He grew up in the KBO League but failed to re-sign. However, he achieved a life-changing turnaround at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) and recorded his first major league win in his comeback to the big leagues after three years.
The Detroit Tigers beat the San Diego Padres 5-2 on the 28th (Korean time) at Petco Park in San Diego, California, in the "2026 Major League" game. With this, Detroit won its second straight game to start the season.
In the season opener the day before (the 27th), rookie shortstop Kevin McGonigle had four hits in his major league debut, becoming the 21st player overall in the majors since 1900 to do so in his debut, and Detroit won big, 8-2.
And on this day, McGonigle again delivered the go-ahead run with an RBI hit in the eighth inning with two outs and the bases loaded. The winning pitcher in the game was Enmanuel De Jesus, who recorded one inning, one hit allowed, two strikeouts and no runs.
De Jesus, who made the opening roster, came on in the bottom of the seventh when Detroit was trailing 1-2. Starter Framber Valdez went six innings, allowing seven hits, one walk, five strikeouts and two runs (one earned), and De Jesus was the second pitcher.
He allowed a one-base infield hit to leadoff hitter Jake Cronenworth. But he struck out Luis Campusano swinging and got Fernando Tatis Jr. looking to record two outs. The ABS challenge changed the final pitch call to a strike. He then got Xander Bogaerts to fly out to right field to finish a clean inning. He successfully kept San Diego from scoring any further. In the fateful bottom of the eighth, Detroit got a 1-2-3 walk sequence from Kerry Carpenter, Gleyber Torres and Colton Cowser to load the bases with one out, and Riley Greene tied the game 2-2 with an infield hit to shortstop. Then it was super rookie McGonigle's turn at bat.
On the mound was veteran left-hander Wandy Peralta, who has 504 major league games. McGonigle did not back down easily. From a 2-1 count he fouled off five consecutive pitches, staying persistent. He survived a persistent inside pitch battle and worked the count full. On the 10th pitch he drove a sinking fastball to right-center for a two-run RBI single. Detroit took a 4-2 lead, setting De Jesus up for the win.
Detroit used Kyle Finnegan in the eighth and Kenley Jansen as the closer in the ninth to preserve the victory. De Jesus's first major league win came in dramatic come-from-behind fashion.
De Jesus stepped onto the KBO stage with the Kiwoom Heroes in 2024 and grew further in Korea. With Kiwoom he posted solid numbers: 30 games, 171 1/3 innings, 13 wins, 11 losses, 178 strikeouts and a 3.68 earned run average. But Kiwoom did not re-sign him, and his Korean career continued when the KT Wiz acquired De Jesus. Last year with KT he went 32 games, 163 2/3 innings, 9 wins, 9 losses, 1 hold and a 3.96 ERA. It was respectable but somewhat disappointing, and ultimately KT parted ways with De Jesus and did not exercise his retention rights.
After that, De Jesus's life changed dramatically. He signed a minor league contract that included an invitation to the Detroit Tigers' spring training camp. The big turnaround came later at the World Baseball Classic (WBC).
Selected for the Venezuela national team, De Jesus started against Israel in the first round and earned the win with five innings, two hits allowed, eight strikeouts and one run. He then came in as the third pitcher against defending champion Japan, throwing 2 1/3 innings, allowing one hit, one walk, recording three strikeouts and no runs in a heroic appearance. Entering the mound in the bottom of the fourth, De Jesus faced a 1-2-3 situation with runners on first and second and created the crisis himself, but he got superstar Shohei Ohtani to swing and miss for a strikeout and then struck out Sato Teruaki swinging to escape the jam. He played a role as the turning point in the dramatic comeback from 2-5. In the fifth inning, Maikel Garcia hit a two-run follow-up, and in the top of the sixth Willie Abreu hit a go-ahead three-run homer, allowing De Jesus to become the winning pitcher.
Venezuela went on to beat Italy in the semifinals and the United States in the final to savor its first tournament title. De Jesus was a key figure in the country's first championship and delivered a performance worthy of being called a hero.
His treatment in Detroit also changed. He was dramatically included on the 40-man roster and, after a spring training showing of four games, nine innings, five hits, one walk, 10 strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA, he made the opening day roster.
He returned to the big leagues after three years and earned a win, and his standing is steadily solidifying. Although he could not re-sign with KT, he got another job opportunity. The Samsung Lions targeted De Jesus when their existing foreign pitcher Matt Manning left the rotation with elbow pain, and it looked like he would return to the KBO League. But Detroit included De Jesus on their roster, dashing Samsung's plans.
A string of small coincidences and his own performances followed. De Jesus did not miss his chance at a life turnaround. He is creating his own KBO League "re-export legend."
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