Baseball: a “francophone” surprise at the Capitales de Québec

The manager of the Capitales de Québec, Patrick Scalabrini, had been interested in Landon Leach for a while… without even knowing that the pitcher from the Toronto area spoke excellent French, inherited in particular from his dad’s Sherbrooke origins. , with whom he practices the language of Molière.

Because at 23, Leach has both valuable experience in affiliated baseball and unfulfilled potential. Injured in particular in the shoulder, barely two years after being drafted in the second round by the Minnesota Twins, in 2017, the friendly 6’4″ guy has never really been able to prove the extent of his talent.

A second chance

Quebec, therefore, represents the opportunity for the young pitcher who particularly likes the slippery ball and the falling ball to get another chance in the branches of the MLB, to one day touch his dream. Because his passion for baseball seems great. Until age 14, Leach was also a hockey player, playing defense in the Greater Toronto Hockey League.

But he chose to leave the blue line for the mound, “because he liked baseball better”.

Leach is well aware that some 40 Frontier League players joined or returned to affiliate baseball last year. This is particularly the case of another former pitcher for the defending champions, Quebecer Miguel Cienfuegos, who has carved out a place for himself in one of the San Diego Padres’ school clubs.

The goal for Leach, therefore, is to put “good numbers on the board”. But not only that: “My priority at the moment is obviously the Capitals!” Leach immediately clarifies.

Capitals of which he mainly knows one thing. “I know they are very good,” laughs the young gunner.

And Leach also has internal contacts, which should ease his transition. He knows outfielder Marc-Antoine Lebreux, whom he once knew at Team Canada camp, and receiver Zade Richardson, with whom he played in the A strong last year.

At camp with Julien

If he learned more about the Capitals on Tuesday, when the team’s training camp began at Stade Canac, Leach knows a little more about Quebec. He spent some time there when he was a child, to visit his grandparents who lived in Saint-Eustache.

He also knows very well the best story in Quebec baseball this season, that of Édouard Julien, who played his first MLB games last month with the Twins.

Leach rubbed shoulders with Julien on the Canadian team as well as in Fort Myers, and the pitcher is not at all surprised by the rise of the powerful puncher: “Oh no. The guy can hit!” he says.

The former teammates have one thing in common. They were both drafted in 2017, but Julien opted out of the Philadelphia Phillies in order to play at Auburn University.

And they’ll have even more in common at the end of the house, when Leach discovers the town that saw his friend grow up, waiting, perhaps, to find affiliated baseball one day.

“Thursday and Friday won’t be beautiful!” – Patrick Scalabrini

There was a funny mix of pairs of shorts, raised hoods and even balaclavas on the field at Stade Canac on Tuesday for the opening of Les Capitales training camp, as some players discovered that spring in Quebec, it can be quite cold.

And this season, the training camp for the defending Frontier League champions will quickly get down to business. The first preseason game will take place on Thursday afternoon at the home of the Aigles, in Trois-Rivières.

It may seem fast, but it was Patrick Scalabrini’s wish. The camp started a little later than usual and the manager wanted to give his players the opportunity to break the ice quickly by playing a “real” game, rather than an intra-squad meeting.

He also warns the supporters of the team: “Thursday and Friday will not be good. [soir au Stade Canac]! But I prefer that it is not beautiful immediately than later in the season.

Nice little surprises

So there won’t be any unpleasant surprises if the Capitals present draft baseball on their first appearances on the field. Unlike the start of training camp in indie baseball, which can sometimes bring some disappointment to the staff of a club meeting most of its winter acquisitions for the first time.

Tuesday, at the end of this first training where the rare breakthroughs of the sun gave rise to exclamations, Scalabrini however had only good words to say about what he saw on the ground.

The manager was particularly pleased with the presence of the powerful Juremi Profar, who, at 27, played a few games in Mexico last year, where he showed a batting average of .261.

“Every year it’s the same: the first two days, we try not to get too many ideas, we let the guys arrive, do their business, says Scalabrini. But there are always nice little surprises. I was looking forward to seeing Profar and I’m really happy. He looks like a ball player, he knows what to do with a stick in his hands, he is super nice.

“And him, we need him, because he’s going to be an important piece in our line-up,” he adds.

► The formation of the Capitals is not yet complete, since some pitchers have not yet arrived in town. Left-handed reliever Franklin Parra, who announced his return to the team only last week, will be in Quebec City on Friday. As for Panamanian right-hander Abdiel Saldana, his visa is the problem, but Scalabrini is hopeful of getting good news soon.