By Abbey Mastracco | New York Daily News (TNS)
Pittsburgh — Six years after receiving two different cancer diagnoses, four years after he was drafted by the Mets and three years after reaching Triple-A, Eric Orze finally received the news he had been waiting for: the Mets were calling him up to the big leagues.
So when Syracuse Mets manager Dick Scott announced the transaction to the entire team in the Worcester clubhouse Friday night, it left the loquacious right-hander speechless.
“I’ve just been trying to take the approach of going about my business and feel like I’ve been throwing the ball well and just trying to, you know, have tunnel vision on that,” Orze said Saturday in the PNC Park dugout. “So when I got the news, everyone was like, ‘Speech! Speech!’ And I was just like, ‘I don’t have any words. I don’t know what to say. I have nothing.’”
A 26-year-old right-hander who is nearing 27, Orze appeared to have stalled out in Triple-A. He’s played in 133 minor league games with 107 of them in Triple-A. It wasn’t how he saw his career going back when he thought he was on the fast track to the big leagues.
Life rarely goes according to plan, and Orze knows that better than most. He always planned to pitch in the big leagues, but battles with testicular cancer, metastatic melanoma and even his own ego weren’t ones he anticipated having to fight, which makes this moment even more meaningful.
“It’s been a crazy journey of ups and downs,” Orze said. “At first, I was kind of just smiling and happy, and the clubhouse kind of cleared out a little bit. I was packing some of my stuff and got a little emotional for a second. All those tough times kind of came back for a minute. All of it was worth it. All of it is maybe the person I am today and the player I am today.
“I wouldn’t change anything.”
The player Orze is today is one who is throwing more strikes and throwing harder (95 MPH fastball). He’s still using the pitch that got him to pro ball — the splitter — to miss bats. The home runs are still an issue, but he’s been largely able to minimize the damage.
Orze is 3-0 with a 3.76 ERA in 26 games (16 earned runs in 38 1/3 innings) this season. He attacks the zone with the intention of throwing a strike on the first pitch each time.
“It’s helped a ton,” Orze said. “That’s an advantage when you’re in counts, it makes it easier to expand the zone and kind of pitch to your strengths.”
One of those strengths is pitching to left-handed hitters. Lefties have been hitting .182 against him in Triple-A this season.
“We know he could be effective against lefties, we know the split is his pitch,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “So I’m excited to have him here.”
But the biggest change for Orze has been mental. After an admitted “ego problem,” there are no pretenses. He was humbled by cancer and years in the minor leagues. The Major League spring training invites that came in 2022 and 2023 had him sure he was ready to be in a big league bullpen. Other teammates didn’t take kindly to this attitude and it didn’t go unnoticed by Mets officials either.
Orze used his experiences while undergoing cancer treatments to change his attitude and outlook on both life and baseball.
Eric Orze poses for a portrait on New York Mets Photo Day at Clover Park on February 22, 2024 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)Getty Images
“Cancer was a blessing,” Orze told the Daily News during spring training. “The optimism that came out of this, the change of perspective on life that came out of it was very beneficial for this kind of career.”
Coming into spring training this year, Orze knew he was a longshot candidate. He stopped fixating on proving everyone wrong and started focusing more on preparation.
He figured he would get to the big leagues when the time was right.
The time is finally right.
“Sometimes I forget, but then it’s like, moments like I was talking about earlier — moments like yesterday — some of those emotions come back,” Orze said. “Remembering what I had to go through to get here, I just appreciate that journey a little bit more.”
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