The stellar pitching staff that might have been was long ago pushed out of the equation for the Canadian national team, leaving manager Ernie Whitt to squeeze all he can from the unsung staff that is at the World Baseball Classic.
Ace Scott Richmond, a hopeful with the Toronto Blue Jays , and reliever Jesse Crain, a key set-up man for the Minnesota Twins, headline a list of 13 arms filled with already-weres and yet-to-bes named to the final 28-man roster unveiled yesterday. Minus the injured Jeff Francis, Rich Harden and Erik Bedard, and without Ryan Dempster and Eric Gagne who declined to play, an area that might have been a strength for Canada in the 16-country tournament instead looks like a liability.
Whitt and Co., can only hope the pitchers give the offence an honest chance to outslug opponents. With Justin Morneau, Jason Bay, Russ Martin, Joey Votto, Matt Stairs and Mark Teahen leading the lineup, scoring runs shouldn't be an issue.
At least Canada has a lineup capable of doing the heavy lifting.
Morneau will start at first; Pete Orr and Stubby Clapp will share duties at second; Chris Barnwell is the shortstop; Teahen is the third baseman with Shawn Bowman and Corey Koskie, recovered enough from his concussion issues, backing him up; Martin will handle the catching duties with Luke Carlin and Brett Lawrie, picked 17th overall by Milwaukee last year, behind him; and Bay, Stairs, Adam Stern and Nick Weglarz will play the outfield.
Votto, a first baseman, will either DH or play left field.
All the details will start shaking out once Canada opens training camp March 2 in Dunedin.
The Canadians host Pool C at Toronto's Rogers Centre and open play March 7 versus the United States.
That night, Venezuela and Italy meet with play continuing under a double-knockout format.
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