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Detroit Tigers ‘Prospect' Is A Baseball Study In Pure Perseverance
Like the proverbial cat with nine lives, left-hander Nick Margevicius keeps coming back. The Cleveland native is on his 13th 'life' these days with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, top farm team of the Detroit Tigers.
It is Margevicius' 13th club in 13 leagues since being drafted in the seventh round by the San Diego Padres in 2017.
One of the clubs played in China. Another split home games in two cities in two different countries.
BOSTON: Nick Margevicius of the Seattle Mariners pitches in the first inning against the Boston Red ... More Sox at Fenway Park on April 25, 2021. (Photo by)
He has had sporadic success during a nomadic career, just enough to enable him to overcome the bad times and keep pushing on as he approaches his 29th birthday on June 18. And his recent success makes him a 'prospect' to make it back to MLB play.
Margevicius (pronounced mahr-GAV-a-chiss) signed with the Tigers on April 29 following a fine month in the Mexican League, where he went 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA for the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos. In English, that's the Two Laredos Owls, which plays some home games in Laredo, TX, and some in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
In six games for Toledo, including five starts, he has a 3-1 record, 2.61 ERA, 32 strikeouts in 31 innings and only 7 walks. He was a big part of Toledo's 28-8 hot stretch entering June.
'It's a lot of fun, I'll tell you that much,' he told Michael Burwell of The Toledo Blade on June 1. 'I think it's an organizational philosophy.
'We come, we try to win, which is unlike, honestly, other minor league organizations where it's just kind of roll their guys out there and let them play the games and whatever happens, happens. There's a concerted effort to win at every level here, and every day, whoever's in there, the team attitude is we're going to win the game.'
Signed for $160,000 out of Rider University in New Jersey, Margevicius moved swiftly through the minors. He compiled an 18-13 record across five stops in the Padres' system. He was throwing strikes and getting rave reviews.
He made his MLB debut on March 30, 2019, less than two years after being picked. He gave up 3 hits and 1 run over 5 innings, striking out 5 without a walk against the San Francisco Giants. He lost.
SAN DIEGO: Nick Margevicius of the San Diego Padres pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Petco ... More Park May 18, 2019. (Photo by)
Two weeks later, he beat the Giants for his first win, but got hit hard in May and June and was moved to the bullpen. He finished his rookie year with a 2-6 record and 6.79 ERA.
In 2020, he was hurt while trying to snare a foul ball hit by slugger Shohei Ohtani. That limited him to 10 games, a 2-3 record ands 4.57 ERA for the year.
In 2021, he was getting clobbered (0-2, 8.25 ERA). His velocity was down and the numbness in his shoulder and left arm up. He was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, had delicate surgery and was sidelined 11 months.
Margevicius pitched poorly (0-4, 8.25 ERA) at Triple-A Tacoma in 2022 and was released. Signed by the Atlanta Braves, he went 3-3, 6.82 ERA in 21 games in the minors and became a free agent after the 2023 season.
Nobody called, so off he went in 2024, to the TSG Hawks in Kaishong City, Taiwan, one of six teams in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. Margevicius had a 7-6 record and 2.82 ERA in 18 starts.
The leading hitter – by far – on the last-place team was 32-year-old Steven Moya. He had 30 of the team's total of 58 homers and batted .294. Moya crashed 138 homers from 2009 to 2017 in the Tigers' farm system. He played 51 games for Detroit, batting .250 with five homers. He has another 110 homers in 631 games in Japan, Mexico and China.
Some guys just love the game and won't give up. That's why Mexican League rosters are loaded with former MLB players still hoping they can recapture the glory. Marcevicius did well.
MEXICO CITY: Robinson Cano of Diablos Rojos hits the ball during Spring Training Game Two between ... More Diablos Rojos and New York Yankees at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu on March 25, 2024. (Photo by)
Robinson Cano, age 42, has a .380 average, 7 homers and 45 RBI in 39 games. A year ago, he hit .403. He hasn't played in the Majors since 2022. In 17 years with five teams, most notably the New York Yankees, Seattle and New York Mets, he had 335 homers and a .301 average, playing in eight All-Star games.
Francisco Pena hit .216 in 86 MLB games, none since 2018. At age 36, the catcher is having the greatest year of his lo ng career: .370, 10 homers, 36 RBI in 33 games.
There are more than 50 former MLB players in the league. Not all are having good seasons such as 41-year-old Radhames Liz. He pitched for the Baltimore Orioles (2007-09) and Pittsburgh Pirates (2015). Including MLB, the minors, teams in Korea, Japan, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, he has been with 24 clubs. This year he has a 6.28 ERA and 4-3 record for Guerreros de Oaxaca.
There are many former MLB player in the top Japanese pro leagues.
Franmil Reyes hit 30 homers for the 2021 Cleveland Indians. Now 29, he leads the Japan Pacific League with 11 homers in 50 games, batting .254.
CLEVELAND: Franmil Reyes of the Cleveland Indians hits a walkoff three-run home run to beat the ... More Kansas City Royals, 7-4, in the ninth inning at Progressive Field on July 8, 2021. (Photo by)
Trey Cabbage, with the Houston Astros in 2024, is hitting .274 with 7 homers in the Japan Central League at age 28.
Trevor Bauer, 34, the 2020 NL Cy Young winner, is 3-3 with a 3.30 ERA in his third year with Yokohama. He has a 24-7 record overall in Japan and a year ago in Mexico went 10-0 with a 2.48 ERA.
He desperately wants back in MLB after being banned 324 games (later reduced to 194 by an independent arbitrator) for sexual misconduct. That made him immediately available for the 2023 season. He's still waiting as no MLB club will sign him, fearing backlash regarding the sensitive nature of the incidents.
Nick Margevicius is with a pitching-rich organization that is seeking a return trip to the playoffs. He is throwing well at Toledo, a veritable hop, skip, and brief car ride from Comerica Park in Detroit.
If he keeps pitching well, even the Tigers' loaded pitching staff that has the club leading the AL Central, will find room for a lefty throwing strikes and getting outs.
If that day comes with the Detroit Tigers, the news will be eagerly met not only by fans and the Margevicius family, but by former MLB players all over the world saying, 'See, a guy can still get back there.'
