Canadians closing in on Season Opener

(Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium - Vancouver, B.C.) - I'm not sure if the Northwest League scheduling gods put this one at the top of the list knowingly, but the fact that the Vancouver Canadians open the 2018 season on the road, in Eugene where they will face the team they beat in last year's Championship is somewhat fitting. It will give the C's a taste very early on about just how broad those shoulders will have to be as they carry the burden of being the defending champs in every city they walk into this summer.
12 arms and a handful of fielder's will board the bus on Thursday embarking on an eight-hour trek down the I-5 and into Eugene, Oregon. If those numbers seem light - you're right as the team will be greeted by approximately eight new faces fresh from the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft as the early stages of a MiLB season always have players coming and going. A season ago, the Canadians had 15 player moves before the All-Star Break meaning it can be hard to predict just what kind of team the Canadians will field in a few days time.
What we do know is that first-year manager Dallas McPherson will have a few names to pencil in that have Cham[pionship experience from a season ago including OF Brandon Polizzi who battled for playing time along side Reggie Pruitt and Chavez Young last summer and again this spring at Class-A Lansing. Here in Vancouver, Polizzi will get his swings and the games needed to showcase himself to the Blue Jays which is essetially is all a returning player can ask for. RHP Juan Nunez is back as well as the 2017 Opening Day starter finds himself tucked away in a rotation that has a number of guys that can pump it up into the mid-90's but are looking for a little consistency.
Pitching won't be the issue early on, it rarely is when your coach is veteran Jim Czajkowski back for his 6th season in Vancouver.
The offense will be tested as PK Park in Eugene, Oregon can be a tough place to get going with a slick synthetic infield that gets the ball out to the defence quickly accelerating the pace of play at times significantly. Slow rollers down the line are suddenly snapped up by athletic third baseman who rarely miss the target while balls into the gap can skip of the rubber and scoot all the way to the wall in the blink of an eye giving opposing and unfamiliar outfielders fits during the early stages. It can all be handled but the speed of the game comes at players quickly and those who can adjust are usually the ones who see the early statisitcal benefit that can provide much needed confidence after a few months down at Extended Spring Training.
The C's will see some familiar faces as well wearing neon green and black and the Emeralds, a minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, feature several players from its 2017 roster that won the South Division. Among them, Eudy Ramos, Luis Aquino and slugging first baseman Gustavo Polanco who terrorized Vancouver pitching early in the season only to go 2-for-15 in the four game Northwest League Championship. He among others will most definitely be looking for some form of revenge.
The Canadians are the Champs until Friday, then it's off to the races as Vancouver seeks it's fifth title in the past eight years which would perhaps be the cherry on the proverbial dynasty sundae should they lock one more title up this decade. That is a looooong way away if in fact it does happen and there are seven pretty determined speed bumps in the Northwest League from Boise to Everett that would love nothing more than to trip up the C's and bring the coveted Bob Freitas Trophy to their hometown.
Ready... Set... See you Friday from Eugene.