Onyshko rediscovers love of game

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This article was published 23/07/2024 (455 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ben Onyshko experienced an unusual feeling earlier this year: his outings on the mound weren’t being met with the same joy he once knew.

The Winnipeg-born relief pitcher has been steadfast about never complaining as long he is playing baseball for a living, but even he struggled to remain positive as he endured one of the worst stretches of his professional career.

Onyshko, 27, spent the first part of the year with the Arkansas Travelers, the double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners, where he appeared in seven contests and struggled mightily over 9.1 innings of work, posting a 9.64 earned run average while conceding two home runs and eight walks.

Frustration set in and only compounded the issues. Before Onyshko knew it, the Mariners organization released him May 14. He was a free agent for the first time in his professional career.

“I’m pretty honest with myself and I knew that I wasn’t throwing it super well, and I understand the reality of the business,” said Onyshko, a 24th-round selection of the Mariners in the 2018 MLB June Amateur Draft who played as high as triple-A in 2021.

“I don’t hold any ill will toward any of the people in the Seattle organization. I mean, (I was) lucky enough for them to give me that position and allow me to pitch in that organization for about six years.”

The southpaw hurler sat around for nearly a month before his phone rang. It was the Winnipeg Goldeyes, the team he’d grown up watching, who cast their line and, on June 14, reeled him in.

“If I was going to continue playing baseball in independent ball, it was a no-brainer for me to come to Winnipeg, obviously with it being one for me and it being a good team in a really competitive league,”he said. “I knew I’d come back, be home playing with some friends and just really enjoy my time here for the summer.

“All of those things have worked out kind of as I was hoping and suspected, luckily.”

Indeed, not only has Onyshko rediscovered his enthusiasm for playing, but he’s proven to be a big catch for the American Association club.

The 6-2 205-pound lefty has appeared 14 times for the Fish and has mowed down just about everyone in his path, recording 26 strikeouts without conceding an earned run in 22.2 innings of work.

“Listen, it’s baseball. So, obviously, I enjoyed it,” Onyshko said of his time in Arkansas earlier this year. “But, I will say, in contrast, being here in Winnipeg, it’s been a lot more fun. Just a fun environment, a good group of guys and that’s been the main difference.

“I think coming home and being surrounded by a great staff and my teammates here, it’s kind of loosened me up a little bit and let me enjoy playing a little bit more than maybe I was earlier in the year.”

Onyshko, who has been used in an array of situations — multiple innings and in high-leverage moments, regardless of which part of the lineup he’s facing — has bolstered a Goldeyes bullpen that was a sore spot early in the season as several leads were blown late in games.

“He’s got a good fastball — 88-89 m.p.h. with movement — and he’s got a good slider that he can throw to either hitter and his changeup just keeps them off-balance,” said Goldeyes pitching coach Mark Brewer. “It’s hard to square him up because he’s got a low arm slot, it’s tough to read.

“He’s definitely what you want out of the bullpen in a left-handed situational spot but he’s been able to do it to both hitters.”

Manager Logan Watkins has assembled one of the best rotations in the 12-team loop and has worked hard to improve his options for relief arms.

Improved play from the existing relievers and landing a talent like Onyshko has been the difference lately for the Fish (36-28), who are winners of six in a row entering this week’s all-star break and only trail the Sioux Falls Canaries by a half-game for first place in the West Division. The Goldeyes will visit the Canaries for a four-game series, beginning Thursday.

“I think we’re in a situation now, from a team standpoint, that we’ve got the bullpen figured out and we’ve got plenty of ammo down there,” Brewer said. “Earlier on we didn’t know who to go to because we didn’t know what they could achieve, we didn’t know them very well from the standpoint of what they’re doing on a day-to-day basis, so it took us a while to get used to it, but, yeah, the bullpen is coming around big time.”

While Onyshko didn’t have to think twice about coming home, he did vow to change how he approached each day of work — something that’s helped him play loose and remain optimistic regardless of the situation.

It’s also prevented his mind from wandering into the thought of re-signing with an MLB affiliate club. Onyshko maintained his focus is on winning in Winnipeg and continuing to soak up the fun he’s having while playing baseball again.

“Still taking care of my stuff and treating it seriously, but treating it a little bit less job-like in a sense… more like I’m going to come here and help the team win as long as I can first and foremost and just enjoy my time as much as possible,” he said.

“That’s served me pretty well, so I’m trying to not switch that mindset up too much.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam