After starring for Canada in this spring's World Baseball Classic, Matt Wilkinson is back to turning heads in the Cleveland Guardians minor-league system.
Wilkinson continued his strong start with the double-A Akron RubberDucks on Sunday, leading the way in a combined no-hitter — the franchise's first since 2003 — against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.
The 23-year-old from Vancouver worked five perfect innings for Akron, striking out six before turning the ball over to his bullpen. Wilkinson used 70 pitches to retire the 15 batters he faced and punched out at least one batter in every inning he took the mound.
"Just made pitches when I needed to," Wilkinson said on the RubberDucks broadcast after the game. "Put myself in good position to get people out, and the wind helped me out a little bit today, but trusted what (catcher Jacob Cozart) put down, and the rest is history."
After Wilkinson exited, the Akron bullpen lost the perfect-game bid with a walk in the sixth, but Matt Jachec, Magnus Ellerts, Jay Driver and Jack Carey managed to keep the no-no intact over the final four frames.
Wilkinson was the star of the afternoon, however, as he lowered his ERA to 1.35 through three starts, the fifth-lowest mark in the Eastern League among qualified starters. He's also holding opponents to a .188 average while striking out 17 and walking only three.
Dating back to his time as Team Canada’s ace at the 2015 Little League World Series, the six-foot-one southpaw has featured a fastball that makes life tough on hitters. And while he isn’t overpowering hitters with velocity — his fastball sits around 90 m.p.h. — Wilkinson continues to find success thanks to the pitch's riding life.
Nicknamed "Tugboat," Wilkinson has steadily climbed the minor-league ranks since being selected in the 10th round of the 2023 draft out of Central Arizona College, landing in double-A to begin 2026.
He really burst onto the scene in 2024, when he struck out a combined 103 hitters in 78.1 innings, split between low-A Lynchburg and high-A Lake County, earning Cleveland's minor-league Pitcher of the Year honours.
Wilkinson further bolstered his résumé earlier this year with Canada at the WBC, when he didn't allow a hit or run in two outings. Perhaps his most impressive showing as a pro came in the Canadians' quarterfinal loss to Team USA, when he struck out Cal Raleigh and Bryce Harper as he worked two scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
If he can continue to deliver performances like Sunday's, Wilkinson could soon put himself on the cusp of the big-leagues.
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