EXL: National team pitcher David Mergans returns to Draci
After a year in Italian Serie B, young pitcher returns to Draci Brno.
Twenty one year old pitcher David Mergans swapped the leagues after two years in Extraliga, when he got a contract in Italy in the previous year, showing why he was picked with solid performance. He played 14 games for Milan, throwing 56.1 innings, finishing with ERA 2.40 and striking out 84 batters. Despite entering majority of the games as a long reliever he earned 7 wins and 5 saves.
In 2020 and 2021, Mergans pitched for Nuclears and Draci, throwing 112.2 innings with ERA 2.56. It was thus no surprise he was nominated to Pavel Chadim’s team for World Baseball Classic. He didn’t get to pitch on the tournament, but as a part of the team, young pitcher gathered experience for the upcoming seasons.
“I mainly wanted to try out what it’s like to pitch abroad and to gather experience, be it for baseball or life,” said Mergans for our server. “I wanted to return to the Czech Republic and to my core club. They did so much for me, they are like my second family and I think it’s right to give something back. But I’m not going to lie, I will miss Milan, clubhouse was great, we keep in contact till this day and who knows maybe I will return one day.”
