Yao-Hsun Yang

From BR Bullpen

Yao-Hsun Yang (陽耀勳)

  • Bats Left, Throws Left
  • Height 5' 10", Weight 192 lb.

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Yao-Hsun Yang played in Nippon Pro Baseball as has brother Chung-Shou Yang and cousin Yi Chang. He also pitched in the minor leagues and played in the the CPBL as an outfielder.

Yang hit .286/.355/.393 in the 2002 World University Championship, and made two errors in seven games in the outfield. He also appeared in the 2004 World University Championship and 2005 Asian Championship. Yang pitched for Taiwan in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, relieving Chu-Chien Hsu in the second inning of a loss to Japan; there was one runner on and one out. Yang immediately gave up a single to Ichiro Suzuki. He walked Tsuyoshi Nishioka to load the bases. Kosuke Fukudome hit a sacrifice fly, then Nobuhiko Matsunaka flew out. Ying-Feng Tsai replaced him to open the third.

The Softbank Hawks of Japan signed Yang with a 40 million yen signing bonus after the WBC, and he debuted in 2006; in 5 games, he gave up 4 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs in 2 innings. In the 2006 Intercontinental Cup, Yao-Hsun yielded four runs in one inning as Taiwan's worst pitcher. Yang suffered from left foot injury in 2007, and he missed the whole season. In 2008, he was 1-2 for Softbank, surrendering seven runs in only 3 2/3 IP.

Yang had a 6.22 ERA in 4 games with the big club in 2009, and he recorded a 4.25 ERA in 22 games in the NPB Farm Leagues. He improved to 2-2 with a 2.20 ERA in 2010, then he pitched for Taiwan in the 2010 Asian Games. Yang stayed in the ni-gun in 2011 then he represented Taiwan in the 2011 Baseball World Cup; he pitched three shutout innings and saved Kuan-Yu Chen's win over Puerto Rico. He had a solid 1.48 ERA with a 2-3 record in 2012. In the 2012 PLCS, Yang pitched 6 1/3 innings with 2 runs allowed against the Nippon Ham Fighters in Game 1, but the Hawks were swept.

In the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, Yang pitched 5 shutout innings against New Zealand and got the win over future major leaguer John Holdzkom. Taiwan advanced to the 2013 World Baseball Classic, and Yang started against South Korea. He pitched 2 2/3 shutout innings, but he had a bleeding fingernail and he was forced to leave the game. Ching-Ming Wang took over and South Korea eventually rallied to come back. He recorded a terrible 8.84 ERA in the NPB Farm Leagues in 2013, and the Hawks released him.

Yang then signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had a 6.48 ERA in 11 appearances for AA Altoona Curve, and he was released again. Yang then announced that he would join the CPBL as an outfielder. He went undrafted in the 2015 CPBL Draft, and the Lamigo Monkeys signed him. Yang hit .425/.485/.483 in 25 games in 2015, and he hit .385/.429/.577 with a homer to help the Monkeys beat the CTBC Brothers in 7 games in the 2015 Taiwan Series. He had his career year in 2016. On April 26, he crushed 2 homers against the Brothers, and he became the first player to get an extra-base hit in 5 consecutive at-bats. Yang was selected into the 2016 CPBL All-Star Game, and he was 2-for-2 with a homer against Ta-Yuan Kuan. He ended up hitting .281/.335/.490 with 17 homers and led the league in triples with 6.

The Taitung native recorded a .348/.392/.508 batting line in 2017, but he slumped to .260/.319//.370 in 2018 and .264/.329/.444 in 2019. Due to his terrible defense, Yang couldn't hold a regular starting spot after his solid 2016 season. He hit .316/.360/.533 in 65 games in 2020, but his batting line fell to .242/.274/.275 in 2021. The Monkeys released him, and the Fubon Guardians picked him up. Yang only played 13 games for the Guardians, and his professional career ended.

Yang's fastball had been timed at 96 mph and he combined it with a slider as well as a splitter.

Overall, Yang was 5-5 with a 3.08 ERA, struck out 87 and pitched 90 2/3 innings in 5 seasons in NPB. He hit .303/.355/.467 with 342 hits and 37 homers in 7 seasons in the CPBL.

Sources[edit]

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