

DETROIT — For two and a half years, Nic Enright has stood on the doorstep of the major leagues. Now, after being a Rule 5 Draft selection, receiving a cancer diagnosis, returning to his original organization, undergoing debilitating treatments and wondering if he’d ever have the chance to dig his cleats into the big-league dirt, Enright is headed to Cleveland.
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The Guardians are calling up Enright from Triple-A Columbus to join their bullpen, multiple team sources told The Athletic, in place of Hunter Gaddis, who is headed to the bereavement list following a death in the family.
The Miami Marlins plucked Enright from Cleveland’s roster during the Rule 5 Draft in December 2022. Later that month, despite exhibiting no symptoms other than a bulge in his neck, Enright was diagnosed with Stage II nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma.
Initially, he wondered if his baseball career was over, especially once he was stuck in a hospital bed, pumped full of chemicals and feeling like a pale, lethargic shell of himself. But he felt the urgency to persevere. As a reliever, he figured he had a shorter window to cash in on potential big-league earnings, and being a Rule 5 pick placed him in the waiting room for the majors. So, he stuck with baseball, and he quickly realized he needed that goal to push through treatments.
The Marlins ultimately sent Enright back to the Guardians in June 2023. Enright thrived on the mound in the minor leagues in 2024 (1.06 ERA, 31 strikeouts in 17 innings), but a shoulder impingement prevented him from earning a promotion. The Guardians added him to their 40-man roster after the season, signaling they had plans for him in 2025.
A lat strain delayed the start of his season, but promising checkups at the hospital have given him peace of mind for the first time in three years. Enright won’t need to undergo any treatments until after the season, and he’s hopeful that will be the last round he’ll ever need. Until then, he can focus on pitching, and now, at long last, pitching on a major-league mound. Since arriving at Triple-A Columbus in late April following his recovery from the lat injury, he allowed two earned runs in nine innings.
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Enright’s parents visited him and his wife, Erin, in Columbus this weekend, so the pitcher was able to share the news of his call-up with them in person Friday night. They’ll all be in attendance for the Guardians’ games against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit as they await his debut.
The Tigers, coincidentally, are hosting “Strike Out Cancer Weekend” at the ballpark.
(Photo: Mike Christy / Getty Images)
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