Chad Dallas Named NWL Pitcher of the Week

VANCOUVER, BC – Minor League Baseball has recognized Vancouver Canadians pitcher Chad Dallas as the Northwest League Pitcher of the Week for April 11-17.

Dallas made his professional debut on Wednesday, April 13 against Tri-City and logged five no-hit innings in which he walked the first batter of the game then retired the next 15 men he faced to set the Canadians up for a 3-0 win. The Orange, TX native racked up eight strikeouts over the course of 68 pitches (45 for strikes) and started 11 of 16 hitters with a first-pitch strike. He went to a three-ball count only five times.

“In the bullpen not many of my pitches were finding the zone, but I knew once I got a batter in there I would feel more comfortable,” Dallas said after the game “[With] the first hitter, I think I was trying to do too much and tried to do it all myself, so that’s when I realized I have a lot of people behind me. I started filling up the zone with all my pitches and let whatever was going to happen, happen. The slider to righties was on – front door then let it leak out to the outside of the plate – and the curveball to lefties [worked well].”

Dallas, 21, was Toronto’s fourth-round pick (121st overall) last year out of Tennessee, where he headlined the Volunteers rotation with an 11-2 record – the sixth-most single-season wins in program history – in 17 starts. He led the team with 122 strikeouts – also sixth-most in Vols Baseball lore – in 103 innings and twice took a no-hitter into the sixth. Dallas beat eventual College World Series champion Mississippi State in the SEC tournament and took down LSU to start the Super Regional to lead Tennessee to their first CWS appearance in 17 years.

MLB.com ranks the right-hander as Toronto’s #22 prospect and says “Dallas has gotten the velocity on his fastball to tick up since the Draft, and it now sits around 93 mph, touching 95 mph. There could be room for a bit more, too, which would leave Dallas’ arrow pointing up into ’22. The biggest addition for Dallas has been a mid-80s cutter that’s tough on right-handers while his low-80s curveball is a pitch he’s comfortable with in any count, too.”

He will next take the ball on Thursday, April 21 at Nat Bailey Stadium when the C’s square off against Eugene (Giants) at 7:05 p.m.

The Vancouver Canadians make their triumphant return to Nat Bailey Stadium on Tuesday, April 19 for the home opener and Opening Week is set for April 19-24. For tickets and more information, visit CanadiansBaseball.com.