The 2025 MLB Draft got off to a roaring start on Sunday night, with the Washington Nationals surprising with their selection of Eli Willits to kick off the festivities.

The Los Angeles Angels made an even more surprising call with the 2nd pick, selecting UCSB pitcher and dual American/Canadian citizen Tyler Bremner. He appeared at #14 on MLB Pipeline’s ranking of top draft prospects.

Bremner draws elite grades for his mid-90s heater with run and changeup that could be the best in the draft. As we speculated in his profile last month, how high he’d end up being selected would largely depend on what teams thought of his likelihood to continue developing his third pitch – his slider – into a quality offering. It’s safe to say that the Angels are believers in his three-pitch mix.

Although he was born and raised in San Diego, both of Bremner’s parents are from the Toronto area, giving him Canadian citizenship. His mother tragically passed away in June, and he hopes to honour her by playing for Canada at future World Baseball Classic tournaments. He shares some similarities with Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Freddie Freeman, another California-born player who also honoured his mother by choosing to play for Canada at the last two WBC tournaments.

There have been three Canadian players drafted in the top ten in MLB history, with Bremner now leading the charge as the highest ever selected. He supplants Adam Loewen (Surrey, BC) and Jeff Francis (North Delta, BC), who were selected with the 4th and 9th picks in the 2002 draft. Although Loewen struggled to carve out a significant role over five major league seasons, Francis accrued 16.2 fWAR over 11 big league campaigns.

We may be entering the golden age of Canadian baseball, with more and more prospects – especially pitchers – hailing from the great white north and adding competition to next year’s WBC roster. New York Mets prospect Jonah Tong (Markham, Ontario) currently leads all of the minor leagues in strikeouts, a year after Guardians lefty Matt Wilkinson (Vancouver, BC) emphatically entered top prospect discussions following his terrific season. At the big league level, Nick Pivetta is also in the midst of his best season of his 9-year major league career.

Hopes will be high for Bremner to be one of the next great Canadian players, but he is likely a couple of years away from making an impact at the major league level. That being said, the Angels have been one of the more aggressive and unpredictable teams regarding how they handle their prospects, making a quicker-than-expected arrival in Anaheim a distinct possibility.

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