, who had hit seven homers by June 6 and added a 416-foot shot on June 9, was promoted to Double-A on June 12. Thompson Jr., one of the league’s top strikeout pitchers, followed on June 16. Guerra, who ranked among the league leaders with 73 strikeouts, went on the injured list June 13. On June 30, the organization announced Perry’s move to Double-A. Perry, May’s Northwest League Pitcher of the Month, went 0-2 in decisions during June.

Most of the arrivals were young pitchers and role players. Nedrow, Watts and Jack Eshleman joined the staff. Snow came up from Dunedin and quickly became a regular, while Stone arrived from Double-A to handle catching duties. Jake Casey, son of former major leaguer Sean Casey, returned from a lengthy injury absence June 23, as did Vallee. Their returns gave Vancouver two Canadian-born players for the first time since July 2025. Organization No. 12 prospect Silvano Hechavarria was back with the Canadians as the month closed. Scannell was released June 27.

The pitching staff offered a study in contrasts. King, who posted a 0.63 ERA in April and a 3.44 mark in May, logged a season-high 19 2/3 innings in June with a 2.75 ERA. Maroudis had made 15 starts, the most in the league, but was still looking for his first win. Todd and Baker anchored the bullpen with five and four saves, respectively.

A Walk-Off to Close the Month

June closed with a comeback worth remembering. Eugene arrived at The Nat on Tuesday, June 30, to open a six-game series. For most of the night, it looked as though the Canadians were headed for another frustrating loss. The Emeralds scored twice in the third, once in the fourth and added a two-run homer in the fifth to build a 5-0 lead.

Vancouver chipped away, then finished the job in the ninth. With two outs, Peyton Williams lined a single to left-centre, scoring Vallee and Freethy for a 6-5 walk-off win in front of a sellout crowd. The club’s recap put the spotlight on the “Iowa Meat Truck,” Williams’ now-famous nickname. Reece Wissinger earned the win in relief.

It was a fitting end to a month in which the lineup had been reshaped repeatedly. Williams delivered the decisive hit, with Vallee and Freethy among the players who had spent much of June working their way into larger roles.

What June Meant

June offered a reset, but not a turnaround. The first half was over, the second had begun, and for a weekend in Spokane the Canadians looked like contenders. Their plus-10 run differential for the month suggested a better record than 11-14; the standings told the less flattering story. Eugene finished June 30 at 46-30, 14 games ahead of Vancouver overall. One walk-off could not erase that gap.

The Canadians also struggled to cash in with runners in scoring position. Through mid-June, they were hitting .226 in those situations, the lowest mark in the league. Close games remained a problem, with three of the club’s four one-run losses coming in the final two weeks of the month.

Still, there were signs of progress. Shaw, Snow and Stone became useful pieces. Toman established himself as one of the league’s most dangerous hitters, while Hernandez and Cunningham continued to produce. As of June 28, Cunningham was slugging .511 with a .386 on-base percentage; his .897 OPS ranked second in the league.

July would bring two immediate tests: whether a roster that kept losing key contributors to promotion could remain competitive, and whether Vancouver could finally win a series at home. The Eugene set carried into the new month, with the All-Star break waiting later in July.