On August 5, 2026, Jefry Yan walked out to the mound at Progressive Field, threw his first pitch in the big leagues at 100 mph, struck out two Cleveland Guardians, allowed zero runs, and walked off a winner as the Mets took it 6-5. What the box score doesn’t tell you is everything that came before.
Signed at 16, cut at 19, off the map for five years
Yan signed with the Los Angeles Angels on April 27, 2013, as a 16-year-old international free agent out of San Rafael del Yuma, Dominican Republic. He climbed through the system until 2016, when Tommy John surgery derailed everything. One appearance in 2017, then the Angels released him. Contract over. Work visa over.
What followed was nearly five years outside affiliated baseball. Yan stayed in Arizona and made it work however he could — roofing, construction, appliance delivery. The routine: up at 5 a.m., work until noon, then head to a field or a gym to throw on his own, hoping someone would notice.
The scout, the amateur league, and a second chance
That someone showed up in 2021. A Miami Marlins scout spotted Yan in an Arizona amateur league and offered him a minor-league deal. Yan signed on April 29, 2021. He was 24, and his professional career was essentially starting from scratch.
The arm hadn’t gone anywhere. Split between Single-A and Double-A in 2021, he posted a 2.61 ERA with 51 strikeouts in just 31 innings. In 2022 with Pensacola (Double-A), he racked up 88 strikeouts in 57 innings — 13.9 per nine. The stuff was real.
Japan, the Dominican Winter League, and the final push
In 2024, Yan headed to Japan with the Saitama Seibu Lions of the NPB. The results were uneven — 5.58 ERA in 30.2 innings — but he also pitched in the Dominican Winter League with the Estrellas Orientales and dominated: 1.71 ERA in 21 innings. He signed with the Mets in August 2025.
The 2026 minor-league season closed the argument. Between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse, Yan went 3.24 ERA with 77 strikeouts in 41.2 innings — nearly two punchouts per frame. The Mets selected his contract on July 2, 2026, and called him up to the active roster just after the August 3 trade deadline.
‘La Sentencia 99’: the debut, the celebration, and the debate
Yan was 29 years old when he stepped on that mound in Cleveland — an age when most relievers already have two or three full MLB seasons under their belt. He hit 100 mph on his very first pitch, struck out two, and celebrated each one with what’s already being called La Sentencia 99: a leap into the air, nearly a full split, then a slam to the ground.
The celebration went viral instantly and split opinions — some called it disrespectful to the hitter, others called it the most authentic expression of Caribbean baseball there is. Interim manager Andy Green didn’t hesitate: he backed his reliever publicly. Yan has gone by @la_sentencia99 on Instagram since before the debut. The sentence had been written for a while. It just took a decade to deliver.
