Yohel Enrique Pozo (born June 14, 1997) is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher and designated hitter in the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

organization. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2021 for the Texas Rangers.

Career

Texas Rangers

Pozo played for Venezuela in the 2009 Little League World Series. Pozo signed as an international free agent with the Texas Rangers on August 17, 2013, for a $100,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. Pozo spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons with the DSL Rangers of the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League; hitting .273/.329/.333/.662 with 29 RBI in 2014, and .272/.335/.354/.689 with 1 home run and 24 RBI in 2015. He spent the 2016 season with the AZL Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona League, hitting .343/.382/.448/.829 with 1 home run and 22 RBI. Pozo split the 2017 season between the Spokane Indians of the Class A Short Season Northwest League and the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League, hitting a combined .323/.351/.478/.828 with 4 home runs and 25 RBI. Pozo spent the 2018 season back with Hickory, hitting .264/.312/.411/.723 with 10 home runs and 49 RBI. His 2019 season was spent with the Down East Wood Ducks of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League, where he hit .246/.274/.357/.631 with 9 home runs and 43 RBI. Pozo did not play in 2020, with the cancelation of the minor league season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pozo became a free agent following the 2020 season, and signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres. Pozo returned to Texas, when on December 10, 2020, he was selected by the Rangers in the minor league phase of the 2020 Rule 5 draft. Pozo spent the 2021 minor league season with the

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

of the Triple-A West, hitting .337/.352/.622/.974 with 23 home runs and 74 RBI over 77 games. On August 13, 2021, Texas selected his contract and promoted him to the active roster. That night versus the

, he made his major league debut. That night, recorded his first career hit off

Cole Irvin Cole R. Irvin (born January 31, 1994), nicknamed "Swirvin Irvin", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). Irvin was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the fifth round of the 201 ...

, and his first MLB home run off

Sergio Romo Sergio Francisco Romo (born March 4, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League. He has previously played in MLB for the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami ...

. Over 21 game for Texas in 2021, Pozo hit .284/.312/.378/.690 with 1 home run and 9 RBI. On November 30, 2021, Pozo was non-tendered by the Rangers, making him a free agent. He re-signed with Texas on a minor league contract the next day. Appearing in just 65 games for Round Rock in 2022, Pozo hit .320/.352/.474/.826 with 6 home runs and 38 RBI. He elected free agency on November 10, 2022.

Oakland Athletics

On December 13, 2022, Pozo signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the

. He re-signed a minor league contract on November 11, 2023.

Legal troubles

Pozo and upwards of seven other Rangers prospects were investigated by Dominican Republic police, in regards to a 2016 incident where video was uploaded to

Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before the ...

, purporting to show the

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

of a Rangers minor league player. Pozo was suspended while the investigation was pending, but was not charged with any crimes.

Personal life

Pozo's father, also named Yohel, played five seasons of minor league baseball in the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

organization.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pozo, Yohel 1997 births Living people Arizona League Rangers players Baseball players from Maracaibo Dominican Summer League Rangers players Down East Wood Ducks players Hickory Crawdads players Las Vegas Aviators players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball designated hitters Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Round Rock Express players Spokane Indians players Texas Rangers players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States