Hoy Jun Park (; born April 7, 1996) is a

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

in the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

organization. He has previously played in MLB for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. He signed with the Yankees as an international free agent in 2014 and made his MLB debut in 2021.

Career

New York Yankees

On July 2, 2014, Park signed with the

organization as an international free agent. He made his professional debut in 2015 with the rookie-level Pulaski Yankees, compiling a .239/.351/.383 slash line in 56 games. He spent the 2016 season with the Class A Charleston RiverDogs, slashing .225/.336/.329 with 2

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 34

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBIs). Park split 2017 between Charleston and the Class A-Advanced

Tampa Yankees Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, posting a cumulative .251/.348/.359 slash line with career-highs in home runs (7) and RBIs (39). Park returned to Tampa for the 2018 season, hitting .258/.387/.349 with 6 home runs and 34 RBIs in 103 games. In 2019, Park played with the Double-A

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the Doub ...

, logging a .272/.363/.370 slash line with 3 home runs and a career-high 41 RBIs. Park did not play professionally in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He started the 2021 season with the Double-A Somerset Patriots before being promoted to the Triple-A

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pen ...

. On July 15, 2021, Park was added to the Yankees’ taxi squad following a COVID-19 outbreak in the major-league club. The following day, Park was added to the team's

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. Park made his MLB debut the same day against the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

as a pinch hitter for

Tim Locastro Timothy Donald Locastro (born July 14, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder in the New York Mets organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees. ...

, grounding out in his only

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

. That was his only

plate appearance In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

with the Yankees before he was outrighted off of the 40-man roster on July 21.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On July 26, 2021, the Yankees traded Park and Diego Castillo to the

in exchange for

Clay Holmes Clayton Walter Holmes (born March 27, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Holmes was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the ninth round of the 2011 Major League Baseball dr ...

. He was then assigned to the Triple-A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

. The Pirates promoted Park to the major leagues on July 31. The next day, playing against the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

, Park hit a double for his first major league hit. On August 10, Park hit his first major league home run off of St. Louis Cardinals starter

J. A. Happ James Anthony Happ (born October 19, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, New Y ...

. On August 23, after going hitless in his previous 20 at-bats, Park was optioned to the Indianapolis Indians. Park was recalled on August 31 after

Michael Chavis Michael Scott Chavis (born August 11, 1995) is an American professional baseball infielder in the Washington Nationals organization. He has played professionally since 2014 and made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Boston Red Sox, and has also pla ...

was placed on the injured list. On April 22, 2022, he was optioned to Triple-A

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

after batting .214 playing 5 games in the majors to start the season. When Ben Gamel was placed on the injured list on May 29, Park was recalled. On May 30, after only pinch running once, Park was sent down to Triple-A

to make room for

Yu Chang Yu-Cheng Chang (; born August 18, 1995) is a Taiwanese professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians / Guardians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox. Career M ...

. On June 13, the Pirates recalled Hoy Park from Triple-A. On November 22, Park was designated for assignment.

Atlanta Braves

On November 23, 2022, the Pirates traded Park to the

in exchange for minor-league left-handed pitcher Inmer Lobo. Park was designated for assignment on December 13 as the Red Sox added

Kenley Jansen Kenley Geronimo Jansen (born September 30, 1987) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. Signed by the ...

to their roster. On December 16, the Red Sox traded Park to the

in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. On December 28, 2022, Park was designated for assignment to make room for

Eli White Elijah Thomas White (born June 26, 1994) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has played in MLB for the Texas Rangers. Amateur career White attended Wren High School in Piedmo ...

on the 40-man roster.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Hoy Living people 1996 births Sportspeople from Seoul Major League Baseball players from South Korea Major League Baseball infielders New York Yankees players Pittsburgh Pirates players Pulaski Yankees players Charleston RiverDogs players Tampa Yankees players Tampa Tarpons players Trenton Thunder players Somerset Patriots players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Indianapolis Indians players South Korean expatriate baseball players in the United States