He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1992–95, 1997–2003) and Kansas City Royals (1996), primarily as a first baseman.

Young spent his first full season in the majors with the Pirates in 1993 and established a club record with a .998 fielding percentage at first base (three errors in 1,220 total chances), breaking Willie Stargell's previous mark of .997 set in 1979.

Jason Bay also reached the feat in 2005 Young played a total of 12 seasons in the Major Leagues, appearing in his final game with the Pirates on June 27, 2003.

Primarily as first baseman, he also made 97 career appearances at third base where he shares the NL record for most assist in a single game (11) with Cincinnati Reds Chris Sabo.

Young finished his career with 65 home runs hit at historic Three Rivers Stadium, which ranks fourth on the all-time list behind Willie Stargell (147), Barry Bonds (89) and Dave Parker (88).