Earlier this month, Los Angeles Angels prospect Matt Coutney was promoted from high-A Tri-City to double-A Rocket City after smashing 14 home runs and producing an .850 OPS across 75 games. The Wetaskiwin, Alberta native has been in the Angels system since 2022, when he was drafted in the 10th round out of Old Dominion University as a slugging corner infielder.

The Angels can be a bit more unconventional with how they move their minor leaguers through their system. For example, second-round pick Ryan Anderson from the 2024 MLB Draft debuted in the Major Leagues before even setting foot on a minor league diamond, but has since spent most of his time in high-A this year. For Coutney, this will be his second stint in double-A, after playing in 28 games at Rocket City in 2024.

“Things get a little nicer in double-A.,” said Coutney, speaking with Blue Jays Nation. “You’re definitely playing in some bigger stadiums with some bigger crowds. And with that, the level of play goes up, too. Obviously, you see some guys up here with some really good stuff on the mound. And when you see that kind of stuff, you just have to take a step back and do what you do best and kind of realize that you’re here for a reason.”

Wetaskiwin is a suburb of Edmonton, which isn’t exactly an area known for producing a great deal of professional baseball players. Like many high-level Canadian players, it can be tough to have the same exposure to college and pro scouts compared to players from the United States.

“There aren’t a lot of people from back home who get the opportunity to play college baseball, let alone professional baseball,” explained Coutney.” Coming from a town like Wetaskiwin, I was kind of the only kid growing up who ever played baseball. I remember when I was young, I’d have to travel to Edmonton and the surrounding area to go play when I was 12 or 13 years old.”

The six-foot-one Alberta product has predominantly played first base since being drafted, but also has the range and arm to play the hot corner. After playing for three summers with the Edmonton Prospects of the Western Major Baseball League, he attended Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

In his last year at ODU in 2022, he set the school record with 27 home runs in just 58 games, good for a 1.281 OPS, a mark that was second on the Conference-USA leaderboard to fellow Canadian David McCabe of the University of Charlotte.

“I definitely felt like I kind of put myself on the map and gave myself the attitude going into the draft of like, all right, I have a chance here to get picked and do something special. I did everything I could, so if things work out, they do. And if they don’t, they don’t. That was kind of the way I looked at it at the end of that year.”

Despite playing in American towns like Pasco, Washington and Madison, Alabama, Coutney has had the chance to play and work with some fellow Canadians along the way. His position coach in Tri-City was Trevor Nyp (Kitchener, ON), and he also played with David Calabrese (Vaughan, ON) in both Tri-City and now Rocket City.

“You walk into a locker room and there’s a lot of different cultures and a lot of different personalities in the room,” explained Coutney. “Not only the Americans, but Latin American guys as well. Having a couple of guys that you can kind of relate to on a lot of different things is super nice and makes things a lot easier for sure.”

Playing in the Northwest League for Tri-City also presented the opportunity for Coutney to play at Nat Bailey Stadium over the last couple of years, the home of the Blue Jays’ high-A affiliate, the Vancouver Canadians. The Canadian connection, coupled with the raucous crowd, impressed both him and his teammates.

“It’s cool that the Blue Jays do that. I never played there, but heard of it growing up. It was definitely a cool experience. We were talking about it yesterday in the locker room with a couple of guys who spent some time with Tri-City last year. They were saying that [Nat Bailey Stadium] was probably one of the louder stadiums that they’d played at with the overhang up top and how it kind of echoes.”

The World Baseball Classic has grown in popularity recently, especially since the thrilling 2023 tournament. Canada appears poised to field their deepest roster ever for the next iteration, set for March 2026. Although the team will likely consist of mostly major league players, there still may be a couple of spots for minor league prospects.

Coutney played for the Junior National Team back in 2018 and understands how special an opportunity it is to represent Canada at an international tournament should he get the chance again in the future.

“I had one little stint with the Junior National Team back in the day,” said Coutney. “It’s super cool being able to wear Canada across your chest and kind of put things into perspective of how far you’ve come along with the sport and the stuff you’ve kind of been able to do. Being able to wear Canada is something that is a dream every year to wear.”

Although the minor league season isn’t quite as long as the majors (132 games vs 162), it’s still a grind for players to go through every year. Players only get one day off a week, which is often used as a day to travel by bus to their next destination. Despite the season set to wrap up in early September, Coutney notes how important it is to continue to work hard over the last couple of weeks.

“You still got four or five weeks left here, so it’s still a good chunk of the season.” Explains Coutney. “When you look at it, you can’t just be like, all right, end of the season is coming and we can kind of cruise to the end. You have to be able to finish strong and continue to work on some stuff and get better. At the end of the day, all that matters is being able to progress and get better and become the best version of yourself.”

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