Canada’s Balazovic plans to use hostile Puerto Rico crowd ‘to my advantage’
Canada’s Balazovic plans to use hostile Puerto Rico crowd ‘to my advantage’
https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/canadas-balazovic-plans-to-use-hostile-puerto-rico-crowd-to-my-advantage/
Publish Date: 2026-03-09 16:46:00
CAROLINA, Puerto Rico — Security had to step in when fans got a little too rowdy around the visitors’ bullpen back on Aug. 12, 2023, as Jordan Balazovic warmed up for the ninth inning of an 8-1 Minnesota Twins win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I can’t really repeat what they were saying … they don’t really have a filter there,” the right-hander from Mississauga, Ont., making his 16th appearance in the majors at the time, recalled Monday with a grin. “As long as you take it and light a fire under yourself there, you can use their words against them, right? So, I don’t mind it, honestly. I like that more than a silent crowd. Get me upset, get me mad. That’s going to light me up.”
The hostile fans awaiting him Tuesday night, when he starts for Canada against host Puerto Rico (7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet) in a high-stakes Pool A clash at the World Baseball Classic, are sure to dial up his adrenaline even more.
Balazovic isn’t going to be fazed by any of it and he’s relishing the opportunity to silence the crowd, the way he did for the national team at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, when he pitched four innings of an 8-6 win over Cuba.
It’s the type of moment the 27-year-old — four years removed from being on top-100 prospect lists — made a priority when he signed with CPBL’s Uni-President Lions, securing the team’s approval for his participation with the national team.
“This is a big tournament and I’ve always wanted to pitch in this, even before I was in pro ball, watching the older guys play,” said Balazovic. “I always rooted for the guys, but of course you want to be one of the guys on the field and help do what you can.”
His path to the national team and this tournament is a winding one, filled with stops and starts. A fifth-round pick by the Twins in the 2016 draft, he pitched in the 2019 Futures Game, appeared on top-100 prospect lists on either side of the 2020 pandemic season, worked through injuries in…
