LG's new foreign career, will it bloom in Korea
Dietrich Ens (32), who had been contemplating retirement three years ago, joins the LG Twins as a new foreign player and dreams of a second baseball life in Korea.
LG officially announced on the 14th that it has signed a contract with the new foreign pitcher N's for a total of $1 million (down payment of $300,000, annual salary of $600,000, incentive of $100,000).
Ens, a left-handed hitter with a height of 185 centimeters and a weight of 95 kilograms, is an attractive pitcher with a fastball and changeup of up to 94 miles per hour. When he was a minor league player, he played a good role as a bullpen in the Major League in the 2021 season with two wins and an unbeaten ERA of 2.82 and 25 strikeouts in 22 ⅓s.
He started 109 out of 185 games in the Minor League with 55 wins and 40 losses with an ERA of 3.32 and 67 out of 85 games in Triple-A with 32 wins and 24 losses with an ERA of 4.26 and 336 strikeouts in 393 innings as a starting pitcher. In 2022, he moved to the Seibu Lions of the Japanese professional baseball league, and posted 11 wins and 17 losses with an ERA of 3.62 in 35 games over two seasons.
However, N.S.'s career could have been cut off long ago. The novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) that spread around the world in 2020 cut off many minor leaguers, and N.S. was one of the players who was directly hit by it. N.S., who was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 19th round of the 2012 MLB Rookie Draft, was traded to the Minnesota Twins in 2017 and briefly played in the big league (two games and four innings). Afterwards, he played for San Diego and then for the Seattle Mariners in 2020.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, an American media outlet, Ence was notified of his release on May 28, 2020, after being shut down due to COVID-19. The Tampa Bay Times said, "Just turning 29 years old, Ence was continuing to train to return to the big leagues, but due to COVID-19, he wasn't sure when he would get another chance. He started thinking about a part-time job and became interested in business administration and enrolled in an online course at Northeastern University."
It was his wife Julie, who got married in 2019, who encouraged Ence, who began preparing for life after baseball. Encouraged by his wife, Ence refined a new pitching mechanism with the Tully Monsters, an independent league team near his hometown of Chicago, which paved the way for a dramatic return to the big league. At this time, he was the oldest and most experienced player in the team, so he also served as a pitching coach, which was vacant except when he was in the starting rotation.
At Tully, Ennes was impressive with two wins and an unbeaten 0.72 ERA in five games, and caught the eye of Tampa Bay Rays chief scout Kevin Eibach, who was looking for a pitcher in the independent league.
It was dramatic in many ways. Since both Major League and Minor League were not held at the time, he had no choice but to sell as an independent league to supply and demand players, and he was Chicago's only scout when his movement was limited due to COVID-19. Moreover, Eibach once watched Enes play at the University of Central Michigan. Eibach determined that Enes had improved his skills compared to his college days, so he reported to Tampa Bay General Manager Eric Nieder that he could be used as a starting pitcher at an alternative spring camp. This led to a two-year minor league contract with Tampa Bay, and Enes barely missed the opportunity and made his big league debut again.
Having challenged himself to the Asian stage at the age of 31, N.S. once again suffered setbacks. In his second year, he was informed that he could not renew his contract by posting 12 wins, 10 losses with an ERA of 5.17 and 30 strikeouts in 54 innings. Then, LG reached out to him. "N.S. is a pitcher who demonstrates durability and steadiness, and combines excellent fastball pitching and breaking ball command," LG said in introducing such a career. "I expect him to adapt quickly based on his Japanese professional baseball experience and play the first starting role for the team in the 2024 season."
Recently, the KBO is regarded as a new opportunity venue for players who feel limited in Triple-A as much as the NPB. Merrill Kelly (35, Arizona Diamondbacks, former SK Wyverns), Josh Lindblom (36, former Lotte-Doosan), and Chris Flexen (29, former Doosan Bears) have been steadily returning to their ranks based on their performances in the KBO League.
Environment is also ideal for a foreign pitcher. Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which has a wide range of batters, is struggling to cover up his weaknesses as he had 1.4 homers per nine innings in the Triple-A stage, while allowing only two to three runs. Casey Kelly (35), a fellow foreign pitcher who will mark his sixth year in Korea next year, is expected to be his talk buddy.
Will Ence, who has had a turbulent career as many minor leaguers as he has visited Korea, be able to display his skills and make a comeback? "I'm glad to be a member of LG. I'm excited to meet coaching staff, teammates and fans. I'm also looking forward to having a unique experience with my family in a new place. I'll try to be a good teammate. I'll do my best to help LG win again?" 토토