Abdallah Aris just needed a chance. He even has it stitched into his pitching glove.
After missing the 2022 baseball season in the United States due to late international paperwork, Aris has been a staple in the Lincoln Saltdogs rotation.
Aris sported a 4.65 earned-run average that has led him to a 4-2 record in 12 starts going into Wednesday's game again the Chicago Dogs, in which he notched nine strikeouts over seven innings in a 5-3 Saltdogs' win. He has struck out 59 opposing batters, hitting a Saltdogs high with nine in his previous start before Wednesday, too.
But the journey to Lincoln and playing in the United States started long before the 2023 season.
Aris could not play in the United States without his paperwork, but that led him to the biggest impact of his life.
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Working a side job for Costco as an Instacart employee in South Carolina, Aris found his chance, literally. He met a sampler girl at Costco named Chance in August 2022 and the two eventually got married.
"She's been a really huge impact on my life," Aris said. "She's been helping me with the language, what to do, where to go."
A native of Venezuela, Aris did not speak a word of English until 2018.
The left-handed hurler and former Philadelphia Phillies prospect, watched American movies to learn the language. After watching his favorite movie, "Forrest Gump," Aris is now as confident in translating for other players as he is in his fastball.
"It's a fulfillment to me to be able to help people communicate," Aris said. "In 2018 and 2019, I couldn't speak (English) at all. I was watching a lot of movies. Even the people that didn't talk to me, I would talk to them. It was frustrating for them because we couldn't communicate.
"I had a really nice host family in 2018. They were a senior (couple) and couldn't speak any Spanish and I couldn't speak any English. We found a way. In the middle of the pandemic, I also stayed with them and I think that was the biggest step that I made."
After that Aris was on his way upward in the minors. He reached Triple-A with the Phillies in 2019. It was a short stint with one inning in one appearance.
Now with the Saltdogs, Aris has gotten stronger with every pitch — and so have the Saltdogs. Lincoln has been victorious in Aris' last three outings.
But after his stint in the minors, Aris played in the Venezuelan Winter League in 2019-20. In 2021, he worked his way back to the United States, playing for the Houston Apollos in the American Association.
Aris' nine strikeouts last week against Kane County was a season high. Aris has a career-high mark of 14 against Chicago when he played with the Apollos. He also had a span of striking out 10 consecutive Chicago batters.
He attributes the rest of the Saltdogs pitching staff on helping him this season.
"They have more experience than me, so I really get the really serious things they tell me in a positive way all the time," Aris said. "They know more than me in this game.
"I feel like if I'm doing the things that I'm supposed to be doing, the opposing team isn't going to do anything to me. … What I can apply to my game is to be more consistent in the strike zone. I have a pretty strong fastball and really good breaking ball. I just need to be a little bit smarter between pitches."