By IAN WILSON

It was a thrill to see Erik Sabrowski take the mound for the Cleveland Guardians last season.

The former Edmonton Prospects two-way star had a dream start to his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, pitching flawlessly in the regular season before being called upon in big moments during the playoffs.

The southpaw reliever followed in the footsteps of his former teammate Kody Funderburk, who played in the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) with the Prospects and the Okotoks Dawgs before getting called up by the Minnesota Twins in August of 2023.

Who will be the next of the WCBL alumni to be promoted to make their MLB debut?

Let’s take a look at five players who are knocking on the door of a major-league introduction in 2025.

1. JACOB MELTON

Outfielder Jacob Melton played 50 games for the Okotoks Dawgs in 2019. In 42 regular-season games, the lefty batter from Oregon batted .310 with 26 runs, 19 RBI and 12 stolen bases. He played even better in the playoffs, posting a .455 batting average, scoring six runs, hitting five doubles and producing four RBI over eight games. His play at the plate and in the outfield helped the Dawgs win a WCBL championship.

Melton was drafted in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros and has been rapidly rising through the minor-league ranks since. The Oregon State University (OSU) alum split last year between the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks of the Texas League and the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). In 47 contests with the Space Cowboys, Melton had 27 runs, 20 RBI, 10 doubles, five homers and 11 stolen bases while batting .260. He spent most of his time playing in centre field, but was also used in both corner outfield positions.

In a recent Sports Illustrated article, writer Dylan Sanders said the top prospect is a strong candidate to make his debut with the Astros in 2025.

“Jacob Melton could be ready to make an impact next season,” wrote Sanders.

“With the outfield being such a liability last year, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them call on his talents to see if he can stick in the Majors.”

2. DAMIANO PALMEGIANI

Corner infielder Damiano Palmegiani has some serious pop in his bat. The righty slugger – who was born in Venezuela and trained at Alberta’s Vauxhall Academy of Baseball – hit 23 home runs when he split time between Double-A and Triple-A in 2023. Last year, he launched another 19 long balls in 123 games with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons.

The 14th-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2021 MLB Draft suited up in 13 games with the Lethbridge Bulls in the summer of 2018.

Despite his long-ball capabilities, Palmegiani’s batting average and on-base percentage dropped off last season. He’ll need to make improvements in those areas, but he remains a solid option for MLB action in Toronto.

“Palmegiani has a great chance of debuting with the Blue Jays next season,” wrote Chris Georges of Blue Jays Nation.

“The power that he has displayed throughout the minor leagues is something that the Jays could certainly use … he is still most likely to settle in as a first baseman at the highest level. The fact that he can play at third or in a corner outfield spot gives him the floor of being a player who can fill in at several spots while providing pop off the bench. In addition to his power, his keen batter’s eye will likely be the thing that allows him to become a starter in the big leagues.”

Added Georges: “The most likely scenario is Palmegiani starting the year back in triple-A, with some success allowing him to get called up to the big leagues around mid-season.”

3. TRISTAN PETERS

The 2019 WCBL Rookie of the Year and Playoff MVP is within earshot of a call to the bigs.

Tristan Peters played 60 games for the Okotoks Dawgs – in the same lineup as Melton – that summer and had a .386 batting average, 12 long balls, 20 doubles, 58 runs, 48 RBI and 16 stolen bases. His 90 hits established a regular-season record in the WCBL.

The Winkler, Manitoba product spent 2024 roaming all of the outfield positions for the Triple-A Durham Bulls, the top affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. With his acrobatic diving catches, he was hard to miss.

At the plate, Peters saw his batting average dip from Double-A while his strikeouts increased, but his power numbers improved. In 123 games with the Bulls, the lefty batter collected 67 runs, 21 doubles, 12 homers, 46 RBI and eight steals.

Asked if he thinks a spot on the Rays is there for the taking in 2025, Peters told Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast the following: “Yeah, I think it is. I think it is for everybody in Triple-A. You’re so close and sometimes it feels like you’re so far at the same time. You can definitely just smell it and you want it really bad.”

To realize his baseball dream, Peters said he has to remain mentally strong and continue to make improvements as a hitter.

“I think it’s just proving to them that I can hit for more power while not sacrificing too much contact abilities and just being more consistent in that area,” he said.

Peters is a non-roster invitee to the spring training camp of the Rays.

4. EDGAR BARCLAY

It seems like a make-or-break season for Edgar Barclay, who pitched for the Edmonton Prospects in 2018.

The southpaw from Oklahoma appeared in six regular-season WCBL games that summer and five of them were starts. He was highly effective, going 1-1 with a 1.97 ERA, one save and 29 strikeouts in 27.1 innings. When the playoffs rolled around, Barclay was clutch for the Prospects, going 2-0 with 15 Ks and a 3.85 ERA in his 11.2 innings on the mound.

The New York Yankees made the 5-foot-10 lefty a 15th-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. From there, he climbed the minor-league ladder.

By 2023, he graduated from a Double-A post with the Somerset Patriots in New Jersey to a rotation spot with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Barclay made 10 International League starts that year and went 1-3 with a 5.89 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 44.1 innings.

He stuck with the RailRiders last year and made another 29 starts for the club. His 143 innings represented the biggest workload of his pro career. Barclay finished the year with a 7-9 record, a 5.98 ERA, 118 Ks and he surrendered a league-worst 30 home runs.

Smith Brickner, a prospect writer and scout for Pinstripe Alley, believes Barclay’s future lies in the bullpen.

“Barclay has a kitchen sink repertoire led by a below-average fastball with bad velocity and movement, but his changeup and slider both flash average,” wrote Brickner in September.

“The results have been bad and he’s likely a reliever … but he could be tough on major league lefties.”

We’ll see what this year holds for Barclay.

5. MATT WILKINSON

It may seem like a stretch to place a guy who finished last season in High-A on this list, but those who doubt Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson should prepare a valid explanation for why they would do that.

The truth is that Tugboat has excelled at every level of baseball since Little League.

When he took the mound at Seaman Stadium for the Okotoks Dawgs, the lefty was phenomenal. Wilkinson appeared in 27 games for the red-and-white from 2019 through 2023 and made 11 starts. In his 81.2 innings, he went 6-3 with seven saves, 140 strikeouts and 23 walks. He was a part of three WCBL championship teams in that time.

After he was drafted in the 10th round of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Guardians, the southpaw went to work on dominating minor-league hitters.

In 2024, Wilkinson pitched for the Single-A Lynchburg Hillcats before being promoted to the High-A Lake County Captains. During his pro career he’s 8-6 with a 1.88 ERA, 177 Ks and 37 walks in 119-plus innings.

The southpaw added to his collection of championships by helping the Captains win a Midwest League title and he also picked up several individual awards, including being named to the Minor League High-A, Midwest League and Baseball America Minor League All-Star teams. Wilkinson was also picked as the Canadian Baseball Network’s Wayne Norton Award as the top pitcher in affiliated pro baseball, and Cleveland’s organizational prospect of the year.

Keith Law of The Athletic had this to say about Wilkinson: “All he did in his full-season debut was finish second in the minor leagues in strikeouts with 174.”

He added: “Wilkinson still tops out in the upper 80s, but he’s got a 55 changeup, has a ton of deception in his delivery, and has a great idea of how to attack hitters.”

Tugboat is currently projected by MLB Pipeline to crack a major-league roster in 2026. He is expected to begin 2025 at Double-A and a promotion to Triple-A might not be far behind. Given the track record of the Guardians with young pitchers (see Sabrowski), the sky is the limit for Wilkinson. Perhaps a 2025 MLB debut is ambitious, but so is he.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

There are other prospects who could be in the running for a roster spot on an MLB team.

Righthander Travis Kuhn left opponents in a daze when he pitched for the Moose Jaw Miller Express in 2016. The closer was 2-0 with six saves, a 0.81 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 19 appearances and 22 innings. Since the Mariners selected him in the 19th round of the 2019 MLB Draft the Californian has remained as a steady presence in the organization. Kuhn reached the Triple-A level with the Tacoma Rainiers for one inning of service in 2021. In the seasons that followed, he has honed his craft with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers of the Texas League. He’s performed well during his days as a pro, going 20-16 with 19 saves, a 3.98 ERA and 261 Ks in 226.1 innings. Can he make the jump from being a consistent minor leaguer to a reliable member of Seattle’s bullpen in 2025?

Matt Lloyd – the 2017 Canadian Rookie of the Year in the Western Major Baseball League (WMBL), the predecessor to the WCBL – was also drafted in 2019, but the former two-way star at Indiana University has moved around a lot. As a 15th rounder of the Cincinnati Reds, Lloyd made it to Double-A with the Chattanooga Lookouts as a first baseman and outfielder in 2021 and 2022. Injuries derailed his plans after that, but he ended up representing Canada at the Pan Am Qualifier in Argentina and was named the Baseball Canada Men’s National Team Most Valuable Player in 2023. That year, he was also a top hitter with the Sioux City Explorers of the independent American Association. Last summer, the Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs alum was back at Double-A, this time in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. In 120 games, he scored 70 runs, smacked 25 doubles, launched 17 bombs, produced 77 RBI and stole 16 bases. It’s been a winding road for Lloyd. Can he map out a course for the majors this year?

The St. Louis Cardinals have also signed towering right-handed pitcher Curtis Taylor to a minor-league deal. The 6-foot-6 native of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia played six games and logged 26-plus innings for the Edmonton Prospects in the summer of 2014. In that time as a starter, Taylor went 2-2 with a 4.78 ERA and 22 Ks. The 29-year-old has bounced around in the minors and appeared in 50 games at the Triple-A level as a reliever since 2021. Taylor played for Canada at the World Baseball Classic in 2023 and he pitched in Mexico in 2024.