One of the Toronto Blue Jays’ newest prospects will be late to report to camp as he represents his country internationally.

Shortstop Owen Gregg, who signed a non-drafted free agent deal with the Blue Jays following the 2024 MLB Draft, is on the roster for Team Canada at the U-18 Pan American Championships currently taking place in Panama City, Panama.

The tournament features 14 teams from North and South America and serves as a qualifier tournament for the 2025 World Baseball Cup, with Panama already securing a spot (as host) while the top three finishers will also book their ticket to the World Baseball Cup (date to be determined). Italy and Germany will be at the tournament with both nations booking their ticket through the U-18 Baseball European Championship last month.

Gregg, a product of Appleby College (Oakville, Ont.) and the FieldHouse Pirates program, was committed to Utah before signing with the Blue Jays and it appears that the organization allowed the 17-year-old to compete in the tournament before reporting to Dunedin. All other 2024 drafted players and fellow NDFA signings did so earlier this week. Eric Hartman (St. Alberta, Alta.) is also on the Canadian squad and will report late to the Atlanta Braves after being selected in the 20th round.

This is not Gregg’s first tournament experience with the Junior National Team, as the infielder was also on the roster for the Dominican Pro-Academy Camp and the Extended Spring Training Camp earlier in 2024.

Ranked at #16, Canada started the tournament with a 13-3 win over Guatemala and won their second game by a score of 1-0 over Nicaragua on the back of a complete game from pitcher Michael Yusypchuk (Edmonton, Alta). They will face Mexico later today, their biggest test of the tournament round-robin play, before taking on the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and El Salvador before the quarterfinals.

So far in the tournament, Gregg has started both contests and has collected one hit through five at-bats – a double that scored a run – during Canada’s opening contest. The right-handed batter has also been hit in the batter’s box twice. Through the small sample size, Gregg owns a .200/.400/.429 slash line and a .829 OPS.

Fielding-wise, the Oakville product is Canada’s shortstop and has fielded a clean sheet on the left side of second base – collecting two assists and two putouts through four chances – with zero errors committed.

Managed by Greg Hamilton, the Canucks are off to a hot start and will need to keep things rolling over the week against three squads ranked higher than them to finish group play. Once the tournament is over, Gregg will likely head to Dunedin.