Biography
Yohel Enrique Pozo (jo-EL; born June 14, 1997) is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher and first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers in 2021.
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. Pozo spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons with the Dominican Summer League Rangers, hitting .273/.329/.333 with 29 RBI in 2014, and a similar .272/.335/.354 with one home run and 24 RBI in 2015. He spent the 2016 season with the Arizona League Rangers, hitting .343/.382/.448 with one home run and 22 RBI. Pozo split the 2017 season between the Spokane Indians of the Low-A Northwest League and the Hickory Crawdads of the Single-A South Atlantic League, hitting a combined .323/.351/.478 with four home runs and 25 RBI. Pozo spent the 2018 season back with Hickory, hitting .264/.312/.411 with 10 home runs and 49 RBI. He played the 2019 season with the Down East Wood Ducks of the High-A Carolina League, where he hit .246/.274/.357 with nine home runs and 43 RBI.
Pozo did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancelation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He became a free agent on November 2, 2020.
On November 17, 2020, Pozo signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres. Pozo returned to Texas, when on December 10, he was selected by the Rangers in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft.
Pozo spent the 2021 minor league season with the Round Rock Express of the Triple-A West, hitting .337/.352/.622 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, he made his major league debut, facing the Oakland Athletics. In his debut, Pozo recorded his first career hit off Cole Irvin and hit his first MLB home run off Sergio Romo. Over 21 game for Texas in 2021, Pozo hit .284/.312/.378 with one home run and nine 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 with six home runs and 38 RBI. He elected free agency following the season on November 10, 2022.
Oakland Athletics
On December 13, 2022, Pozo signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Oakland Athletics. In 92 games for the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators in 2023, he slashed .306/.338/.523 with 18 home runs and 81 RBI.
Pozo re-signed with Oakland on a minor league contract on November 11, 2023. He returned to Las Vegas in 2024, batting .324/.335/.538 with 15 home runs and 54 RBI. Pozo elected free agency following the season on November 4, 2024.
St. Louis Cardinals
On November 13, 2024, Pozo signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves. However he was released by the organization two days later. On January 23, 2025, Pozo signed a minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. Following an injury to Iván Herrera, Pozo was added to St. Louis' active roster on April 7.
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, purporting to show the sexual assault 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 organization.