CHICAGO -- Taught to hit by a Venezuelan grandfather who tossed black beans up to him to enhance his hand-eye-coordination and playing for a father who never reached the big leagues following a lengthy Minor League career, Yohel Pozo went to the plate late in Saturday’s game feeling as though he had the strength of so many others coursing through his body.
Not long after his mammoth three-run, pinch-hit homer cleared the bleachers at Wrigley Field and landed on Waveland Avenue, Pozo instantly thought about the family members watching the game via the MLB app and celebrating his successes back in his native Venezuela. Pozo’s 419-foot clout off Cubs reliever Brad Keller not only brought joy to him and his family, but it lifted the Cardinals to an 8-6 victory and out of the doldrums of a four-game skid.
“I mean, me being here is not just for me; it’s for my dad [also named Yohel] back in Venezuela who wants to come here [to America] and experience this with me,” said Pozo, who delivered his third game-winning RBI of the season for a Cardinals club that signed him late in Spring Training and then confidently elevated early in the season when Iván Herrera went down with a knee injury. “I’m happy he can watch it live and I’m pretty sure he’s very loud right now. I feel like when I came to the plate, he was more anxious than me, but I’m pretty sure when I hit the ball, it was loud.”
Drubbed and embarrassed a day earlier when they could only look on as the Cubs hit a club-record eight home runs, the Cardinals not only showed plenty of resilience and grit on Saturday, but they also produced their 22nd come-from-behind victory of the season. They had to do so after squandering an early 3-1 lead and scoring five times in the eighth inning to wipe out a two-run deficit.
“You look at [Friday’s] game and we get our teeth kicked in and we had to go out there today and set the tone and respond a certain way,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “I liked our first inning and being able to throw up a crooked number [two runs]. We give up the lead, but we don’t give in. And then you come back and win with a big swing. That’s exactly what I would have wanted today to look like.”
In the eighth inning, Alec Burleson hit a solo home run to straight-away center with one out to jumpstart the rally. Following singles by Thomas Saggese and Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman singled the other way to tie the game at 4. Gorman also went the other way in the fourth inning for a solo home run that traveled a Statcast-measured 420 feet and half-way up the Wrigley Field bleachers.
Pozo’s clout went well over those bleachers and he excitedly danced in the direction of the Cardinals dugout not long after the ball left his bat. After signing with the Cardinals on March 10, the 28-year-old catcher opened eyes among the Cards coaching staff by homering off Mets star Kodai Senga in a Spring Training game and again off future teammate Phil Maton in a live batting practice session.
Pozo spent parts of 11 seasons in the Minor Leagues, and even persevered through a difficult 2020 when his family lost their insurance because the Minor Leagues were shut down and his son went through a series of life-threatening seizures. The family was even homeless for a period of time and living in his car that he parked outside a Walmart in Orlando, Fla.
Pozo reached the big leagues in 2021 with the Rangers, but it was short-lived. He playfully remembers hitting four times in his MLB debut, seeing eight pitches and swinging at all of them. He has struck with the Cardinals because of his ability to make contact regardless of the situation. This season, he’s struck out just five times while serving primarily as a pinch-hitter.
“I absolutely love [Pozo’s story]; when you come from not a whole lot, and you’re able to make something of yourself, it’s cool,” Marmol said. “The way he approaches every day, I mean he loves showing up to the park.”
Pozo, who went to the batting cage after the fifth inning to prepare for his pinch-hit opportunity, said this season has proven he is right where he belongs in the big leagues.
“All the years I spent in Triple-A, that was experience for me and getting me ready for moments like this,” he said. “The opportunities are going to be there and it’s about whether you are going to take advantage or just let it go. I’m trying to establish myself here.”