Spokane Indians, led by former Gonzaga star Gabriel Hughes, open 2023 season at Vancouver
The 2023 Northwest League season starts across the Pacific Northwest Friday with a full slate of games. The Spokane Indians kick off their season in Vancouver, British Columbia, for a three-game series against the Canadians.
The Indians’ home opener is Tuesday, when they welcome the Eugene Emeralds for a six-game series. The NWL season runs 132 games, through Sept. 10, with the league championship series to follow.
Gabriel Hughes, the Colorado Rockies’ first-round selection – No. 10 overall – in the 2022 MLB draft, will take the hill for new manager Robinson Cancel on opening night.
The assignment means a great deal to Hughes, who grew up in Idaho and pitched for Gonzaga in college.
“Being able to go out in Spokane, in the city where my college career started and really took off, and being able to come back there and really start my professional career means a lot to me,” he said in March at the Rockies’ spring training facility in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Hughes, 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, went 8-3 with 138 strikeouts in 98 innings as a sophomore for the Zags. Hughes made his pro debut with a three-inning shutout stint for Low-A Fresno last season.
Following Hughes in the rotation on Saturday will be Jaden Hill, the Rockies’ second-round pick out of Louisiana State University in 2021. Hill, 23, appeared in 10 games with Fresno in 2022 with 25 strikeouts in 17⅔ innings.
Sunday’s scheduled starter is 23-year-old Jarrod Cande, the Rockies’ 17th-round pick in 2021 out of Florida Southern. Cande made 19 appearances, 15 starts, for Fresno in 2022 and went 4-6 with a 4.93 ERA and 1.34 WHIP in 80⅓ innings.
Vancouver plans to counter with lefty Adam Macko and right-handers Dahian Santos and Michael Dominguez.
Macko, 22, was born in Slovakia and came over to the Toronto Blue Jays’ organization as part of the November trade that sent Teoscar Hernandez to Seattle. He was the Mariners’ seventh-round selection in 2019.
The Indians lineup should include three former first-round picks: outfielder Benny Montgomery, the Rockies’ top selection in 2021; third baseman Sterlin Thompson, taken with the 31st pick in the 2022 draft; and outfielder Jordan Beck, a first-round compensation pick (38th overall) in 2022.
Montgomery, 20, hit .310 with six homers, 44 RBIs and nine stolen bases in 255 at-bats with Fresno last season.
Following the draft, Thompson, 21, split time between the Rockies’ complex team and Fresno last season. In 101 at-bats he hit .307 with two homers and 10 RBIs.
Beck, 21, bounced between the ACL and Fresno. He played 26 games and hit .296 with three homers and 19 RBIs.