Blatz helps Canada to best-ever finish at World Baseball Classic

David Blatz’s prediction from three years ago came true on the baseball diamond at the World Baseball Classic.

Blatz, who is an athletic therapist for Baseball Canada, guessed the canucks would show massive improvement at the next iteration of the tournament after the 2022 tournament and saw the team have their best-ever finish in 2026.

Canada made the quarterfinals for the first time, but could’t get past a stacked American team, who were upset by Venezuela in the finals.

The owner of Eastman Therapy had mixed feelings seeing Venezuela win, loving the underdog champions but lamenting the impact it will have on Canada’s Olympic qualification chances.

“It’s nice to see best-on-best,” Blatz said, reflecting on the WBC a few weeks after it finished.

“The best part of this whole tournament was the fact you had guys like Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge… Some of these big baseball guys turning around and saying, ‘we need to see more of this and we need to see this at the Olympics.’”

Canada was based out of Puerto Rico, and opposing teams weren’t the only thing they had to deal with. Sporadic rain throughout the tournament put stress on the pitchers, as they had to warm up and cool down constantly.

“This is a really tricky time of year, because this is the first real month of baseball for these guys,” Blatz said, noting the tournament takes place during Major League Baseball’s annual spring training.

“Some guys are coming in (to the tournament) in phenomenal shape, and other guys are using this spring to get into shape.”

With higher profile players, like Seattle’s Josh Naylor, who signed a five-year, $92 million dollar contract in 2025, suiting up for their national teams, pressure is on athletic therapists like Blatz to keep those players healthy and report back to the parent clubs.

It’s a familiar role for Blatz, who worked for a decade with Soccer Canada, dealing with intense European clubs.

“You’re always on a little bit of an edge,” Blatz said.

“Any little tweak through the ribcage, through the abdominal area or the hamstring or the quad or a little bit of elbow soreness, forearm tightness, that all has to be investigated pretty thoroughly to make sure we don’t miss something and we don’t send the player back to their team injured and broken for the rest of the season.”

That means 12-plus hour days, working with players from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to get them in perfect game shape. Despite that intense schedule, Blatz and team Canada still have time to take in the WBC experience. Blatz said Baseball Canada is “all about family,” with players and staff bringing family members along for the tournament.

“I’ve worked with a lot of different organizations, but Baseball Canada has always been family,” Blatz said.

“Knowing you’re coming into a really good, supportive environment is always key. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like work. It just feels like you’re doing something you absolutely love.”

Canada baseball will continue a busy schedule, with junior games in the Dominican Republic and upcoming Pan-Am qualifiers. Blatz said a more cohesive junior program has been key for Canada to see improvement at the senior level.

As for predictions on Canada’s next appearance at the WBC, Blatz was definitive.

“We won’t be a dark horse anymore,” he said.

“I think we’ll actually be pretty good and get into that semi-final round.”