Craig Yoho’s dominance in the minors made it inevitable he’d eventually get a shot in Major League Baseball.
That opportunity arrived this week for the former IU pitcher.
The 25-year-old reliever from Fisher H.S. (Fishers, Ind.) was called up by the Milwaukee Brewers Monday and made his first big league appearance Monday evening at Oracle Park in San Francisco.
With the Brewers trailing the Giants 4-2 in the eighth, Yoho got the call to pitch the bottom half of the inning.
He threw the entire eighth and gave up a hit, an earned run and a walk while striking out one. In total Yoho threw 20 pitches with 11 strikes.
Craig Yoho is known for his 70-grade changeup, but he gets his first MLB K with the @Brewers on a 95 mph fastball! pic.twitter.com/XSq5b87n7c
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 22, 2025
Yoho had a very impressive 2024 in the Minors as he posted a 0.94 ERA and struck out 101 batters in 57 2/3 innings across three levels of Milwaukee’s system. This year he picked up where he left off, not allowing an earned run through 9 2/3 frames for the AAA Nashville Sounds.
Yoho made a strong impression during spring training. Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Yoho’s changeup was the nastiest pitch he saw throughout camp.
Incredibly, Yoho was a shortstop in high school and an outfielder and designated hitter when he started his college career at Houston.
But after four injury-plagued seasons to begin his collegiate career, a position change led to a breakout season for Yoho with Indiana.
With 1,082 days between collegiate appearances, Yoho made his IU debut in Feb. 2023 with two scoreless innings and five strikeouts against Miami (Ohio) and went on to 37 innings with just 33 hits allowed and 63 strikeouts. He was named the 2022-23 Indiana Athletics Andy Hipskind Comeback Award winner. In 18 appearances in relief for IU, the right-hander collected four wins, one hold and one save in 2023.
Yoho was an eighth-round pick by the Brewers in the 2023 MLB Draft. He is the 37th former Hoosiers to play in the majors, and the fourth this season.
For complete coverage of former IU athletes in the professional ranks, GO HERE.
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