Yang Po-Hsiang Promoted to Rakuten's First Team, Becoming the 5th Taiwanese Player in NPB This Season

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