Thunder Bay’s Jack Pineau is heading to professional baseball as he signed a free agent contract with the San Diego Padres following the MLB Draft. Pineau was ranked 13th overall among Canadian born players for the draft, but came to terms with the Padres on an undrafted free agent deal.
The 6’0″, 185-pound righthanded pitcher was the top starter for Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., in his junior year with the Blue Jays. The St. Ignatius High School graduate made 14 starts during the 2026 season and compiled a 7-3 record with a 4.21 earned run average.
Pineau pitched two seasons for the Border Cats in 2023 and 2024 and was a Northwoods League All-Star in 2023. The 21-year old appeared in 15 career games for Thunder Bay and was 3-4 with a 4.35 ERA, while recording 62 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings pitched.
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The Thunder Bay Border Cats are a proud member of the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. In its’ 33rd season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history with 26 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires, and front office staff, nearly 2400 NWL alums have been drafted and over 420 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford and World Series Champion and Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (BAL) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove, two-time Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (NYM). League games are viewable live on FloSports.tv.