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Ex-CMU lefty Dietrich Enns joins Detroit Tigers after three-year trek through Asia
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- Ex-CMU lefty Dietrich Enns joins Detroit Tigers after three-year trek through Asia
Detroit Tigers left-hander Dietrich Enns , a former 19th-round draft pick who pitched for Central Michigan in the early 2010s, made his MLB debut in 2017 with the Minnesota Twins and earned his first MLB win with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2021.
More recently, however, his baseball career has taken him farther afield: He has spent the past three seasons in Asia, working in Japan in 2022 and 2023, then Korea in 2024.
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In 2025, Enns is finally back in the United States.
The 33-year-old signed a minor league contract with the Tigers that includes an invitation to spring training . He will report to camp as a starter, which is the role he had in Asia, but the Tigers could turn him into a reliever.
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Left-hander Dietrich Enns pitched for Central Michigan from 2010-12, made his MLB debut in 2017 and competed against the Detroit Tigers in 2021.
"My goal since I was a kid has been to win the World Series," Enns said. "Being able to see the Tigers, it's an exciting bunch of guys that plug in and get the job done. I want to be a part of that group and help the team continue to take steps towards winning the World Series."
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Enns doesn't have an abundance of MLB experience.
But his professional baseball journey has taken him across multiple leagues and multiple countries: nine seasons in the minor leagues with four teams, two seasons in MLB with two teams, one season in the Venezuelan Winter League, one season in the City of Champions Cup independent league, two seasons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball and one season in Korea's KBO League.
Joining the Tigers, Enns wants his next stop to be at the MLB level in Detroit.
"The last three years has been a pretty cool experience for me and my family to go overseas," Enns said. "And then I'm just happy to be back in Michigan, where I went to school and played baseball. It's really cool to be with the Tigers."
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Enns has pitched 26⅓ innings across 11 games in parts of two MLB seasons, recording a 3.42 ERA with seven walks and 27 strikeouts. He logged four innings with the Twins in 2017 and 22⅓ innings with the Rays in 2021.
He went 1,453 days between MLB appearances.
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In 2021, Enns secured the first win of his MLB career Sept. 11 against the Tigers at Comerica Park. He came out of the bullpen and threw four perfect innings with six strikeouts after replacing injured starter Chris Archer in the fifth inning, helping the Rays secure a 7-2 victory over the Tigers.
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His parents (and college teammates) watched from the stands at Comerica Park.
"I really loved pitching in Detroit," said Enns, who picked up his second win just five days later against the Tigers at Tropicana Field, home of the Rays. "I got to face Miguel Cabrera . My heartbeat started going up a little bit more. I was in college when he was the Triple Crown winner. It was pretty cool to face him in that moment. It's a day I'll never forget."
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The Rays weren't going to retain Enns for 2022, so when an opportunity in Japan became the best option for his family, the Rays facilitated the transition by placing Enns on release waivers and allowing him to sign with the Seibu Lions.
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Enns signed a one-year contract with a team option in Japan, securing stability in location and a guaranteed salary. He spent 2022 and 2023 in Japan, registering a 2.76 ERA in 130⅓ innings across 25 starts in the first year and a 3.59 ERA in 120⅓ innings across 23 starts in the second year.
After two seasons in Japan, the LG Twins in Korea's KBO League signed Enns to a one-year contract with the promise of using him as a starter. He was named as the Opening Day starter en route to making 30 starts, posting a 4.19 ERA with 50 walks and 157 strikeouts across 167⅔ innings.
He set a career high in innings pitched.
"Throwing that many innings and being relied up on as the ace of the staff, you're going to be in there for six, seven innings," said Enns, who started every six days as part of a five-man rotation. "That was a great opportunity for me. I know what I'm capable of as far as the durability standpoint."
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Entering 2025 spring training, Enns throws a four-seam fastball, a cutter, a splitter/changeup, a curveball and a slider. He primarily uses the fastball and cutter, but he has developed the split-change into a reliable weapon over the past year.
His fastball averages 93.5 mph. He also throws his cutter in the 86-88 mph range, along with the split-change from 80-82 mph, slider from 80-82 mph and curveball from 77-79 mph.
"I've had some talks with the Tigers to see how they want me to utilize my pitches," Enns said, "but those are conversations that we're going to continue to have throughout spring training. I'm coming into camp with an open mindset of what the Tigers are looking for me to do."
If the Tigers want Enns to keep all five pitches, then he will, but if the Tigers want Enns to trim his mix to two or three pitches, he'll do that instead.
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He trusts the Tigers' pitching department to help him.
That's why he signed with the Tigers.
"There was some interest overseas and here," said Enns, who will earn $1.3 million if he makes the MLB roster. "But LG wasn't interested in bringing me back as a starter, and then from the initial contact with Detroit, I thought it was a really good fit for my strengths are and what they're looking for in me."
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Enns has already talked to pitching coach Chris Fetter .
He expects to log innings for the Tigers, whether in Triple-A or MLB.
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"To me, pitching is pitching," Enns said.
Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Dietrich Enns celebrates as he gets the last out of the ninth inning to beat the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field on Sept. 20, 2021 in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The business of baseball is simple: Now that Enns has returned to the United States on a minor league contract, the Tigers will decide whether he's a starter or a reliever and whether he pitches in Triple-A or MLB.
He's proud to still be pitching — regardless of his role — after so many twists and turns in his career, including the past three seasons across two Asian countries.
His next goal: a World Series ring.
"I'm very blessed and grateful to still be playing this game," said Enns, named the Mid-American Conference's Freshman of the Year in 2010 while playing for CMU. "It's not the career trajectory or path that I would have planned when I was going through the draft process. After I got drafted by the New York Yankees , I thought I was going to be a Yankee for life, but then you get traded, and things change, and you bounce around. To still be able to play, and having played all over the world, it's been such a really cool journey for me."
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Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ex-CMU lefty Dietrich Enns joins Detroit Tigers after 3-year Asia trek
