Eugen Heilmann

Eugen Heilmann

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 185 lb.

• Born July 12, 1981 in Kazakhstan

Biographical Information

Eugen Heilmann has pitched for the German national team.

In the 1998 European Junior Championship, he was 0-1, giving up 10 runs on 6 hits, 7 walks and 2 hit batsmen while retiring no one. The next year, he allowed six runs on 8 hits and 6 walks in 5 2/3 IP and picked up a save.

Heilmann went 9-0 with a 2.61 ERA for the 2002 Paderborn Untouchables and he held opponents to a .203 average but walked 33 in 51 2/3 IP. He was 4th in the northern Bundesliga-1, tied Dirk Fries for 8th in strikeouts (39), tied Mirko Heid and Stefan Fechtig for the league lead in wins, was 4th in walks and was second in lowest opponent average (behind Jens Cornelsen).

Eugen was 5-1 with a save and a 3.00 ERA for Paderborn in 2003. He held opponents to a .200 average. He tied for fourth in the circuit in wins. In 2004, Heilmann had a 5-0, 0.50 record with two saves in 9 outings for Paderborn. He fanned 39 in 35 2/3 innings to finish 10th in strikeouts, tied for 7th in wins and tied for 2nd in saves. That year, he pitched for the German senior national team for the first time. In the 2004 European Championship B-Pool, he tossed four shutout innings of one-hit ball to help Germany return to the A Pool.

In 2005, Heilmann was 9-0 with four saves and a 0.36 ERA and allowed only 28 hits in 50 1/3 IP. He led the league in ERA (by a whopping 1.85), was 10th in strikeouts (43), was second in wins (behind Andre Hughes), tied Nils Hartkopf for second in saves (behind Fechtig), led in lowest average (.165, .025 better than Moritz Sckaer) and led in WHIP (.83, .18 ahead of Dirk Fries).

Heilmann was very busy in the 2005 European Championship, appearing in five games and going 1-1 with two saves and a 3.12 ERA. He fanned 12 in 8 2/3 innings. He tied Peter Nyari for the most saves as Germany finished 4th to win a spot in the 2007 Baseball World Cup. He tied Rob Cordemans for fifth in strikeouts.

The Kazakhstan native fanned 35 in 29 2/3 innings and was 3-1 with a 0.91 ERA for Paderborn in 2006. He led the league with 3 saves and was 10th in strikeouts. Had he qualified, he would have beaten Enorbel Marquez for the ERA lead.

In his age 25 season (2007), Heilmann was 4-3 with two saves and a 2.47 ERA for the Untouchables. He was among the leaders in ERA (5th), strikeouts (6th), wins (tied for 8th), saves (tied foe 3rd), innings (58 1/3, 9th) and WHIP (1.23, 5th).

Heilmann allowed six runs on six hits and three walks in 3 2/3 rough innings in the 2007 European Championship. He had Germany's highest ERA in the event, pitching poorly against both Croatia and Spain. In 2008, Eugen was 14-1 with a 1.88 ERA. He was 6th in ERA, second in strikeouts (80, trailing Marquez), led in wins (3 over Hughes), led in innings (100 1/3) and was second in WHIP (.93, trailing Marquez by .03).

Heilmann was 8-1 with a 2.18 ERA for '09 Paderborn. He was third in ERA, 4th in strikeouts (77), second in wins (behind Marquez), second in innings (86 2/3) and was 5th in opponent OPS (560). Despite that, he did not make Germany's preliminary 40-man roster for the 2009 Baseball World Cup. He was added to the final roster for the Cup and pitched one game, relieving Hughes in a loss to Venezuela and giving up 5 runs (4 earned), 6 hits and one walk in 4 2/3 IP while fanning two.

From 2002-2009, Heilmann was 57-7 with a 1.84 ERA in the regular season in Bundesliga-1 and 16-2 in the playoffs.

In 2010, he was 10-1 with a 2.76 ERA in the regular season, finishing 7th in the league in ERA, 9th in strikeouts (71), second in wins (one behind Hughes), 4th in WHIP (1.16) and 9th in opponent OPS (638). He dropped all 3 postseason games, though, with a 5.82 ERA. In the 2010 European Championship, he allowed four runs in 4 2/3 IP in three relief stints, with only Sckaer posting a higher ERA. In a crucial match with Italy, he relieved Philipp Hoffschild in the 8th with a 6-6 tie, a runner on third and no outs. He allowed the game-losing single to Anthony Granato and gave up another run later in the frame when Granato was singled in following two walks. Germany lost 8-6.

Heilmann went 9-0 with a 2.12 ERA in 2011, tying for the win lead, finishing third in ERA and WHIP (1.11) and 7th in strikeouts (64) to go to 76-8 in the regular season in a ten-year span. He had a 4-3, 3.38 postseason record and led with 34 whiffs, but Paderborn fell in the finals. He allowed two runs in 8 innings in the 2011 World Port Tournament. In the 2011 Baseball World Cup, he tossed two hitless, scoreless (one BB) innings of relief versus Nicaragua in relief of Martin Dewald in a 5-4 loss. He started against Italy and gave up 7 hits, 2 walks and 6 runs (2 earned) in 5 innings in a loss; Max Schmitz relieved. He tied for third in the event with three hit batsmen.

2012 was another good season: 8-2, 2.76, 6th in ERA (between Hughes and Shelby Robertson), 10th in strikeouts (68), 4th in wins and 5th in WHIP. He was 2-2 with a 6.49 ERA in the playoffs as Paderborn again made the finals only to lose to the Regensburg Legionäre. He was 1-1 with a 6.23 ERA in the 2012 European Cup, losing to the L&D Amsterdam Pirates but beating the Hoboken Pioneers in relief. In the 2012 European Championship, he allowed only one unearned run in 7 innings, fanning 10. He retired all 13 French batters he faced in a 8-3 victory, faring much better than US minor leaguers Daniel Thieben and Markus Solbach, who preceded him on the hill. He pitched one inning in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, in a 11-1 loss to Team Canada. He replaced Hughes with two outs and one on second in the second inning, down 5-0. He allowed a two-run homer to Adam Loewen. He retired Shawn Bowman to end the inning. In the third, he walked Rene Tosoni and allowed a single to Skyler Stromsmoe, but Tosoni was hit by the ball for an out. Jonathan Malo popped up and Tyson Gillies singled, then Luke Sommer relieved Heilmann.

With the 2013 Untouchables, Eugen was 4-3 with a 3.02 ERA, 9th in the league in ERA, 10th in strikeouts (53) and tied for first with one save. He did not appear in the playoffs. In the 2013 European Cup, he was busy, losing a 4-2 complete game to CB Barcelona's Ricardo Hernández. After two days' off, he threw 139 pitches in another complete game, a 10-5 win over France's Rouen Huskies. He was 6-1 with a 4.02 ERA for Paderborn in 2014, finishing 4th in wins and tied for third in saves (2) but missing the top 10 in ERA for the first time in a decade (and in 2004, it was because he did not pitch enough to qualify). He was 0-1 with a 5.87 ERA in the postseason. He was left off Germany's roster for the 2014 European Championship, the first Euros he had missed since 2003.

Heilmann set the all-time Bundesliga record for innings pitched (940) when he passed Frank Stattler in June 2015 during a game with the Hannover Regents.

Primary sources: German Baseball and Softball Federation, CEB website