Martin Dewald

From BR Bullpen

Martin Dewald

BR minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Martin Dewald has played for the German national team for a decade.

Dewald debuted in Bundesliga-1 at age 16, hitting .250/.345/.271 for the 2002 Heidenheim Heideköpfe while playing six positions; he allowed 3 runs and retired no one as a pitcher. In the 2003 European Junior Championship, Martin was 1-1, allowing 11 runs (5 earned) and walking 12 in 9 innings; at the plate, he was 2 for 9 with a triple, 2 walks, 3 runs and 3 RBI. He hit .230/.377/.246 for Heidenheim that year and went 7-0 with a 1.52 ERA. He split catching duties when not pitching. Martin fanned 51 in 41 1/3 IP and allowed only a .169 average. Had he qualified, he would have been second in ERA behind Martin Almstetter; he was 9th in strikeouts.

In 2004, the right-hander was 1-1 with a 0.93 ERA in five games on the hill; at the plate, he hit .295/.355/.330. He was 8th in the circuit in hits (33), tied for 6th in runs (23), was 4th in errors (14), led in passed balls (9, more than double anyone else) and tied for the most runners thrown out (11).

Dewald hit .355/.387/.533 in 12 games in 2005 and went 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA. In '06, he had a 5-1, 1.23 record, fanning 37 in 29 1/3 IP. Now primarily an outfielder, he batted .319/.421/.396. He tied Alexander Lauterbach and Simon Gühring for 4th in runs (31), tied for 4th in walks (15) and tied for 8th in wins.

Dewald hit .200/.322/.240 for the 2007 Mannheim Tornadoes and was 1-0 with a 4.29 ERA, striking out 30 in 18 1/3 innings. In the 2007 European Championship, he played one game, as a pinch-runner for Klaus Hopfensperger.

In the 2008 season, Martin hit .222/.358/.352 and was 2-1 with a 1.83 ERA and 25 K in 19 2/3 IP. He was Mannheim's main left fielder. The next year, he was just 1 for 21 for Mannheim while going 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA as a pitcher. Dewald made Germany's roster for the 2009 Baseball World Cup. In his only outing, he was roughed up. Relieving Martin Almstetter with one out in the 9th and a 7-0 deficit, he gave up a Trevor Plouffe homer. He walked Justin Smoak, fanned Josh Kroeger, threw a wild pitch and allowed a Terry Tiffee RBI single before getting Ike Davis to hit into a force to end it.

Moving to the Heidenheim Heideköpfe in 2010, he went 9 for 27 offensively while going 1-1 with 3 saves and a 5.03 ERA. He tied Almstetter for third in the league in saves. Facing teams from the top three European leagues in the 2010 European Cup, Dewald shone. He beat Spain's CB Sant Boi in a complete game then got the win in relief over the Netherlands' Konica Minolta Pioniers after replacing Markus Winkler. In the Final Four, he beat Italy's Telemarket Rimini and Enorbel Márquez, 4-1 to clinch the first Medal by a German team in European Cup history. He allowed one run and four hits in a complete game. Winkler lost the finale, 2-1.

In the 2010 European Championship, the right-hander was 2-0 with a 2.93 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 15 1/3 IP as Germany won the Bronze, their first European Championship Medal in 35 years. He got the win over the Ukraine but was roughed up in a 10-9 German victory over France (Philipp Hoffschild relieved). In the Bronze Medal game, he tossed six shutout innings of relief after replacing Tim Henkenjohann to earn the big decision.

Dewald signed with the River City Rascals for 2011. He was 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in 7 relief appearances then was traded to the Kansas City T-Bones to complete a deal for Nick Farnsworth. He pitched 18 games for the T-Bones with a 3.98 ERA. In the 2011 Baseball World Cup, he was 0-2 with a 9.72 ERA, losing in starts against Nicaragua and Australia. Back in Germany with Heidenheim for 2012, he saw limited action but did well, hitting .323/.488/.355 while going 3-0 with two saves and a 0.96 ERA (5 relief outings only). He allowed 7 hits, 3 walks and 3 runs (one earned) in 4 innings and 3 games for Germany in the 2012 European Championship. He got the win over the Czech national team. In the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, he allowed one run in 2/3 of an inning against Team Canada.

The Mannheim native struggled with the 2013 Heideköpfe, hitting only .145/.274/.174 as a backup 3B/2B/LF/RF and going 1-2 with a 4.26 ERA on the hill. In '14, he did not play in the Bundesliga, living in the US. He apparently did not play in 2015 either. He was still on the German team for the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in March 2016. In the opener against Nicaragua, he relieved Luke Sommer with a 4-3 lead, 2 on and 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th. He fanned Reds prospect Alex Blandino to maintain the lead. In the bottom of the 9th, he got Ofilio Castro on a grounder then walked Sandor Guido. Maurice Wilhelm relieved and allowed the tying run to score; Germany lost its upset bid in extra innings.

Sources[edit]

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