Yang Po-Hsiang Promoted to Rakuten's First Team, Becoming the 5th Taiwanese Player in NPB This Season
Key facts
- Yang Po-Hsiang Promoted to Rakuten's First Team, Becoming the 5th Taiwanese Player in NPB This Season
- Drafted 6th by the Rakuten Eagles in 2024, Yang Po-Hsiang has been promoted to the first team following foreign player Luke Voit's slump. He joins four other Taiwanese players currently active in NPB's top tier.
- Source: PR Times
- Date: April 10, 2026
Direct answer
Drafted 6th by the Rakuten Eagles in 2024, Yang Po-Hsiang has been promoted to the first team following foreign player Luke Voit's slump. He joins four other Taiwanese players currently active in NPB's top tier.
- Citation
- Yang Po-Hsiang Promoted to Rakuten's First Team, Becoming the 5th Taiwanese Player in NPB This Season (April 10, 2026), PR Times
- Source
- PR Times
- Date
- April 10, 2026
Drafted 6th by the Rakuten Eagles in 2024, Yang Po-Hsiang has been promoted to the first team following foreign player Luke Voit's slump. He joins four other Taiwanese players currently active in NPB's top tier.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 10, 2026 at 17:56
- 🔍 Collected: April 10, 2026 at 19:00 (1h 4m after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 20, 2026 at 06:42 (227h 42m after Collected)
Selected as the 6th pick by the Rakuten Eagles in the 2024 draft, Yang Po-Hsiang made his first-team debut late last season. In his career debut on October 3, he pinch-hit and singled off Saitama Seibu Lions pitcher Kaito Yoza, recording a hit in his first career at-bat.
Although Yang started this year in the farm team, he has played in 16 games, recording 13 hits in 47 at-bats for a .277 batting average. Due to the recent batting slump of Rakuten's foreign slugger Luke Voit, the team decided to send Voit down and call up Yang Po-Hsiang.
In addition to Yang Po-Hsiang and Sung Chia-Hao, other Taiwanese players fighting in the NPB first teams this year include Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks pitcher Hsu Jo-Hsi, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters pitcher Gu Lin Ruei-Yang, and Saitama Seibu Lions player Lin An-Ko. (Editor: Li Ming-zong) 1150410
Although Yang started this year in the farm team, he has played in 16 games, recording 13 hits in 47 at-bats for a .277 batting average. Due to the recent batting slump of Rakuten's foreign slugger Luke Voit, the team decided to send Voit down and call up Yang Po-Hsiang.
In addition to Yang Po-Hsiang and Sung Chia-Hao, other Taiwanese players fighting in the NPB first teams this year include Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks pitcher Hsu Jo-Hsi, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters pitcher Gu Lin Ruei-Yang, and Saitama Seibu Lions player Lin An-Ko. (Editor: Li Ming-zong) 1150410
FAQ
Why was Yo Kashiwa promoted to the first team?
Due to the poor batting performance of foreign player Luke Voit and Kashiwa's own good results in the second team, where he hit .277.
Who are the other Taiwanese players playing in Japanese professional baseball this year?
Song Chia-hao of Rakuten, Hsu Jo-hsi of SoftBank, Ko Lin Jui-yang of Nippon Ham, and Lin An-kuo of Seibu.
What are the key facts in this article?
Drafted 6th by the Rakuten Eagles in 2024, Yang Po-Hsiang has been promoted to the first team following foreign player Luke Voit's slump. He joins four other Taiwanese players currently active in NPB's top tier.