Eric Lawrence Yang (born March 26, 1998) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

in the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

organization.

Career

Yang was drafted by the

in the 7th round, with the 204th overall selection, of the

2019 Major League Baseball draft The 2019 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks ...

. He made his professional debut with the rookie–level

Billings Mustangs The Billings Mustangs are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Billings, Montana, and have played their home games at Deh ...

, hitting .290 with four home runs and 29 RBI over 51 games. Yang did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Yang returned to action in 2021 with the High–A

Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark. In 2011, they broke the record for most ...

, hitting .203/.346/.300 with three home runs and 19 RBI across 76 appearances. He split the 2022 campaign between the Double–A

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

and Triple–A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, wi ...

. In 48 games for the two affiliates, Yang batted an aggregate .205/.298/.298 with two home runs and 20 RBI. Yang spent 2023 back with Chattanooga and Louisville, appearing in 41 total games and slashing a combined .219/.321/.294 with one home run and nine RBI. Yang began the 2024 campaign with Chattanooga, and was later promoted to Louisville, posting a .164/.330/.206 batting line with five RBI across 28 total appearances. On July 29, 2024, Yang was selected to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time following an injury to

Austin Wynns Robert Austin Wynns (born December 10, 1990) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Colo ...

. He made his MLB debut on July 31, and struck out in his only at–bat. On August 5, Yang was removed from the 40–man roster and sent outright to Louisville.

Personal life

Yang was born to Kenny and Lisa Yang, and also has a younger sister named Lucy who played softball at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Eric 1998 births Living people Baseball players from Los Angeles County, California Billings Mustangs players Chattanooga Lookouts players Cincinnati Reds players Dayton Dragons players El Camino Real High School alumni Louisville Bats players Major League Baseball catchers Medford Rogues players People from Woodland Hills, Los Angeles UC Santa Barbara Gauchos baseball players Willmar Stingers players