September an opportunity for minor leaguers to fulfill lifelong dream

PHOENIX – Matt Koch was pitching in the sixth inning of a minor league game in Tacoma, Wash., when his manager walked toward the mound.

Koch was perplexed.

“At first I was like, ‘Why am I getting taken out early in the sixth inning?’ ” Koch said.

Reno Aces manager Phil Nevin wasn’t visiting the mound just to pull the 25-year-old right-hander from the game. He also had some news for Koch, delivered right there on the mound.

Koch had been called up to the big leagues by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“It kind of took me back a little bit,” Koch said. “It went from being a little disappointed about being taken out to super excited to tell my family and friends that I was going to be able to go to the big leagues.”

Every September, Major League Baseball’s roster limit is expanded from 25 to 40 players, giving players like Koch the chance to realize a lifelong dream.

Rural roots; rare success

One of the benefactors of MLB’s roster expansion is Cody Ege of the Los Angeles Angels, who began his second stint on a major league roster Sept. 2. Ege happens to know Koch well; both attended Washington High School in Cherokee, Iowa, and both played for the University of Louisville.

Now, the friends from Cherokee – population 5,030 – are major leaguers.

“We grew up together,” Koch said. “We’re from the same hometown and went to college together, so we’re like best friends. He was in my wedding, so we’re always talking and more than just baseball, too.”

Koch’s wife was the first person he told after receiving the news of his call-up. It wasn’t the first time he had gotten big news from a manager. In 2015, Koch was traded as a minor leaguer from the Mets organization to the Diamondbacks.

“It was exciting. I was nervous, a little scared because I had been with the Mets for my entire career,” he said. “I had a lot of good friends in that organization that I had been with. And it was a surprise.”

Ege, too, knows the feeling of being dealt to a new team. He began his career with the Texas Rangers organization, was traded to the Miami Marlins and was claimed off waivers by the Angels.

It seems to have worked out for both of them.

Waiting on the lights to get brighter

Koch’s call to the show came after five minor league seasons. His Diamondbacks teammate Kyle Jensen didn’t get the call until he had played in nearly 1,000 minor league games over eight seasons.

Jensen, a first baseman and outfielder originally drafted in 2009 by the Marlins, was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers late in 2014.

He signed a minor league contract with the Diamondbacks last November and made his major league debut less than a year later at age 28.

The California native said he’s “absolutely” relieved to be in the major leagues.

“It’s been a long road,” Jensen said. “It’s like a roller coaster. Wherever you end up, you’ve got to make the best of it and go out there and play hard with the team that you’re playing with. Each year is different, I had a lot of success this year and I’m happy to be here.”

Jensen did have a big year, hitting .289 with 30 home runs and driving in 120 with the Reno Aces of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

Unlike Koch, who was told of his call-up on the field during a game, the Aces skipper – the aforementioned Nevin – gave Jensen the big news in the team’s clubhouse.

“It was awesome,” Koch said. “When Phil (Nevin) and them told him, everyone just started cheering because Kyle’s such a great guy, and he’s had such a great year. He deserves it. So everybody on the team was super excited for him.”

Jensen said the news sunk in when he saw the towering structure that is Coors Field, the home of the Colorado Rockies in Denver, where he joined the Diamondbacks on a road trip.

“Just driving up to the ballpark and seeing the huge stadium and the lights, it’s pretty exciting,” he said.

When a call-up is never reversed

Though players called up in September are sometimes given the label “September call-up,” they often can turn the opportunity into a long stay in the big leagues.

One such example is Diamondbacks infielder Chris Owings, who made his major league debut in September of 2013 after five seasons in the minors. The following spring, he earned a spot on the big-league roster and has remained with the Diamondbacks since then.

“It was our last game in Triple-A, and I kind of had a feeling that it could probably happen,” Owings said of his first call-up. “After the game was over, just a lot of cool feelings after the game and getting called into the manager’s office – it was Brett Butler at the time – he basically told me, ‘You’ve had a great year and your reward is getting to go to the big leagues.’ ”

Owings is now on the other side of the call-ups; a member of the major league squad welcoming incoming players to the team. So is Tuffy Gosewisch, who was called up the same season after spending nine seasons in the minor leagues. He was 29 years old when he made his first major league appearance.

At 25, Owings already has substantial major league experience. He acknowledged that some players have a more arduous journey in the minors, but there are positives to sticking with it for as long as Gosewisch and Jensen did.

“He’s here for a reason: because he loves the game, and he’s pretty good at baseball as well,” Owings said of Jensen.

“I think for him, it wasn’t a hard decision because you look at like, Tuffy Gosewisch, a guy that was in the minor leagues for a while, then he gets to play for his hometown team here in Arizona.

“It is tough. You watch the big leagues and you’re in the minor leagues just sitting there waiting for your call, and sometimes it might be longer than others, but he still got here.”

Family ties

Owings is now watching his younger brother Connor wait on his call. Connor was a member of Coastal Carolina’s College World Series championship team who, like his brother, was drafted by the Diamondbacks.

Connor is now in his first professional offseason after playing with the Hillsboro Hops, the Diamondbacks’ short-season Class-A affiliate in Hillsboro, Ore.

“I remember talking to him as he went to Hillsboro just telling him what to expect, trying to help him get some bats lined up and get some batting gloves and gloves lined up too,” Chris Owings said. “But the minor leagues is a tough experience, especially going from college to the minor leagues. He had a fun time and he’s excited to get back to Spring Training.”

Unlike his brother, Chris Owings didn’t go to college. He was drafted and signed out of high school from Gilbert, S.C., and made his professional debut in Missoula, Mont.

“For me coming out of high school just trying to make my way up to the big leagues, you really just have to take it day by day,” Owings said. “It’s kind of like a lot what (major leaguers) are doing now – you’re playing for your next at bat, your next pitch, and you’ve got to have that mindset of, ‘it’s a process.’

“You’ve got to keep working your tail off, and it’s not easy to get here. You never take it for granted.”