Joey Votto, Russell Martin headline Canadians on MLB rosters

A mere six Canadians are on major league rosters to open the 2016 season, down sharply from a record high of 14 in 2011.

But what Canada may lack in quantity, it makes up for in quality.

Learn more about the players representing the country in MLB this season:

Russell Martin

Team: Toronto Blue Jays
Hometown: Montreal
Position: Catcher
Notable stat in 2015: Hit career-high 23 home runs
Highlight: Here are all of those dingers from 2015:

Joey Votto

​Team: Cincinnati Reds
Hometown: Etobicoke, Ont.
Position: 1B
Notable stats in 2015: Hit .314 with .459 on-base percentage and .541 slugging
Highlight: Just another monster year from the 2010 NL MVP:

John Axford

​Team: Oakland Athletics
Hometown: Ancaster, Ont.
Position: RP
Notable stats in 2015: Registered 25 saves with 63/32 K/BB ratio over 55 2/3 innings
Highlight: Justin Upton may be one of the best hitters in the game, but Axford makes him whiff:

Michael Saunders

Team: Toronto Blue Jays
Hometown: Victoria
Position: LF
Notable stat in 2015: Injuries (stemming from an incident with a sprinkler head in spring training) cost Saunders all but nine games of his season.

Brett Lawrie

Team: Chicago White Sox
Hometown: Langley, B.C.
Position: 3B
Notable stat in 2015: He'd dealt with injuries during his tenure with the Blue Jays, but appeared in 149 games for the A's in 2016.
Highlight: Lawrie had to be restrained by an umpire after Royals pitcher Kelvin Herrera threw a 100 mph fastball behind the then-Athletics third baseman.

Jim Henderson

​Team: New York Mets
Hometown: Calgary
Position: RP
Notable stats in 2015: Had 4.55 ERA in 29 games with triple-A Colorado Springs. Didn't pitch for Rockies following second shoulder surgery.
Highlight: Henderson gets Pittsburgh's Starling Marte to pop out with the bases loaded in one of his 14 major league appearances in 2014.

Now that you're more familiar with the Canadians in MLB, who do you think is the best of the bunch? Vote in our poll and have your say.

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