KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The Kansas City Monarchs signed 23-year-old left-handed pitcher Erik Cha on Friday night and he will be active tonight when the Monarchs host the Houston Apollos in the first game of a doubleheader at 5 p.m. Cha will work out of the bullpen for the Monarchs.
The Chino Hills, Cali. native played two years of college baseball for the Cal State Fullerton Titans in 2017 and 2018, where he played with current Monarch Ramsey Romano. Cha’s 4.85 ERA and 1-1 record out of the bullpen for the Titans helped them to an appearance in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Cha was drafted in the 17th round of the 2018 MLB draft by the Minnesota Twins and rose to their single-A affiliate in Cedar Rapids before injuries would knock him back down to rookie ball and he was eventually released on June 5, 2021.
He last played in 2019, where he made a relief appearance in 13 games for the now-defunct Elizabethton Twins of the Appalachian League. He recorded a 5-1 record and a 3.34 ERA at the rookie-level stop.
The Monarchs were to begin their three game series with the barnstorming Houston Apollos Friday evening but rain forced the game to be cancelled. The two teams will play a pair of games Saturday with a first pitch scheduled for 5:00 p.m. for game one. After the series with Houston, the Gary SouthShore RailCats and the Winnipeg Goldeyes will visit KCK to round out the nine-game homestand.
The games can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 4:35 p.m. and the video stream will air on aabaseball.tv.