Former UCSB star Eric Yang gets MLB call-up by Cincinnati
UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Former UC Santa Barbara Baseball star Eric Yang is headed up to Major League Baseball, as the Cincinnati Reds selected his contract Monday. He is the 28th Gaucho to reach the big leagues, the second to do so with the Reds, behind Chris Valaika, who played in Santa Barbara from 2004-2006.
The Reds drafted Yang in the seventh round in 2019, following a season in which the Woodland Hills native won Big West Player of the Year honors and was named an All-American and a finalist for the Buster Posey Award.
"We are excited for Eric," UC Santa Barbara Head Coach Andrew Checketts said. "He was a tremendous player for us, winning the conference Player of the Year award on a conference championship team and brings a lot of intangibles with him to the big leagues."
Yang played under Checketts for three seasons, from 2017 to 2019, ending his Gaucho career with a tremendous campaign for the Santa Barbara team that claimed The 2019 Big West Championship. Yang batted .362/.479/.546 with 46 RBIs, 17 doubles and seven home runs in his junior season, claiming The Big West Player of the Year award when all was said and done. Behind the plate, Yang was nearly perfect for the Gauchos, making just three errors in as many seasons and finishing with a .996 fielding percentage on his career. He was named one of three finalists for the 2019 Buster Posey Award, given to the best catcher in college baseball.
Since being drafted by the Reds following that 2019 season, Yang has worked his way through Cincinnati's minor league system, reaching Triple-A Louisville by the end of 2023, where he posted some of the best offensive and defensive stats of his professional career. Earlier in 2024, Yang joined Cincinnati's development list, allowing him to take part in practices with the major league club.
Yang and the Reds begin a six-game homestand Monday evening, hosting three games against the Chicago Cubs, July 29-31, followed by three against the San Francisco Giants, Aug. 1-3.
(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics)
