Pittsburgh Pirates Add Yu Chang to Active Roster

Monday evening the Pittsburgh Pirates officially added the recently acquired Yu Chang to their active roster, optioning Hoy Park to Triple-A

Sunday afternoon news broke that the Pittsburgh Pirates were going to acquire infielder Yu Chang from the Cleveland Guardians. This move became official on Monday when the Pirates announced they had acquired Chang in exchange for cash consideration.

Chang has played in 131 MLB games with Cleveland since 2019, accumulating 358 plate appearances. In these 358 PAs he is a lifetime .208/.265/.372 hitter with a wRC+ of 71. Chang has hit 10 home runs in his career, walking at a 6.7% clip while striking out in 28.5% of his plate appearances.

To make room for Chang on the active roster utility man Hoy Park was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. This comes one day after Park was recalled in response to outfielder Ben Gamel landing on the injured list.

Park has struggled for both the Pirates and Indians this season. Park has hit for a .214/.267/.287 slash line to go with a 60 wRC+ in the majors, while hitting for a just a .229/.390/.289 slash line and a wRC+ of 99 at Triple-A.

Chang has played all four infield positions in his MLB career. He has posted a Defensive Runs Saved of 0 at first base and shortstop, +1 at second base, and +2 at third base. His Outs Above Average for his career are +4 at second base, +3 at third base, and +1 at both first base and shortstop. Defense has always been Chang’s calling card.

With the Pittsburgh Pirates dealing with multiple injuries, including having Daniel Vogelbach and Yoshi Tsutsugo on the injured list while Michael Chavis is also banged up. This leaves the team shorthanded at first base, where Chang could see reps.

It’s possible that Chang’s time with the Pirate organization is short lived. However, right now the Pirates need help and that could create opportunity for Chang in the next few weeks while the team gets healthy.