Yannic Walther

Yannic Walther

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.

• Born April 12, 2004 in Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg Germany

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Yannic Walther has played in the Bundesliga and for the German national team before signing with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Walther was Germany's starting backstop in the 2018 U-15 Baseball World Cup, producing at a .348/.444/.435 clip. He led the team in average and was second in OPS. He debuted in the Bundesliga-1 at age 15, going 0 for 1 for the champion Heidenheim Heideköpfe. In 2020, he was 4 for 16 with a double and a walk and 0 for 1 in the playoffs as Heidenheim won again. In the 2021 European Champions Cup, he was 3 for 15 with a double and a run, starting at catcher for Heidenheim.

In the 2021 U-18 European Championship, he hit .400/.526/.400 and played error-free defense. He produced at a .254/.333/.413 clip with 15 RBI and 17 runs in 22 games for Heidenheim in the 2021 Bundesliga, also going 1-0 with two shutout innings pitched. He fielded .975, mostly playing catcher and third base. He fell to .235/.235/.265 in the postseason but his team prevailed to three-peat.

Walther was 3 for 9 with 3 walks, 3 runs and 3 RBI in the 2021 U-23 European Championship. Having already represented Germany in U-18 and U-23 events in 2021, he remained with them for the 2021 European Championship itself. Only Luca Hörger was younger on the team. He was not just riding the pine, either, watching the older players even though they had three other catchers - Simon Gühring wound up as the DH and Elias von Garßen mostly at 1B, leaving him to split catching with Vincent Ahrens. He started at catcher in the opener against Croatia, hitting 9th, but was 0 for 3 versus Jose Diaz before Ahrens pinch-hit for him. His first hit came off France's Esteban Prioul. In the 9th/10th place game, he was 2 for 3 with a double and a run in a 4-1 win over Russia, both hits coming off Denis Leonov. He finished the Euros at .273/.333/.364 in four games, handling 31 chances error-free and throwing out 1 of 3 would-be base-stealers.

During the 2022 European Champions Cup, he hit .278/.350/.278. He tied Dashenko Ricardo and Ahrens for third in the event with two runners caught stealing. In the Bundesliga that year, he batted .350/.441/.490. He tied Andrija Tomić for 7th in the Bundesliga-1 South in hits (35), tied for 3rd in doubles (11) and tied for 10th in steals (10). He was at .353/.542/.647 in the 2022 U18 European Championship.

On August 31, 2022, he was signed to a professional contract by the Milwaukee Brewers. The scout was Andy Berglund. He began his pro career in 2023 with the DSL Brewers 1, playing 32 games and hitting .235/.394/.304. One of the factors that influenced the Brewers in deciding to send him to the Dominican Republic was that he was already fluent in Spanish. In the 2023 European Championship, he and Ahrens split both right field and catcher. He hit a two-run homer off Belgium's Cedric De Smedt in the opener, part of a 3-run game. Versus France, in the bottom of the 10th, he singled off Robyn Clara to drive in Nino Sacasa with the game-winner. In the Bronze Medal Game, his 10th-inning single off Kevin Kelly scored Alex Schmidt to make it 4-3 but Germany lost, 5-4. He had batted .308/.400/.462 with six runs and six RBI in six games for those Euros, handling 40 chances error-free. He tied Eric Brenk for the team lead in runs.

Milwaukee signed another young German player, pitcher Paul Hoff, the following January, with the ambition of having Walther serve as his mentor. The Brewers had been a forerunner in scouting German players, having signed Gühring over 20 years prior.

Further Reading

• Jackson Stone: "How the Brewers could one day have MLB's first all-German battery", mlb.com, April 4, 2024. [1]