Marek Chlup was promoted to the Yomiuri Giants’ top team ahead of Saturday’s game against the DeNA BayStars, making his debut by going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Despite the quiet start, the moment was historic: Chlup became the first Czech-born player to appear for an NPB top team—and the first Czech-born and raised player to ever play in a major professional baseball league.
Chlup first captured the attention of Japanese fans during the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Facing phenom Rōki Sasaki, he doubled off a 102 mph fastball—an eye-opening moment that put him squarely on the radar of the Yomiuri Giants. He finished the tournament with an impressive .888 OPS, second-best on Team Czechia.
Following his final college season at Division II North Greenville University in 2023, Chlup went undrafted by MLB teams. He signed with the Lake Country DockHounds of the American Association—one of the top independent baseball leagues in the U.S.—and returned for the 2024 season. That year, the Yomiuri Giants came calling, offering Chlup a developmental contract. He began his Japanese career on the farm for the Giants.
In 2025, Chlup hit .265/.327/.397 with four home runs in the minors, earning a long-awaited promotion. With his call-up, he became the first European-born and developed position player in NPB history—a groundbreaking achievement, and one almost unthinkable just five years ago.
In the span of two years, Chlup rose from Division II college baseball to starting right fielder for Japan’s most storied franchise in the world’s second-best league.
Looking ahead, Chlup will be a starting outfielder for Czechia in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Fittingly, they’ll play in Pool C at the Tokyo Dome—the very site where Chlup’s trajectory changed forever. Czechia will enter as major underdogs, needing everything to break their way for a chance to advance.
But if they’re to pull off an upset, Marek Chlup will almost certainly be at the center of it all.
Photo: Marek Chlup #73 of the Czech Republic draws a fielding error to make it 1-0 in the first inning during the World Baseball Classic Pool B game between Czech Republic and China at Tokyo Dome on March 10, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Kenta Harada/Getty Images)
