Dugan Darnell’s major league debut was perfect.
The 28-year-old relief pitcher entered a game that appeared hopelessly lost. Yet, when all was said and done, he’d won. It was the story of his baseball career — told in two innings.
When the undrafted right-hander strolled to the mound at Coors Field to Eminem’s “Square Dance” in the eighth inning on Aug. 1, few took much notice. The Rockies trailed the Pirates, 16-9. Many in the crowd of 36,030 had drifted off into the sweltering Friday night. But in the Rockies’ family section, a dozen fans lived and died with every pitch.
Darnell’s parents, Dan and Mary Lou, were there. So was his brother, Grady, and assorted aunts and uncles. When his fiancée, Emily Tatge, heard “Square Dance” blare through the speakers, she got goose bumps.
Darnell’s arduous journey from part-time Division III college pitcher to independent leaguer with the Gary SouthShore RailCats, to winter ball in Australia, to a desk job in finance had finally paid off. His investment in the weight room, on the mound, and networking on his laptop had all been worth it.
“He’d always told me, ‘I can’t wait to hear my walk-up song play at Coors Field,’ ” Tatge said. “So, to hear that song and see him take the mound was incredible. But you know what? I stayed relatively calm. I was confident of Dugan’s abilities.”
Darnell pitched a scoreless eighth, giving up a single before inducing a double-play grounder to end the inning. Colorado scored two runs in the bottom of the frame, trimming Pittsburgh’s lead to 16-12. Darnell pitched a one-two-three ninth, striking out Pirates shortstop Jared Triolo on three pitches for the final out. His first career K came on a 94.9 mph fastball that caught Trilolo looking.
“I had tunnel vision,” Darnell said. “I had been mentally preparing for the moment for a long time, so I told myself, ‘Control your emotions and do your job.’ It was my night, so I told myself, ‘Put your best stuff out there and see what happens.’ ”
What came next was like something out of “The Natural.”
The Rockies scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth, winning the game 17-16 on a two-run homer by center fielder Brenton Doyle, the first walk-off home run of his career. Doyle is Darnell’s best friend on the team. Doyle’s wife, Rose, is besties with Tatge. The two met at Double-A Hartford and formed a sisterly bond.
“When Brenton hit that walk-off homer, I turned around and gave Rose a gigantic hug,” Tatge recalled. “That moment was phenomenal. For Brenton to hit his first walk-off homer and for him to get Dugan his first career win by hitting that homer was incredible. It was insane.”
‘I had the stuff’
Word of Darnell’s debut victory reached Jon Weil quickly. Text messages lit up his phone. He got a little choked up.
A long-shot player that Weil believed in, but someone whom the Rockies never scouted in person, had made it.
“This is why some of us get into baseball, for moments like that, for what it means for the players, their families,” Weil said.
Weil now works for the Dodgers as a pro scout. Back in the winter of 2021, he was the Rockies’ assistant general manager of player personnel. Weil was used to fielding unsolicited emails and videos from hopeful young players trying to get their foot in the door.
“I would probably get five of those a month,” he recalled. “Guys would send videos, stats, and Trackman numbers, and data, and all kinds of stuff. I made it a practice, out of respect, to respond to each kid.”
Most of his responses were boilerplate: “Thank you for your inquiry, but our rosters are full at this time.”
“That’s true 999 times out of a thousand,” Weil said. “We had a practice of never signing a player unless a scout had seen them in person.”
But several things about Darnell struck a chord.
There was Darnell’s 0.39 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 23 innings as a third baseman and part-time reliever as a senior at Michigan’s Adrian College. He also had a 0.31 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings in 2020 with the independent Eastside Diamond Hoppers of the United Shore Professional Baseball League. Plus, Weil watched Darnell’s video.
“The video was just of a bullpen session, but I felt like his arm worked well and all of his pitches were coming out really well,” Weil said.
Then there was Darnell’s persistence. He sent emails, with a video, to all 30 major league clubs, often to five or six people in the organization. He realized it was a long shot, but he figured it was his only shot.
“I knew, deep down inside, that I could pitch in the majors, I had the stuff,” Darnell said. “I sent stuff to as many people as I could — emails, direct messages, LinkedIn. I was all in. I didn’t want to look back someday with any ‘what ifs.’ ”
Because Weil took time to respond, Darnell latched on to the Rockies. Multiple times, he asked Weil for an in-person tryout, but none were forthcoming. Still, Weil remained intrigued. He asked Ed Santa, the Rockies’ area scout whose territory includes Michigan, to check up on Darnell. Santa was friends with Craig Rainey, the longtime head coach at Adrian. Rainey raved about the pitcher and the person.
Ultimately, Weil went with his gut. He called Zach Wilson, the Rockies’ assistant general manager of player development at the time, into his office.
“Zach and I were in lockstep and we trusted each other,” Weil said. “I had him look at the video of Darnell. Zach said, ‘That looks pretty good.’
“I told Zach, ‘I just want to sign him, I want to bring him to camp. … If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.’ ”
Wilson gave Weil a green light. It was the first time he had ever signed a player without having a scout get an up-close look.
“It sounds pretty innocuous, like, no big deal,” Weil said. “But really, not having a scout see Darnell, not having a lot of data, and just kind of going off his stat line was unique. I was going off my gut instincts.”
On Feb. 5, 2021, Weil made one of the favorite phone calls of his career.
“I went all ‘American Idol’ on him,” Weil recalled. “I said, ‘Dugan, this is Jon Weil of the Colorado Rockies, and I’m sorry, but we don’t have any interest in you working out any more at all.’ ”
Taken aback, Darnell said, “What do you mean by that?”
Weil, still playing it cool, responded, “We have no interest in working you out because we have interest in signing you. We would love to invite you to spring training.”
Darnell responded with tears and a promise: “I’m going to dominate hitters and I’m going to be a big leaguer, you just watch and wait.”
More than five years later, Darnell fulfilled that promise.
“Jon Weil means the world to me,” he said. “He opened up his heart and gave me a chance.”
‘He wanted this so badly’
Rockies interim manager Warren Schaffer played six seasons in the minors as an infielder, making it as high as Triple-A Colorado Springs. He managed eight seasons in the minors. He’s seen dreams rise and fall. He’s never seen anything quite like Darnell’s journey.
“All of the stuff he’s had to overcome? Always being the underdog? It’s amazing,” Schaeffer said. “This game is really hard. I know what it’s like to be a minor league player who’s not good enough. I got to the point where I said, ‘This is not for me, and I have to change directions.’
“But not Dugan. He worked his way through it, and it’s worked out.”
Of course, it’s not like Darnell didn’t have talent. He could always throw hard, but so can thousands of others. But through hard work and vision, he built himself into a major league pitcher. He trained at 2SP Sports Performance in Madison Heights, Mich., alongside former Rockies and Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu and Astros ace Hunter Brown.
“I was able to get to know those guys and learn and get better,” Darnell said.
From 2019, when he left Merrill College, to 2020, when he started playing independent ball for the Diamond Hoppers, his fastball velocity improved from 88-90 mph to 91-93, touching 95 on occasion. In addition to his 75-76 mph curveball, he added a slider and a splitter.
He now has an arsenal that the Rockies believe plays in the big leagues. Entering the weekend, Darnell had pitched in four games (five innings), posting a 3.60 ERA.
His transformation from a raw pitcher to major leaguer impressed LeMahieu.
“I was struck by what a hard worker he was, and his perseverance,” LeMahieu said. “There aren’t a ton of major leaguers up here in Michigan during the offseason, so it’s kind of a small group during the offseason. We get to know each other.
“From my point of view, he didn’t need a whole lot of help from me. He showed up every day ready to work, and then worked another job. So he was not somebody who needed a whole lot of pushing.”
The “other job” was a short stint as a recruitment consultant with Huxley Associates in Chicago. Darnell used his degree in marketing to land the gig in what he calls “the real world.” But baseball always beckoned.
His fiancée bursts with pride when she talks about the road he’s traveled.
“He knew he didn’t want to be at an office desk, doing office work,” Tatge said. “He wanted this so badly. He wanted to play baseball, and he’s done everything in his power to make this his career.”
The couple met at Northville High School in Michigan, but didn’t start dating seriously until after Tatge graduated from Michigan State. She’s been alongside for the long, winding road that took him from independent ball to Low-A Fresno to High-A Spokane to Double-A Hartford to Triple-A Albuquerque and, finally, to the Rockies.
“It wasn’t an easy road,” she said. “Persistence is such a perfect word to describe Dugan. And you have to have passion, too, to go through the five levels to get where he is today. And it’s even more if you count high school and college.”
Tatge was at home in Michigan, taking a nap on Thursday afternoon, when she got the news that he would be going to the majors and might debut the next night.
“Dugan usually doesn’t FaceTime me, we just talk on the phone,” she said. “So, when I saw the FaceTime come across my screen, I kind of knew. Deep inside, I said to myself, ‘This is it.’ He didn’t have to say anything. I cried, absolutely. So did he, and I don’t see him cry all that often.”
Darnell was never in “pinch-me mode” when he took the mound for his debut. He always believed he could make it to the top of the hill. He was reflective.
“There are so many people who helped me along the way and pushed me in the right direction,” he said. “My parents, Emily, so many others. I kind of looked at it like this: you take one step at a time and then you look up and you’re where you dreamed you’d be.”
The Road Taken
Rockies relief pitcher Dugan Darnell made his major league debut on Aug. 1 at Coors Field. Undrafted out of Division III Adrian College in Michigan, he followed an unusual path to the big leagues:
2019
• Adrian College: Posted a 3-1 record with a 0.39 ERA in 20 games. Also hit .314 with four homers, two triples, 12 doubles, and 43 RBIs while playing primarily third base.
• Rockford Rivets (Northwoods League): 2.65 ERA in seven games (17 innings).
• East Side Diamond Hoppers (United Shore League, independent): 1.76 ERA in seven games (15 1/3 innings).
• Gary SouthShore RailCats (American Association, independent): 3.00 ERA in three games (5.0 innings).
2020
• Gary SouthShore RailCats: 0.31 ERA in 22 games (28 2/3 innings)
2021
• Low-A Fresno: 0.66 ERA in eight games (13 2/3 innings).
• High-A Spokane: 2.38 ERA in 36 games (41 2/3 innings).
2022
• Double-A Hartford: 5.29 ERA in 38 games (47 2/3 innings).
• Canberra Cavalry (Australian Baseball League): 2.41 ERA in 15 games (18 2/3 innings).
2023
• Double-A Hartford: 1.55 ERA in 22 games (29 innings).
• Triple-A Albuquerque: 6.04 ERA in 18 games (29 1/3 innings).
2024
• Double-A Hartford: 0.00 ERA in three games (4.0 innings).
• Triple-A Albuquerque: 5.58 ERA in 40 games (40 1/3 innings).
2025
• Triple-A Albuquerque: 3.52 ERA in 35 games (53 2/3 innings).
Source: Baseball Reference
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