Yu-Cheng Chang (; born August 18, 1995) is a Taiwanese

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

infielder who is a free agent. He has previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians / Guardians, Pittsburgh Pirates,

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

Career

Minor leagues

Chang signed with the Indians in 2013 as an international free agent for a $500,000 signing bonus. He made his professional debut in 2014 with the

Arizona League Indians The Arizona Complex League Guardians are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The team is c ...

of the Rookie-level

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it ...

, where he batted .346 with six

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, 25

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBIs), and a .986

on-base plus slugging On-base plus slugging (OPS) is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player both to get on base and to hit for power, two important offensive skills, are ...

(OPS) in 42 games played. He spent the 2015 season with the

Lake County Captains The Lake County Captains are a Minor League Baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, that plays in the Midwest League as the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The Captains joined the Class A Midwest League following ...

of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

, where he posted a .232 average with nine home runs and 52 RBIs in 105 games. In 2016, while playing for the

Lynchburg Hillcats The Lynchburg Hillcats are a Minor League Baseball team in Lynchburg, Virginia that plays in the Carolina League and is the Single-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves from 2011 to 2014, the Cincinna ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

, Chang was named an all-star. He was reported to be involved in a trade to the Milwaukee Brewers for

Jonathan Lucroy Jonathan Charles Lucroy (born June 13, 1986) is a former American professional baseball catcher. Between 2010 and 2021, he spent 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) playing for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Oakl ...

during the 2016 season; however, the trade fell apart after Lucroy would not waive his no-trade clause. Yu Chang Columbus Clippers (1)

Chang finished the 2016 season with a .259

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 13 home runs and 70 RBIs in 109 games. In 2017, Chang played for the

Akron RubberDucks The Akron RubberDucks are a Minor League Baseball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They play in Canal Park, located in downtown Akron, which seats 7,630 ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Eastern League, where he hit .220, along with a .461 slugging percentage, with a career-high 24 home runs and 66 RBIs in 126 games. The Indians added him to their 40-man roster after the season.

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...

ranked Chang as Cleveland's sixth-best prospect going into the 2018 season. He spent the 2018 season with the Columbus Clippers of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). ...

International League, batting .256 with 13 home runs and 62 RBIs in 127 games. He returned to Columbus to begin the 2019 season.

Cleveland Indians / Guardians

On June 28, 2019, the Indians promoted Chang to the major leagues. He debuted that night against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, starting at third base. On August 25, Chang hit his first career hit and triple against the Kansas City Royals, against starter Eric Skoglund in the third inning and reliever Scott Barlow in the seventh inning. On September 9, he hit his first major league home run, a three-run homer, against

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

reliever Justin Anderson. Overall with the 2019 Cleveland Indians, Chang batted .178 with one home run and six RBIs in 28 games. Chang played in 10 games during the shortened 2020 season, batting .182 with no home runs and one RBI. Chang started at first base for Cleveland on Opening Day in 2021. He hit his first home run of the season on June 5, a three-run shot off

reliever Adam Plutko. Chang finished the 2021 season with nine home runs and 39 RBIs while batting .228 over 89 games. Chang appeared in four games for Cleveland during the 2022 season; he was 0-for-10 at the plate while

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

seven times. He was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

on May 26, 2022.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On May 30, 2022, the Guardians traded Chang to the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash considerations. In 18 games with the Pirates, he batted .167 with one home run and two RBIs while appearing defensively at first base and second base. He was designated for assignment on June 30.

Tampa Bay Rays

On July 5, 2022, the

claimed Chang off waivers from the Pirates. He was promoted to the Rays' major-league roster on July 8. In 36 games with the Rays, he batted .260 with three home runs and 12 RBIs, while appearing at every infield position and also pitching two innings. On September 9, Chang was designated for assignment.

Boston Red Sox

On September 12, 2022, the

claimed Chang off waivers from the Rays. He was added to Boston's major-league roster two days later. In 11 games with the Red Sox, he batted .150 (3-for-20) with one RBI, and made defensive appearances at first base, second base, and shortstop. Overall during the 2022 season, Chang appeared in 51 MLB games for four different teams, batting .222 with three home runs and 13 RBIs. On November 18, Chang was non-tendered by the Red Sox and became a free agent.

Personal life

Chang is from the

Amis people The Amis ( ami, Amis, Ami, Pangcah; ), also known as the Pangcah, are an indigenous Austronesian ethnic group native to Taiwan. They speak the Amis language (; ), an Austronesian language, and are one of the sixteen officially recognized Ta ...

, an Indigenous Austronesian ethnic group in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. He and his wife, Ling, have one son.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Yu 1995 births Living people People from Taitung County Taiwanese expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball players from Taiwan Cleveland Indians players Cleveland Guardians players Pittsburgh Pirates players Tampa Bay Rays players Boston Red Sox players Akron RubberDucks players Arizona League Indians players Columbus Clippers players Glendale Desert Dogs players Lake County Captains players Lynchburg Hillcats players Mesa Solar Sox players