Yu Chang of the Boston Red Sox is congratulated in the dugout after his home run. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
Yu Chang has been in the MLB system for five years, most recently at the major league level with the Boston Red Sox, but has decided to return to Taiwan and enter the 2024 Chinese Professional Baseball League Draft.
On his Instagram, he said, “It’s been ten years working away from home. I miss home very much, so I’ve decided to enter the 2024 CPBL draft.” He is the leader of several statistics regarding Taiwanese players who played in the MLB, including hits, home runs, and stolen bases.
Chang started his MLB career with the Cleveland Indians, now known as the Cleveland Guardians, where he played from 2019 to 2022. He had the best stretch of his career in 2021 when he put up a .228 batting average with 54 hits, nine home runs, and an OPS of .693. In 2022, Chang played with several teams, including the Guardians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, and the Tampa Bay Rays, the last team where he played in terms of the minor leagues.
His journey to the major leagues began in 2014, when he first played with the AZL Indians before slowly rising the levels until his first appearance in the Majors on June 28th, 2019. Chang was sent back to Triple-A after his 2nd game, but on August 25th, 2019, he got called up, got his first Major League Hit, and collected his first Major League Triple.
He is one of only 17 players from Taiwan to ever play in the MLB and has played in the most number of games compared to all of them. His legacy in Taiwan has been nothing short of incredible, and he is a role model for future generations of Taiwanese players who want to play in the MLB.
