PHOENIX-Joey Votto (Etobicoke, ON) officially confirmed today that he will suit up for Canada at the World Baseball Classic later this week.
Canada opens the WBC on March 8th and the 2010 National League MVP is looking forward to representing Canada once again.
“I look forward to playing for the team, I look forward to being part of the tournament," he said. "It's not very often you get to represent your country in a big tournament like this, I never got to play in the Olympics, but this is the next best thing. I had a great time in Toronto in 2009 and I hope we have a better time, we do some winning, move on and hopefully win the tournament.”
Canada also made a roster move today as LHP RJ Swindle (Vancouver, BC) was added to the roster to replace RHP Jesse Crain who withdrew on Sunday after suffering a shoulder injury while in Spring Training with the Chicago White Sox.
Swindle is currently a Free Agent and last represented Canada at the 2012 WBC Qualifier in Regensburg, Germany.
The 29 year-old Swindle appeared in 13 games out of the bullpen with Triple-A Memphis in 2012 where he had a 1-1 record and 4.76 ERA.
In 2008, Swindle appeared in 3 games with the Philadelphia Phillies and in 2009 he appeared in 6 games with the Milwaukee Brewers.
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