DETROIT – A Central Michigan star shined for the Detroit Tigers on Thursday in his long-awaited return to Major League Baseball.
Dietrich Enns has not had a typical professional baseball career since he left Central Michigan in 2012.
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The former Chippewa star was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 19th round that year and spent the better part of five seaons making his way through the minor leagues. He eventually debuted with the Minnesota Twins in 2017.
He pitched four MLB innings for Minnesota, allowing seven hits, a walk, and three earned runs.
It took four long years to get back to the MLB level after that. From 2018 through 2021, Enns pitched in Double-A, Triple-A, the Venezuelan Winter League, and even the 2020 City of Champions Cup.
That all led up to a 22.1-inning stint with the Tampa Bay Rays, during which he posted a 2.82 ERA and 1.03 WHIP with six walks and 25 strikeouts.
The next three years were spent playing pro ball in Japan and Korea, until Enns landed with the Tigers this winter.
He pitched well in 14 starts with Triple-A Toledo, posting a 2.89 ERA and 1.22 WHIP while striking out 71 batters in 62.1 innings.
On Thursday, he got the call to start for the Tigers against the Oakland Athletics at Comerica Park.
Enns was excellent, pitching five shutout innings and allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out four.
He generated 13 swinging strikes in 77 pitches, which is great. Seven of those whiffs came on his four-seamer and five came on the change-up.
Oakland only managed two hard-hit balls against him -- a 104 mph grounder and a 95.1 mph grounder.
Enns left the game with a 3-0 lead and is in line for his third career MLB victory.