How Justin Nicolino changes the way we view the Canadians
Sure, there have been a handful C's pitchers that have gone on to become All-Stars in the major league level, and these guys all started their pro careers in Vancouver.
RHP Andrew Bailey, RHP Rich Harden, LHP Dallas Braden, and RHP Joe Blanton, to name a few.
Yes, they all have accomplished a lot in the big-league level. But we're talking about dominance in a Canadians uniform, a guy that fans come out to Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium specifically to watch pitch.
A guy that fans can say, "That's the guy I want pitching for the C's in a must-win game."
The guy that's doing it this summer? LHP Justin Nicolino.
With a first-half pennant on the line this past Thursday night, Nicolino went out to the mound at PK Park in Eugene, OR, pitched five dominant innings of no-hit ball and defeated the Emeralds in a first-place showdown, moving the Canadians to within one game of top spot.
He struck out nine batters and leads the Northwest League with 47 strikeouts.
No, he's not going to break Rich Harden's Short-Season single-season Vancouver Canadians club record of 100 strikeouts. He might not get that many innings to come close.
All pitchers on the 2011 Canadians staff are on a tight pitch count, so you likely won't see Nicolino pitch enough innings to reach triple-digits in strikeouts.
Still with 47 strikeouts in only 34 innings, that's 12.44 strikeouts per nine innings pitched for the left-hander from Orlando, FL. To put things in perspective, when Harden struck out 100 batters in 2001, he did so in 74.1 innings, or an average of 12.11 strikeouts per nine innings.
Harden is a BC boy (Victoria) and a sentimental favourite, so there's a tendency for local fans to want to call him the best pitcher ever in a C's uniform in Short-Season history, given the success he has attained at the major league level. But his won-loss record in Vancouver was only 2-4 in 18 games, with a 3.39 ERA.
Now, of course, we all understand that wins and losses are sometimes out of a pitcher's control-case in point: Emeralds starter RHP Colin Rea getting the "L" even though he allowed zero earned runs in three innings on Thursday night-but still, the name of the game is to win.
If you look at the back of Harden's baseball card, you'll see just two of them in a C's uniform. That just doesn't cut it.
Same thing with RHP Andrew Bailey.
He was the American League Rookie of the Year and an All-Star as a closer in his rookie year in 2009 with the Oakland Athletics. But his numbers in a Vancouver uniform in 2006? A 2.02 ERA in 13 games - 10 starts - but just a 2-5 record.
Nicolino for the C's this summer? A sparkling 5-1 record. With five wins already this summer and an entire second half to go, Nicolino is on pace to break the C's record for victories in a single season.
Who holds the record currently, you ask?
RHP Nathan Long, 8-2 with a 3.10 ERA in 2010, and RHP Scott Deal, 8-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 2006, share the record of eight wins. Long, however, gave up more hits (95) than innings pitched (87) and wasn't much of a strikeout pitcher (47). Deal's ERA was close to 4.00 and he didn't strike out that many guys either (35 strikeouts in 76 innings). No one is going to call either of those guys the "best" pitcher in C's history.
The names RHP Drew Dickinson (4-0, 2.06 in 2002), RHP Brad Knox (6-3, 2.06 in 2003), and RHP Michael Madsen (6-1, 1.69 in 2005)? Long forgotten.
RHP Mike McGirr might be the closest competitor to Nicolino.
The right-handed McGirr from Cambridge, MA, had seven wins one summer with the C's, but that year (2003) his ERA was 4.40. The next season, was when McGirr starred, when he was 5-0 with a 0.66 ERA in seven starts. But he gave up his pro baseball career after that summer to start his own sports investments company, never pitching again.
McGirr never threw a no-hitter in a C's uniform - and who knows if Nicolino would have thrown one had he been allowed to pitch all nine innings? - but there was one C's pitcher who threw a complete-game no-no four summers ago.
Die-hard C's fans might remember the name LHP Brad Hertzler.
The left-handed pitcher from Providence, RI, had the game of his life in only his third start as a pro, on a raining afternoon at Scotiabank Field. On July 18th, 2007, Hertzler tossed five perfect innings - 15 batters up, 15 batters down-and defeated the Spokane Indians 1-0 in a rain-shortened game.
That performance was only the second no-hit game in C's history in the Northwest League.
C's fans undoubtedly expected big things from Hertzler, but alas, he would compile a disappointing 5-7 record with a 4.08 ERA in two summers (2007-08) with the Canadians. These days, he's toiling in the minors with the Brockton Rox, an independent league with no major-league affiliation.
RHP Chris Dunwell and RHP Jared Burton combined to pitch a nine-inning no-hitter, ironically enough, also against Spokane on July 27th, 2002. But just like Hertzler, that no-hit performance was the only highlight Dunwell had in a Canadians uniform.
The right-hander from San Diego, CA, posted a 1-5 record with a 6.46 ERA in his lone season with Vancouver in 2002, and has been out of baseball since the end of the 2005 season. Burton, a right-handed relief pitcher from South Carolina, was 0-4 with a 3.58 ERA that same season with the C's, his only one in Vancouver. As of 2011, he is in the Reds' minor-league system.
For pitchers such as Hertzler, Dunwell, and Burton, we can call it one great game in an otherwise forgettable career with the Canadians. It wasn't as though they were able to sustain that kind of success over the long haul.
Nicolino, however, is no fluke. He's been doing it all summer long in 2011. His five no-hit innings in Eugene on Thursday was not a surprise. We've come to expect this type of performance out of the left-hander, the 2nd-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2010 draft.
He leads the Northwest League in strikeouts and is tied for the league lead in wins. His 1.32 ERA is among third-best. He has now had four starts-out of seven-in which he has given up only one hit or none without allowing a run.
That's dominance.
And it isn't just about numbers, though the stats already make a compelling case. The best thing about Nicolino is his make-up. He doesn't get fazed when pitching in a big game.
The victory against the Emeralds on Thursday would classify as a pressure game in the Northwest League. It came against the best club in the league and it moved the Canadians to within one game of the Ems with four to play to decide the first-half pennant winner.
He didn't shy away from the pressure situation. In fact, he embraced it. "Justin shows an amazing desire to take the ball on the day of his start and verbally say 'he wants to win more than anything else to help his team win'," C's broadcaster Rob Fai says.
"It was like he was saying, 'All of you get on my back because I'm going to carry you all tonight.'"
The elements don't bother him either. On a rainy afternoon in Vancouver last Saturday, July 16th, he was raring to pitch regardless of the conditions. Even as late as 90 minutes before game time, it wasn't a sure thing whether or not the game was going to be played because of the field conditions.
But don't tell that to Nicolino.
"My philosophy is, the game starts at 7:05 p.m., and I'm ready to pitch no matter what," he said that night, after giving up only two runs in five innings to lead the C's to a 6-2 victory over Boise.
Now, you might be thinking that he's benefitting from pitching at Scotiabank Field, well-known in the league as a pitcher's park.
But look more closely at the numbers: He's 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three home starts, giving up 12 hits in 15 innings with a "pedestrian" 15 strikeouts. On the road, the numbers are 3-1, 0.95 in four starts, and only six hits in 19 innings with 32 strikeouts.
The other big names who have gone on to reach big-league success didn't exactly pitch lights out in that fashion in Vancouver. In one case, a big-league All-Star never even pitched an inning here!
RHP Alexi Oganda made the American League All-Star team with the Texas Rangers in 2011, and he played for the C's in 2004. But when he was in Vancouver, the only times he was showcasing his arm was when he was making throws from the outfield. See, he was an outfielder in Vancouver and didn't become a pitcher until moving to the Rangers organization in 2006!
LHP Neal Cotts (2001) and RHP Joe Blanton (2002) have won World Series titles in the big leagues - Cotts with the 2005 White Sox and Blanton with the 2008 Phillies-but neither did much with the Canadians. Cotts won only one game with a 3.09 ERA in nine games - seven starts - before getting called up to Visalia. It was the same story a summer later for Blanton, who won just once with the C's with a 3.14 ERA in four games-two starts-before earning a promotion to Modesto.
Dallas Braden, who threw a perfect game for the Oakland A's in 2010, did Cotts and Blanton one better by winning twice in Vancouver in seven relief appearances in the summer of 2004 before he was called up to Kane County.
If Nicolino continues to pitch well this summer, he may eventually earn a call-up to Lansing or even higher up in the Blue Jays organization, but C's fans certainly hope that's not the case.
"Justin Nicolino is something special," says Fai. "He's going to be a good one. I just hope the Blue Jays aren't going to rush him and try and fast-track him to the majors. I'd like to see him continue progressing in this league, and some day he could get there."
For now, C's fans are hoping that Nicolino will continue his stellar pitching at Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium, and at this rate, he may well go on to become the very best we've ever seen in a Vancouver Canadians uniform in Short-Season play.