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'I never let it dictate my life': Nic Enright makes MLB debut 2 years after cancer diagnosis
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- 'I never let it dictate my life': Nic Enright makes MLB debut 2 years after cancer diagnosis
CLEVELAND — Shortly after Guardians reliever Nic Enright had his name called for the first time to enter a major league game, he had to pause before he got to the mound so Comerica Park could play "God Bless America" before the inning.
It allowed him to take a few extra moments of reflection. It had been quite a journey.
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Enright made his MLB debut on Sunday, May 25, in a 5-0 Guardians loss to the Detroit Tigers . Two and a half years earlier, he had been diagnosed with cancer, and it threatened to end his baseball career.
Then, on Sunday, he reached the game's pinnacle.
"A day like [Sunday] makes the long, winding journey that it's been all worth it," Enright said. "On Friday, being able to tell my wife and my parents in person, seeing it wash over their face, that's a moment I'll be able to cherish for the rest of my life."
Guardians right-hander Nick Enright throws a pitch against the Tigers, May 25, 2025, in Detroit.
Nic Enright details discovery of Hodgkin's lymphoma
On the morning of Dec. 18, 2022, Enright woke up with what he described as a crick in his neck. When the discomfort persisted, he went to the emergency room the next day.
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Doctors ran tests for 48 hours on the two small bumps on his neck. Then they came in and delivered the scary diagnosis: He had Hodgkin's lymphoma .
Cleveland Guardians pitcher Nic Enright poses for a photo during the team's media day, Feb. 22, 2024.
"Me and my now wife are sitting there in the hospital room [thinking], 'There's no way, I feel great,'" Enright said, adding that they began looking at the common symptoms and realized he had all of them, from the eczema on his elbows to night sweats to bumps on his eyelids. "And we were like, 'Oh, man, this is real.'"
Enright has spent the last 2½ years undergoing several rounds of immunotherapy. He's gone through 12 treatments, normally in spurts every few months, in addition to all the many check-ups, scans and blood work. He has four rounds coming up this offseason.
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Through all the treatments, and the struggle and side effects that come with it all, Enright couldn't help but wonder: should he keep playing?
"There were some dark days, and that's when I leaned on the people around me," he said. "There were some moments … where me and my wife were sitting there and we're like, 'Is this all worth it?' Am I doing the right thing?'"
Nic Enright makes MLB debut with Guardians
All of it, the struggle and the stress for not only him but his family, led to the moment in Detroit, where he completed the dream of playing in the major leagues.
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"When I jogged in, we stopped for a minute to play "God Bless America," so I was standing out there with the umpire, being able to just kind of collect my thoughts, take a deep breath," Enright said. "I used that time to just kind of think of everything that had gone on these last couple of years, all the obstacles I've been through, everything that [my family] has overcome.
"And when the song finished, I was like, let's go play baseball."
Columbus Clippers pitcher Nic Enright high fives catcher Bryan Lavastida to celebrate a 3-0 win over Omaha in the season opener on April 3, 2024.
Enright was terrific in his debut, striking out three in two scoreless innings. It was almost too much for him to believe, given the events that acted as difficult prerequisites to get there.
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"I kind of just stepped down in the tunnel and took a moment just to be like, 'Man, this really happened. It wasn't a dream,'" he said. "That was really special."
It was a storybook moment. Enright was given No. 59 to wear, the same number that used to belong to Carlos Carrasco, who battled leukemia while he played in the major leagues . Last weekend also happened to be "Strike Out Cancer" weekend in Detroit.
Enright standing on a major league field was a victory in itself. And every time he jogs out of the bullpen, it'll continue to be a win, regardless of the actual result that day.
"Everything I've gone through these last couple of years, to me it's just a testament that while this disease is a terrible one, I never let it control me," Enright said. "I never let it dictate my life."
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Now, his message to anyone who will listen is get anything you're worried about checked out, and don't let it define you.
"That's why sports can be a great metaphor for life — you don't have to be a professional athlete to go through this," Enright said. "The biggest thing was not letting it control me and not letting it dictate how I was going to live my life.
"So that's the biggest thing for anyone else who's going through something similar to this — to not let it consume you and not let it become everything you are."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians reliever Nic Enright makes MLB debut with Hodgkin's lymphoma
