For Quebec baseball fans disappointed not to see the name of Charles Leblanc among those who will represent Canada at the next World Classic which will get under way in a few weeks, know that the member of the Miami Marlins organization is bothered by an injury right now.
Questioned by Benoît Rioux of the Journal de Montréal, Leblanc confirmed that he felt pain in his lower body and he decided by mutual agreement with the Marlins to withdraw from the international competition which will begin on March 1st.
This decision disappoints many people, including the main interested party who would have liked to compete for his country while proving to the Marlins that he has his place in the Majors.
Recall that the Florida team decided to assign Leblanc for assignment, thus making him available to other major league baseball teams. Having not been claimed by any team, the Laval resident is still a member of the Marlins organization and he will have to fight for a position at the next training camp.
The decision to skip the World Classic becomes strategic in the medium term for him because he is certain that he will not be able to aggravate his injury and consider a better spring camp.
Leblanc admits that he will have to improve one aspect of his offense, that of putting the ball in play with more regularity. Last year, during his stay with the Marlins, Leblanc did well, but he also suffered 53 strikeouts in 169 at bats, representing a rate of 31.4%.
This is not a unique case because dozens of regular players have accumulated worse rates than him in 2022 in the Majors.
Having to work hard to prove that he has the caliber to play in the big leagues will not be something new for him. After all, Charles Leblanc is a fighter and he demonstrated great strength of character by achieving his dream during the 2022 season.
During the offseason, the Marlins added a few infielders who will be hard to dislodge. Jean Segura and Luis Arraez are now part of the picture and that’s not to mention that Joey Wendle and Jon Berti are still in Miami.
Josh Groshans, a former member of the Blue Jays organization, will also be knocking on the door during the upcoming training camp.
Certainly, Charles Leblanc is disappointed not to be able to represent the maple leaf in Arizona, but he concentrates on his objective of blurring the cards, he who is already in Jupiter in order to make his conquest more possible.
