Detroit — Sometimes we don’t know what these players are dealing with when they step on the field. They are human beings, after all, with real lives outside of the game.
Real life hit hard for Tigers reliever Enmanuel De Jesus Wednesday night.
Just before the start of the game against the Yankees, De Jesus learned of the two earthquakes that hit his homeland, Caracas, Venezuela. His two sisters were there when the earthquakes hit.
“I was able to talk to one of my sisters before I left for the game,” De Jesus said. “She said he hadn’t heard from my other sister.”
So when he was summoned in the ninth inning, tasked with keeping the Tigers’ deficit to a manageable two runs, he did not know if his sister was safe. Mercifully, he found out right after the game that she was.
“Thank God, everything is good,” he said. “They are all safe.”
Gleyber Torres, Keider Montero and Carlos Guillen, the Tigers’ manager of Spanish Communications and Broadcasting, all did nervous wellness checks Wednesday night. They, too, got the all-clear sign from their families.
Same for Tigers’ minor-leaguers Josue Briceno and Eduardo Valencia.
“It’s tough for everybody when we get that news,” said manager AJ Hinch, who spent a good part of his morning reaching out to people in the game who might’ve been impacted. “It’s the unknown of what’s going on back home for them, what’s going on with relatives or minor league players or minor league staff or scouts, friends from across the game.
“We’ve got to rally together and support them.”
As of early Thursday evening, 188 people were reported dead.
“I was a little worried,” said De Jesus, who nevertheless pitched a scoreless ninth. “But thank God everybody is OK.”
His emotions have been running high this entire homestand. His mother and father flew to Detroit and on Tuesday, for the first time, watched him pitch in a big-league game.
“Honestly, that was a dream for me and a prayer come true,” he said. “My dad always wanted to see me in a big-league stadium pitching. Fortunately, I was able to bring them here and they had the opportunity to see me. I think that was a good day for them to be proud.”
Manuel De Jesus tries never to miss a single game his son pitches, though his access to the games is usually on a television or computer screen. When his son was pitching professionally in Korea, Manuel would wake up at 5 a.m. to catch his starts.
“He’s followed me every single game,” Enmanuel said, shaking his head.
De Jesus debuted with the Marlins in 2023 and was trying to arrange to get his parents to Miami. He also tried to arrange for Manuel and his mother Gladys to fly to Korea to see him pitch for Kiwoom last season.
“They couldn’t make it,” he said. “The last time I was in the big leagues, my dad was getting chemotherapy for cancer. He’s still battling through it, so I am just really happy that he had the chance to come here.”
His parents stayed back with De Jesus’ wife Wednesday night to monitor the news in Venezuela. They are expected to stay in Detroit through July 10.
“I’ve been waiting for that moment for a long time,” said De Jesus, who pitched a scoreless inning on Tuesday night, as well. “I spent 10 seasons in the minor leagues before I was able to make my debut and when I finally made it, my father was still going through the (chemo) process.
“But I think God’s plan is perfect. They were really excited and really happy for this moment. Everyone was saying congratulations to them. I don’t even think they understood what they were saying.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
Astros at Tigers
First pitch: 6:40 p.m. Friday, Comerica Park, Detroit
TV/radio: DSN/97.1, 107.9
SCOUTING REPORT
RHP Spencer Arrighetti (7-3, 3.13), Astros: He’s wobbled a bit in June, allowing 17 earned runs in 22 innings. The Guardians got him for six runs and three home runs in six innings last time out. His money pitch is a 2,800-rpm slow curveball. Opponents are hitting .145 off it with a 39.9% whiff rate. He throws it off a 92-mph four-seam (with 7-4 extension). He also has a sweeper, sinker, changeup and cutter. His 30.8% hard-hit rate is among the softest in baseball.
RHP Keider Montero (3-5, 3.68), Tigers: The Tigers will happily take a repeat performance of his outing against the White Sox on Sunday. He rolled through seven innings on 76 pitches, with the one smudge being a two-run homer by Luisangel Acuna on a breaking ball that was up and out of the zone. Here’s how good he’s been: Statcast rates his overall run value at plus-12, which ranks in the 92nd percentile. His fastball run value is plus-10 (96th) and his off-speed run value is plus-6 (97th). Really good.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Sisters of Tigers’ De Jesus survive deadly earthquakes in Caracas: ‘Thank God’
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chris McCosky, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
