Texas Rangers pitcher Jake Diekman has been selected as the recipient of the 53rd Hutch Award, it was announced on Friday evening.
The award is presented annually by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. It honors the Major League player who "best exemplifies the fighting spirit and competitive desire" of Seattle native and MLB player and manager Fred Hutchinson, who passed away from cancer at age 45 in 1964 while managing the Cincinnati Reds.
Mickey Mantle was the first recipient of the award in 1965, and Diekman is the first Texas Ranger to ever be so honored.
Diekman will be honored at the 2018 Hutch Award Luncheon presented by Premera Blue Cross in Wednesday, January 24 at Seattle's Safeco Field. Over the last 18 years, the luncheon has raised more than 6.1 million dollars to benefit cancer research at "Fred Hutch".
Since being diagnosed in his youth with ulcerative colitis, Diekman has been forced to manage this disease for much of his life. Things took a turn for the worst in November 2016 when a significant flare-up of his condition led to the recommendation by doctors that Diekman have a series of three surgical procedures in which his colon would be removed and replaced by a "reservoir" to account for the loss of the colon. Following the surgeries on January 25, April 12, and June 9, 2017, Diekman made a remarkable recovery, returning to the Rangers and compiling a 2.53 ERA in 11 appearances over the final month of the season.
In August 2017 Jake and his fiancé, Amanda Soltero, announced the creation of the Gut It Out Foundation to further raise awareness and funding.