Yannic Walther

From BR Bullpen

  • Bats Right, Throws Right

Biographical Information[edit]

Yannic Walther has played in the Bundesliga and for the German national team.

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. [1] He debuted in the Bundesliga-1 at age 15, going 0 for 1 for the champion Heidenheim Heideköpfe. [2] In 2020, he was 4 for 16 with a double and a walk and 0 for 1 in the playoffs as Heidenheim won again. [3] In the 2021 European Champions Cup, he was 3 for 15 with a double and a run, starting at catcher for Heidenheim. [4]

In the 2021 U-18 European Championship, he hit .400/.526/.400 and played error-free defense. [5] 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. [6]

Walther was 3 for 9 with 3 walks, 3 runs and 3 RBI in the 2021 U-23 European Championship. [7] 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. [8]

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