The former Central Michigan standout keeps plugging away and keeps his phone close by should the coveted call come.
It has, twice, in his 10-year baseball career. The Illinois native pitched at CMU from 2010-12, helping the Chippewas win the Mid-American Conference championship and earning the league's Freshman of the Year Award in 2010.
The left-hander was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 19th round in 2012, made his major league debut with the Minnesota Twins in 2017, and got a second shot in 'the show' this summer with the defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays.
He has made three appearances with the Rays, all in relief. He has logged 7 2/3 innings, allowed four runs on six hits, struck out eight, and walked three. Last Thursday, he struck out four Baltimore Orioles over three innings.
Then it was back to Triple A Durham, where Enns has spent most of 2021. He is 7-2 with a 2.35 earned run average in 16 appearances with the Bulls.
"Whatever my role is, every day's a blessing in the big leagues," said Enns, 30. "My mind set hasn't changed from Triple A to the big leagues and back to Triple A. Just go and compete and perform well when I'm called. It doesn't really affect me mentally being sent down. You just try to stay focused mentally. The Rays are confident in me and that helps me keep confidence in myself."
For every Mike Trout or Max Scherzer or Shohei Ohtani – guys who make it to the majors relatively young and are instant stars – there are hundreds of others like Enns, later-round draft picks who bounce around and hang in and hang on.
Enns has been with the Yankees, Padres, Twins, Mariners and now Rays organizations. He made his big league debut on Aug. 10, 2017, with the Twins only to go down with an injury in his second start. He has thrown 11 2/3 innings over five major league games.
After his injury in 2017, Enns played for a variety of minor league teams in several leagues.
"It was a struggle just to get back to the stuff I had, the confidence I had," he said, adding that after the 2019 season at Triple A El Paso, he worked to increase his velocity. "Those two years were mentally exhausting having a good outing and then having a bad outing. I was just kind of tired of pitching that way and needed to simplify things.
"I just kept working, knowing that my stuff was improving, and I could see it in my bullpens. I was throwing harder than I had ever thrown before."
Enns was never a flame thrower, at least not by professional baseball standards. He threw strikes and worked quickly. He has 699 career strikeouts in the minor leagues against 266 walks. He has struck out 82 and walked 17 this season at Durham.
When COVID-19 hit in the spring of 2020, he was released by the Mariners and caught on in July with an independent team in Joliet, about 15 miles from his hometown of Frankfort, Ill. He knew that at his age, he needed to "prove to myself and really just show teams the changes I've made have helped me improve and I'm not the same guy I was last year or two years ago.
"That's when I had the conversation with my wife: 'What's our future?'" Enns said. "She encouraged me to still play, and I was totally on board with that as well."
Playing in Joliet, Enns caught the eye of the Rays, who were seeking a left-hander who could eat innings. They had found their man.
His two-appearance stint with the Twins five years ago whet his appetite. The hunger – and belief – never dissipated.
"I felt better this year in Triple A and last year when I was in indy ball than I did when I was in the big leagues," he said. "Yeah, I can do this, I've been there before, I know what it takes. I feel like I have the stuff to compete in the big leagues. Having that taste of it in 2017, starting in the big leagues, definitely fueled that fired."
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Dietrich Enns Stays The Course On The Long & Winding Road - Central Michigan University Chippewas
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