The Reds have despatched Eric Yang outright to Triple-A Louisville, based on his transaction log on MLB.com. The crew chosen his contract final Monday, and the catcher made his MLB debut two days later. He was optioned again to Triple-A on Friday and, evidently, faraway from the 40-man roster sooner or later between then and at this time. There was no prior indication he had been designated for task. Yang doesn’t have the suitable to reject an outright task, so he’ll stay with Louisville.
Now 26, Yang joined the Reds group at 21 when the membership chosen him within the seventh spherical of the 2019 draft. The UC Santa Barbara alum rapidly made a powerful impression, batting .290 with an 11.0% stroll fee and a 135 wRC+ throughout 51 video games of Rookie ball throughout his first skilled season. He was not a highly-regarded prospect throughout the business, however Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked him amongst his prime 30 Reds prospects in 2020. That very same 12 months, Keith Regulation of The Athletic included Yang among the many “others of notice” beneath his prime 20 Reds prospects, describing him as “a stable catch-and-throw man who not often struck out in school.”
Following the canceled minor league season in 2020, Yang started to stand up the ranks within the Reds group. He performed for the Excessive-A Dayton Dragons in 2021, and since then, he has bounced backwards and forwards between the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts and Triple-A Louisville Bats. In keeping with Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Yang developed a fame within the system as a catcher who builds nice relationships together with his pitchers. Nevertheless, he did not make a lot of an impression with the bat at any of these three ranges, producing a .613 OPS and 76 wRC+ throughout 192 minor league video games from 2021-24.
Nonetheless, Yang earned his first name to the present final week as a roster substitute for veteran backstop Austin Wynns, who suffered a teres main tear in his proper shoulder. Wynns himself was solely on the MLB roster as a substitute for Luke Maile, who landed on the IL earlier in July with a herniated disc in his again. Thus, the Reds optioned Yang again to Triple-A after they reinstated Maile on Friday. Presumably, they determined they didn’t want to hold 4 catchers on the 40-man roster, in order that they will need to have designated Yang for task shortly thereafter.
Yang made it into one recreation throughout his temporary stint with the Reds, pinch-hitting for Tyler Stephenson within the ninth inning of a blowout loss to the Cubs on July 31. He struck out swinging towards Cubs righty Porter Hodge.
