After 13 Minor League Seasons, Molleken Heads For Majors

If you listen to longtime Baseball Canada coach Greg Hamilton, the major leagues won’t be a problem for Dustin Molleken.

The 13-year minor leaguer was called up Monday by the Tigers and will pitch out of their bullpen.

“Molly’s been through quite a bit,” Hamilton said. “He’s been in a lot of high-leverage situations and faced the best hitters in the world (in international competition). He’s not going to be intimidated.”

The 6-foot-5 righthanded reliever and native of Regina, Sasketchewan, was 1-3, 3.76 with 34 strikeouts and 25 walks in 38 innings at Triple-A Toledo, but batters had just a .224 average against him.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” said the 31-year-old Molleken. “I appreciate all the support I’ve received throughout my career—it’s taken me 13 years to get here.”

Originally drafted by the Pirates out of the Prairie Baseball Academy in 2003, Molleken has played in the Pirates, Rockies, Brewers, Indians and Tigers organizations, as well as two years with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan.

Molleken’s fastball is 92-96 mph, but he’s never been able to harness the command.

“We needed an arm,” manager Brad Ausmus told the Detroit News. “We saw him in spring training. He’s a hard thrower.

“There’s a lot of hard throwers. We’ll find out.”

For Hamilton, there’s no question about Molleken’s talent.

“It’s not a question of big league stuff or compete level,” he said. “I think for him it’s consistency and fastball location. Obviously, the walk totals … it’s paramount with his role, you can’t be walking guys. But he certainly has big league stuff.”

In addition to his stints in Japan, Molleken has international experience with Baseball Canada. He was part of the junior national team in 2002 for the IBAF World Junior championships and played for bronze-winning national teams in 2009 and 2011 before winning gold at the Pan Am Games in Mexico that same year.

Molleken was especially impressive at the 2013 World Baseball Classic, pitching four scoreless innings against Italy and a U.S. team that included Jimmy Rollins, Brandon Phillips and Ryan Braun.

“That was a small sample size, but the way he was cutting through that lineup was impressive. He’s been outstanding in some pretty tough competition,” Hamilton said.

Molleken has been a victim of roster numbers games at times, Hamilton said, and would have been called up by the Indians a year ago, but 40-man roster players were called up ahead of him.

Molleken’s just the eighth Sasketchewan native to play big league ball and is known as a great teammate and clubhouse presence.

“I’ve known him since he’s 15 years old,” Hamilton said. “He’s a consummate teammate and a tremendous competitor. It won’t take long for anybody in any clubhouse to appreciate him. He’s all about the team.

“Baseball Canada is a small world. We’re all rooting for him,” Hamilton said.