When you search for chris young baseball stats, Google basically has a mini-existential crisis. Are you looking for the 6-foot-10 Ivy Leaguer who threw high-fastballs for a decade and now runs the Texas Rangers? Or are you looking for the All-Star center fielder who was one of the few humans to ever put up a 30-30 season as a rookie?
Honestly, it’s a coin flip. Both were incredibly relevant during the same era, and both left behind a statistical trail that’s actually weirder than most fans remember.
Let's break down the data behind both of them. No fluff, just the numbers and the context that makes those numbers matter.
The Pitcher: Christopher Ryan Young (The Tall One)
People always lead with his height. Yeah, he’s 6'10". But the truly wild thing about his stats isn't how tall he was; it’s how he survived in the big leagues with a fastball that rarely touched 90 mph.
If you look at his career totals, they’re solid. Over 13 seasons, he went 79-67 with a 3.95 ERA. He struck out 1,062 batters in 1,297.2 innings. But that’s the "vanilla" version of the story. The real meat is in how he manipulated those numbers.
The Fly Ball Specialist
Chris Young was the king of the "extreme fly ball" profile. While modern analytics departments are now obsessed with launch angles, Young was accidentally (or maybe intentionally) exploiting it years ago.
- Lowest Hits per 9 innings: In 2006 and 2007, he led the National League in H/9. In 2006, it was a ridiculous 6.7.
- The World Series Heroics: In 2015, playing for the Royals, he threw 15.2 innings in the postseason with a 2.87 ERA. His performance in Game 1 of the World Series—three hitless relief innings—is basically the reason Kansas City won that ring.
He wasn't a power pitcher. He was a geometry teacher. He used that 6'10" frame to create an "extension" that made his 87-mph heater feel like 94 mph. Batters just couldn't square it up. They popped out. Constantly.
Why the 3.95 ERA is Deceptive
Young’s career was a series of "what ifs" fueled by injuries. He only cleared 170 innings three times. When he was healthy (like in 2007 when he was an All-Star with a 3.12 ERA), he was genuinely one of the toughest pitchers in the league to hit. When he wasn't, usually due to shoulder or core issues, the home run ball caught up to him.
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He even won the AL Comeback Player of the Year in 2014 with the Mariners after most people thought his career was over. He went 12-9 that year. Not bad for a guy who couldn't break a pane of glass with his fastball at that point.
The Outfielder: Christopher Brandon Young (The Power-Speed One)
Then there’s the "other" Chris Young. This one played center field, mostly for the Arizona Diamondbacks. If you’re looking at chris young baseball stats and you see "191 home runs," you’ve found the right guy.
He was a toolsy, high-ceiling player who had a very specific, and somewhat frustrating, statistical profile.
The 2007 Rookie Record
Young’s 2007 season was legendary. He became the first rookie in MLB history to hit 30 home runs and steal 20 bases (he finished with 32 HRs and 27 SBs).
Career Totals:
- G: 1,465
- HR: 191
- SB: 142
- AVG: .235
- OPS: .743
The .235 batting average is what usually trips people up. He was the definition of a "three true outcomes" lite player before it was cool. He struck out a lot—1,208 times in his career—but he walked enough to keep his OBP respectable (.314).
The Defensive Wizardry
You can’t talk about his stats without mentioning the glove. In 2017 with the Red Sox, he went through a stretch where he didn't commit an error in over 200 games. His Range Factor and Zone Rating in center field for Arizona from 2007 to 2011 were consistently top-tier.
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He was an All-Star in 2010, which was arguably his best all-around year: 27 home runs, 28 steals, and a .793 OPS. He was the engine for those "Baby Backs" teams in the desert.
Comparing the Two "CY" Legacies
It's actually kind of funny. Both men were All-Stars. Both had a career WAR (Wins Above Replacement) in the same ballpark.
| Metric | Chris Young (Pitcher) | Chris Young (Outfielder) |
|---|---|---|
| Career WAR | 17.6 | 16.6 |
| All-Star Selections | 1 (2007) | 1 (2010) |
| Major Accolade | World Series Champ (2015) | 30-30 Club (Rookie Season) |
| Last Team | Kansas City Royals | Los Angeles Angels |
The pitcher ended up having a massive "second act" in baseball. After retiring, he worked for MLB and then became the General Manager (and later President of Baseball Operations) for the Texas Rangers. He's actually the architect behind the 2023 World Series win. So, technically, the pitcher has two rings—one as a player, one as an executive.
The outfielder, meanwhile, finished his career as a journeyman who provided veteran leadership for the Yankees and Red Sox. He was a "Lefty Killer." In 2015 with the Yankees, he hit .327 against left-handed pitching with a nearly 1.000 OPS. He knew his role and played it perfectly.
What the Stats Don't Tell You
Stats are great, but they miss the "weirdness" of these two.
The pitcher was a Princeton grad who played center on the basketball team. He had to choose between the NBA and MLB. He chose baseball, and despite a body that looked like it would snap in half, he lasted 13 years.
The outfielder was often criticized for his low batting average, but in the modern era, his 2010 season would be worth about $25 million a year. He was a "Statcast" darling before Statcast existed, hitting high-velocity home runs and tracking down fly balls with elite sprint speed.
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Real Talk: Why Does This Matter Now?
If you're looking at chris young baseball stats for a trivia night or a jersey purchase, make sure you know which one you're getting.
The pitcher (6'10") is the guy associated with the Padres, Mets, and Royals.
The outfielder (6'2") is the guy associated with the Diamondbacks and the Red Sox.
Both were incredibly important to their teams, but for totally different reasons. One relied on deception and height; the other relied on raw athleticism and power.
If you're digging into historical player comparisons, use the pitcher's H/9 (6.27 from 2009-2011) and the outfielder's Power-Speed Number to see their true value. Most of their "standard" stats like ERA and Batting Average actually hide how good they were in their respective primes.
The next time you're looking at a box score from 2007, just remember: there’s a good chance both Chris Youngs were the best players on the field that day.
To truly understand the value of these players, you should look at the ERA+ for the pitcher (which was 105, meaning he was 5% better than league average) and the OPS+ for the outfielder (95, slightly below league average but bolstered by elite defense). Evaluate their careers by looking at their "Peak" seasons—2006-2007 for the pitcher and 2007-2011 for the outfielder—rather than their career-ending averages.