Dykxhoorn set to join Romak on championship-winning Korean squad

Right-hander Brock Dykxhoorn (Goderich, Ont.) has signed with the Korean Baseball Organization’s SK Wyverns, where he will play alongside Canadian slugger Jamie Romak (London, Ont.). Photo Credit: Frezno Grizzlies

By Alexis Brudnicki

Canadian Baseball Network

From pitching for the Goderich Seahawks and growing up in a town of just 7,500 people, to stepping into the limelight of the Korean Baseball Organization’s reigning champion SK Wyverns as one of the youngest import players ever to join the league, Brock Dykxhoorn’s journey has travelled a long way.

After a successful five years with the Houston Astros organization – most recently putting up a 3.97 ERA over 25 games – with 21 starts – and 127 innings with 39 walks and 125 strikeouts last year between double-A Corpus Christi and triple-A Fresno – the 24-year-old right-hander did not want to pass up the opportunity as it was presented to him.

Dykxhoorn’s invitation to join the KBO came in a roundabout way, sharing the agent Sosnick, Cobbe and Karon with Wyverns imports Jamie Romak and Merrill Kelly – who recently signed a major-league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks and is the pitcher Dykxhoorn will replace – and having a connection with Romak extending beyond the agency.

Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) belted 43 home runs for the KBO’s SK Wyverns in 2018 and helped the club win a league championship.

“It was the strangest thing,” Romak said. “I was standing in the dugout before a game with our international scout, who’s Korean, and he had just gotten back from scouting in the US. They felt they would have to replace Merrill’s spot, so they were looking for a pitcher. I asked if he saw anyone he liked and he told me liked a pitcher in Fresno from the Astros’ team, a really tall guy.

“I was going through my head thinking about who it could be and I asked what his name was. He said, ‘I can’t even say it,’ so I asked, ‘Is it Dykxhoorn?’ He said, ‘Yes, yes that’s him,’ and I said, ‘You realize he’s Canadian, right? And you know we have the same agent, right? And you know he and I, we work out together, we’re from the same area?’ He couldn’t believe it.

“You have 30 foreign spots in the entire KBO and for two guys – one being from such a small town – to land on the same team, taking two of three foreign spots on the same team, it’s a crazy thing to have happen. So they liked him and it wasn’t me telling them they should like this guy. It was more so me acting as a liaison between Brock and the team and Brock, in terms of what to expect. I’m glad it worked out. I’m excited for him. And I’m excited to hopefully help ease his transition because the first year overseas is the toughest one.”

Though Dykxhoorn didn’t know how the transaction began, he was excited to hear from his friend – with whom he shares a winter workout facility at Centrefield Sports in London, Ontario – to get the ball officially rolling through their agency.

“In September, Jamie reached out to see if I was interested at all,” the 6-foot-9, 250-pound hurler said. “I said for sure, and then things progressed from there throughout the off-season. Once the Astros were out of the playoffs, things started progressing with buying me out of my contract with them and then negotiating my own contract with SK.”

Despite being years younger than the average imported player in Korea, Romak believes Dykxhoorn’s signing is evidence of a recent trend for teams to aim to secure foreign players for longer periods of time, even though the pitcher is riding a one-year contract into the season.

“Korea is changing their mentality,” the 33-year-old slugger said. “They’re more interested now in acquiring younger players who they might be able to have for three or four years. Merrill was the prime example, the success story of that sort of mentality, so more and more teams are going that way.

“But those sort of skills and life mechanisms you need to survive on your own in a completely foreign country, that’s typically why they’ve gone for some older guys. But Brock is a mature guy and he’s going to do really well. It will be impressive if he is able to do that at such age.”

Even after making his triple-A debut last year, and finding success throughout his minor-league career with the Astros, Dykxhoorn saw his opportunity to join the Wyverns as one he couldn’t pass up.

“Baseball-wise, there wasn’t really any hesitation for me, though there was a little bit with the lifestyle,” he said. “But that’s where having Jamie over there is huge – having that comfort level and knowing he can help me through what I’m probably going to go through because of his past experiences.

“It made sense for me, knowing where I stood with the Astros and the situation I was in with them – obviously they have such a great big-league team and a stacked minor-league system. I’m not saying I didn’t have a chance there, but I felt like this was a good opportunity to try something different and see where it leads.”

Though things have changed in the interim, the long-term plan remains the same for the native of Goderich, Ontario.

“I haven’t put years or numbers on it as far as how long I hope to do this, but my goal is still to play in the big leagues,” Dykxhoorn said. “Whether that’s two years from now, five years from now, 10 years, it’s hard to put a number on it. I have a one-year contract, so things can go any which way. Obviously if I play well and if I enjoy it over there, hopefully I can stay and the team would still want me. It’s tough to put a number on it but I still think about playing in the big leagues someday.”

While Dykxhoorn understands that there might be a transition period to the style of play in Asia, he looks forward to getting acquainted with it during spring training, after he joins the team in Florida at the end of this month.

“I don’t really know what to expect,” Dykxhoorn said. “I’ve seen some YouTube videos, and obviously the culture around the game is a little different. It’s very entertaining. But as far as pitching, that’s what I’m going to learn while I’m there. That’s why I’m excited to get down to Florida, learn from the coaches and other pitchers what’s expected, and what the style of play is. I have a little bit of a taste of it but not too much. I’m sure I’ll learn pretty quickly.”

Romak is hoping to help his Canadian friend with whatever adjustments are necessary, and hopes his experience with the transition will make a difference for his teammate.

“It’s funny because now that I’m four years into it, it’s my normal now,” the London, Ontario native said. “When you can’t speak the language – and hopefully he gets a good translator – it can be a helpless feeling, when you’re standing out on the mound and you don’t know what’s going on. You don’t know the drill, you don’t know the plays, because all of the bunt plays will be different, how they run a pickoff and rundowns will be different. The catcher is going to put down four fingers and expect you to throw a fastball.

“So at times, you’re going to feel like you’ve gone back to the first grade. You’re going to question what you think or know about baseball, and it can be helpless because you’re goofing up plays that you did in your sleep a year ago and people are looking at you like, what are you doing? It can be a challenge that way, and the expectations for foreign guys are so high that you feel the weight of it, and it’s just different than making your outing in Fresno on a Sunday afternoon. It’s so much different.”

Throughout his career, Dykxhoorn has credited his ability to stay on the mound as the biggest factor in his success, and he knows how important that will be as he moves forward, along with using each day with his new squad as a learning opportunity.

“The biggest thing for me, and any pitcher, is staying healthy,” he said. “I – knock on wood – haven’t gotten hurt in my career so far, at least anything serious. Of course you have your bumps and bruises along the way but to be able to make every start every year and log a lot of innings is something I’ve taken a lot of pride in. To make every fifth or sixth day start has been a success of mine and it’s valuable to teams, both in Asia and back in the States…

“I’m constantly trying to get better. I’ve done a good job of adapting. Maybe it’s adding a new pitch, maybe it’s moving on the rubber, changing certain parts of my game. I think I’ve done well to adjust to where I’ve been playing and that’s a huge part of success and growth. I’ve said from Day 1, if I was good enough to be in the big leagues, I’d be there. So there’s a reason I’m in double-A or triple-A – I’ve got to change something.”

Dykxhoorn is the only professional baseball player ever to come out of his small town in southwestern Ontario, where he continues to go back each winter to host clinics for young players, both as a way to give back and a way to show the kids what someday might be possible.

“It’s something I take a lot of pride in, being from Goderich and giving back to that community for what they gave to me, being a Goderich Seahawk for eight or nine years,” he said. “It’s a community where sports are huge but there’s a lot of doubt that anybody from there can do anything, just like any small town.

“The NHL seems so far away, MLB seems so far away, and for me to go back and let them know that you do have a shot – not that everybody is going to – is pretty important. I take a lot of pride in that and what’s why I still love going back there over Christmas and doing that stuff.”

Growing up in a community with just a single high school and baseball in the back of minds – never in the forefront – Dykxhoorn never could have predicted where life would take him, but he’s grateful to be on the path he is on.

“I always wanted to be a hockey player, like most kids,” Dykxhoorn said. “But that changed in 2010, when I was in Grade 10. The past eight or nine years have been a whirlwind, from going to college for baseball, to going to Korea with the Canadian Junior National Team – which is kind of neat looking back now, we were 40 minutes away from where I’m going to be.

“I never expected to be drafted into professional baseball, and playing with the Astros the last five years it’s all been pretty cool. It still doesn’t seem real sometimes. As much as I fit in and I’ve done well, it still feels like I’m almost out of my league a little bit, just because it was never something I dreamed of or thought could happen. It’s been cool and I’m loving it.”