Chen and Chiu Vids....

I'll be on hiatus for a few weeks on a much-needed break. In the meantime, check out vids of the two latest signings from Taiwan: Hong-Wen Chen of the Cubs and Tzu-Kai Chiu of the Reds.

Here's a vid of H.W. Chen back in HS in 2004 - he was hitting 89 mph at the time:

Here's a vid of T.K. Chiu pitching the 9th inning in a 2006 HS game - he's still hitting 87 mph after throwing 140+ pitches - Check it out:

Feel free to post updates in the comments section while I'm gone.....or go to the forums at TaiwaneseBallPlayers.com
Till next time, peace.

Tuesday Recap...

US Minors:
AA - Hu was 0-4 with a RBI as Jacksonville lost 10-2. Box

NPB:
Chiang earned his 2nd loss of the season as the Giants fell to the Hiroshima Carp 3-1. Chiang pitched 7 innings, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits. He had 4 K's and 1 walk. Box

CPBL:
Bears 6 - Cobras 4: Gary Rath earned his 4th win of the season for the Bears, allowing 3 runs (1 earned) on 8 hits in 8 innings - he also had 5 K's and 1 walk/Kevin Huang earned his 3rd save of the season/Game MVP honors went to Bears slugger Chih-Sheng Lin who was 4-4 with 2 doubles and a RBI - teammate CFC was 3-4 with 2 RBI's.
Bulls 2 - Whales 0: Bulls SP Iba Tomokazu (the former #1 draft pick of the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2001) earned his 4th win of the season in a pitcher's duel against hard-luck loser Chang-Wei Tu/Iba pitched 8 scoreless innings, allowing only 3 hits, to go along with 7 K's and 2 walks/Tu pitched 8.1 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits - he had 2 K's/Tarzan was 3-3.

Monday Recap....

US Minors:
AA - Hu is currently 0-6 as Jacksonville is in a 3-3 deadlock in the 13th inning. Game Log Box Score

*Updated AAA - Tsao earned his 2nd save of the season with a perfect 9th inning, striking out 2. Vegas won 2-1. Box

CFC Hits # 7....(Sunday Recapped)

CPBL:
Whales 7 - Bears 1: CFC accounted for the Bears lone run with his 7th HR of the season - he was 2-4 with a RBI/For the Whales, Chien-Wei Chen hit HR # 2 (1-4 2 RBI's), while teammate Han-Chou Tseng hit HR #5 (2-3 2 RBI's) - for his performance, Tseng was voted Game MVP/Whales SP Lorenzo Barcelo was impressive, throwing 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 5 hits, to go along with 6 K's and 1 walk.
Bulls 5 - Lions 0: Bull starter Chien-Fu Yang won his first game of the season, throwing 7 shutout innings - he allowed 5 hits to go along with 4 K's and 2 walks - Yang was Game MVP/Tarzan (Chang) has been picking up the pace and was 2-4 with his 1st HR of the season and 3 RBI's.

NPB:
Nigun - CS Yang was 1-2 as the Fighters won 5-2 Sunday.

The Hanshin Tigers beat up on the BayStars 10-1 Sunday. Lin was 0-1 in a pinch hitting role.

US Minors:
No one in action today....but an update from yesterday...Chin-Hui Tsao earned his first save of the season in AAA Vegas on Saturday. Tsao pitched a scoreless 9th inning, K'ing 1. Box

MLB:
Wang is scheduled to start on Thursday with Class A Tampa against Clearwater. Barring any setbacks, Wang could be up in NY to start on the 24th against the D-Rays.

Chicago Cubs Sign Hong-Wen Chen...

photo courtesy of Cor

photo courtesy of udn.com

The Chicago Cubs signed their first Taiwanese player - RHP Hong-Wen Chen. Chen was signed by Cubs Pac-Rim scout, Steve Wilson and received a $200,000 signing bonus. Chen, who is 22, stands 6'0" tall and weighs 188 pounds. Playing collegiate baseball in Taiwan, Chen has been clocked recently as high as 94 mph. He throws harder now than he did 2 years ago when he was here on tour in Southern California. Along with Mariners farmhand Kuo-Hui Lo, Chen was one of a few players on that NT who had a combination of talent and the physical stature to match that talent. Chen has good bloodlines as his uncle is none other than Yi-Hsin Chen, a star pitcher in the TML/CPBL in his heydays.

Chen is scheduled to report to XST in May.

Saturday 4/14 Rundown...

MLB:
Chien-Ming Wang threw in his first game since his injury and was impressive against minor leaguers from the Tampa Bay organization in XST. Wang threw 5 hitless, shutout innings. He K'd 6 and walked 1. Story

Minors:
AA - Jacksonville won 2-1 Sat. Hu was 0-3. Box

AA - C.L. Lo's 2nd appearance of the season was forgettable. Lo took the loss in the back end of a doubleheader as he allowed 5 runs on 4 hits in 4 innings. 4 of the runs were given up on 2 HR's allowed by Lo. Lo also walked 4 batters while striking out 3. Tulsa lost 10-3. Box

A adv. - Tseng's 2nd start of the season didn't go very well either. Tseng earned his 2nd loss of the season by giving up 6 runs (5 earned) on 9 hits - he also allowed a 3 run HR in his last inning of work. In his 6 innings, Tseng did manage 5 K's and 1 walk. Box

A - K.H. Lo was 1-2 with a SB and a run scored as his team won for the first time this season 6-3. Box

NPB:
Back to his pinch hitting role, W.C. Lin was 0-1 as his team lost 6-0 to the BayStars. Box

Nigun - C.S. Yang cracked his 2nd HR of the season as his 2-4 HR 2 RBI performance helped carry his team to a 5-3 victory Saturday. Yang was moved down in the batting order: from his typical leadoff spot down to 3rd in the batting order. Yang also continues to play 3B in an effort to get him up to the parent ball club faster.

CPBL:
Whales 3 - Bears 2: Game MVP honors went to Whales SP Jau-Hao Tseng - Tseng earned his 2nd win of the season by tossing 7 scoreless innings before allowing a HR from Feng-Min Chen in the 8th inning: Tseng's final stats: 7.2 IP 2 ER allowed 5 hits 0 K's 1 walk/Whales SS Chang-Ming Cheng was 1-2 with 2 RBI's/CFC was 0-3 while Feng-Min Chen was 2-3 with the HR and 2 RBI's.
Bulls 2 - Lions 1: Tai-Shan Chang had a clutch double in the 8th inning that would drive in 2 runs and lead his team to a come-from-behind victory - for his heroics Chang was voted MVP of the game - although it was his only hit of the night in 4 AB's.

E.Y. Lin Wins in His Debut....

NPB:

photo courtesy of Libertytimes

*En-Yu Lin was a standout in his NPB debut against the defending NPB champs - the Nippon Ham Fighters. Lin threw 6 shutout innings, allowing only 2 hits. Although he had 3 K's, he did give up 4 walks as well. Lin isn't 100% yet as he hit only 87 mph on the radar gun. The Eagles defeated the Fighters 2-0. Box

*Wei-Chu Lin was 1-4 with another starting spot in RF. The Tigers lost to the BayStars 6-4. Box

*Nigun - C.S. Yang was 3-5 as his team won 7-3 Friday.

MLB:
Chien-Ming Wang will pitch in an XST game on Saturday against a squad of Tampa Bay DevilRays minor leaguers. Story

*Updated Tsao has been sent back to Vegas. Tsao collected splinters while riding the pine - he got absolutely no play in LA. Story

Minors:
Hu could return to game action today as he recovers from a shin injury. Yung-Chi Chen may sit a while as he reaggravated an injury suffered from last year - he was scheduled to undergo an MRI.

Today's scores*Updated:
AA - Hu was 1-4 with a SB, but his team lost 5-3. Box

A - Wisconsin lost 4-2. Kuo-Hui Lo was 0-3 with a walk and 2 K's. Box

CPBL:
Whales 3 - Elephants 2: Whales C Hiroshi Fujimoto was named Game MVP with a 2-4 2 RBI performance/Elephants SS Jui-Chen Chen was 2-4 with 2 RBI's - teammate CM Peng was 0-3.
Cobras 7 - Lions 5: Cobras 1B C.H. Hsieh was 3-5 with 3 RBI's - teammate RF Yang was also 3-5/Game MVP honors went to Cobras 2B Shih-Yang Deng was 2-4 with 2 RBI's/For the Bulls, Tai-Shan Chang was 3-5, while teammate Kuo-Long Hsu was 2-5 with 2 RBI's.

4/12 Recapped...

NPB:
Wei-Chu Lin got his second start of the season for the Tigers and was 1-3 as the starting RF. The Tigers beat the Dragons 3-1. Box

CPBL:
Elephants 5- Whales 4: The Elephants almost squandered a strong performance from starter Nick Bierbrodt - who allowed 3 earned runs over 8 innings on only 4 hits. He also had 13 K's and 3 walks/Bierbrodt would earn a no decision as the Whales would tie things up in the bottom of the 9th/Elephants SS Jui-Chen Chen hit his 1st HR of the season while C.M. Peng was 2-5/For the Whales, 1B Chien-Wei Chen was 1-3 with 2 RBI's.
Bulls 8 - Cobras 6: Bulls OF Hsien-Ming Yu was game MVP with a 3-5 night at the plate with 1 RBI - teammate T.S. Chang was 1-5 (he's hitting .277 with 0 HR's on the season)/Cobras LF Hung-Yuan Lin led the way with a 3-5 2 RBI night - teammate Shih-Yang Deng also had 3 hits.

CPBL Offensive Leaders as of 4/12 (min 30 plate appearances):
Sinon Bulls Kuo-Long Hsu: .429 BA 1 HR 13 RBI's
LA New Bears CFC: .447 BA 6 HR's 13 RBI's
President Lions Tilson Brito: .290 BA 3 HR's 12 RBI's
Macoto Cobras Hung-Yuan Lin: .424 BA 2 HR's 13 RBI's
Macoto Cobras Ming-Jen Kuo: .375BA 1 HR 14 RBI's
Macoto Cobras Wei Kao: .306 BA 2 HR's 15 RBI's
CT Whales Chien-Wei Chen: .417 BA 1 HR 9 RBI's
CT Whales Han-Chou Tseng: .325 BA 3 HR's 8 RBI's
Elephants Cheng-Min Peng: .405 BA 5 HR's 16 RBI's

The 4-11....

US Minors:
Yung-Chi Chen and Ching-Lung Hu DNP for their respective teams today. Hu injured his shin in a play at the plate yesterday.

CPBL:
Bears 7 - Elephants 0: Bears SP Gary Rath was the MVP of the game with an 8 inning shutout gem - Rath only allowed 2 hits to go along with 9 K's and 1 walk/CFC was 1-3 while opposing slugger C.M. Peng was 2-4/Bears slugger Chung-Wei Pan carried the hot bat of the night with a 2-4 night, hitting a double, his 2nd HR of the season, while collecting 3 RBI's as well.
Cobras 6 - Lions 2: Cobras SS Ming-Jen Kuo was elected Game MVP - he was 1-4 with a RBI and a SB/Cobras starter Chu-Chien Hsu was solid, throwing 5 innings, allowing 2 runs (0 earned) on 3 hits - He also had 5 K's and 4 walks.

NPB:
Nigun - Yang was 1-4 as his team collected only 3 hits and lost 8-0 to the Giants.

Wei-Chu Lin had a key 2-out 2-run pinch hit double that helped tie up the game at 6 runs a piece between the Tigers and Dragons. That was Lin's only plate appearance of the game. The game would end in a tie after 12 innings. Recap

Tsao - Going Back to Cali....

MLB:
Tsao has been called up by the Dodgers to replace the injured OF Matt Kemp - although it sounds like his stay in LA will be short. Read more here.

Kuo Update: He's pitching without pain off flat ground.
"I feel good now. The pain is all gone." - Kuo

Wang Update

US Minors:
AAA - Tacoma lost 7-6 in extra innings. Chen was 0-3 with a sac-fly RBI. He also committed his first error of the season. Box

AA - Jacksonville lost 3-1. Hu was 1-3. Box

A - Lo was hitless in a doubleheader loss for Wisconsin. First game, Lo was 0-3. Box
Second game, Lo was 0-1 with 2 walks, a run scored, and his first SB of the season. Box

NPB:
Nigun- Yang was 1-4 in the Fighters 4-0 loss to the Giants Monday.

C.M. Chiang earned his first loss of the season as the Giants lost 5-4 to the Hiroshima Carp. Chiang lasted 6 innings, allowing only 4 hits. However 2 of those hits were home runs, plating 4 runs. Chiang allowed 5 runs, to go along with 4 K's and 2 walks. He was clocked at a high of 85 mph.

CPBL:
Cobras 15 - Lions 7: The Cobras erupted for 16 hits and 3 HR's against the Lions pitching staff/Game MVP Wei Kao, the Cobras 3B, was 2-4 with his 2nd HR of the season and 4 RBI's - teammate Chia-Hsien Hsieh hit his first HR of the season and was 2-3 with 4 RBI's - while Cobras SS Ming-Jen Kuo also hit his 1st HR of the season, going 2-5 with a 2B, a HR, and 2 RBI's/For the Lions, OF Wu-Hsiung Pan was the lone bright spot as he was 3-5 with his 1st HR of the season and 3 RBI's.

4/9/07 Scores...

US Minors:
AAA - Y.C. Chen is currently 1-3 heading into the bottom of the 8th inning. His team is getting crushed 12-1. Box Game Log
AA - Jacksonville won 1-0. Hu was 1-4. Box

A adv - Kinston loss 2-1. Sung-Wei Tseng made his US pro debut and took a tough loss. Tseng pitched 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits. Both runs came in the 3rd inning on a 2-run shot by 3B M. Lisson. Tseng did have 3 K's and a walk. Box Recap

Tseng
photo courtesy of Cor

Raising a Red Flag....

Amateur pitching prospect Yu-Hsun Chen tore the MCL (ulnar collateral ligament) in his throwing elbow recently. Although not a top-flight prospect, Chen was good enough to be on the 2006 junior national team that played in Cuba and performed well in the 2006 Sadaharu Oh Cup. In Cuba, Chen made an appearance in 3 games, throwing 5.1 shutout innings to go along with 7 K's and 1 walk. Chen was also credited with the win versus the Italian junior NT. The 17 year old was a candidate to represent the junior NT again in this year's Asian Junior Baseball Championships.

The story on Chen is that despite being diagnosed with the MCL tear, he was told by his coach to take pain-killers and continue to pitch. Hearing that made me cringe, as Chen most likely will need to have Tommy John surgery to repair his damaged elbow. Although some MCL tears can be caused by a traumatic event (poor mechanics - insufficient warm-up phase), the tear can also occur gradually from repetitive stress (overuse) of the ligament. Hearing about some of the throwing sessions that these HS kids go through, makes me think that Chen's injury was a result of the latter mechanism of injury. This brings into question the training methods the kids in Taiwan undergo. In addition, it isn't uncommon for coaches to succumb to the pressures of winning and thus overutilize their star pitchers. Without a doubt, the health and future prospects of a kid should always be priority #1. Unfortunately, we see the opposite phenomenon occur and it is no wonder why so many of our star pitchers have suffered significant arm injuries in their young career.

Sweet Sunday....

Majors:
Wang injury update.

US Minors:
AAA - Yung-Chi Chen was 2-2 at the plate with a run scored, a double, a RBI, and his first SB of the season. Tacoma won 4-2. Box
AAA - C.H. Tsao pitched 1.2 scoreless innings in relief as his team won 9-4. Tsao K'd 3 batters and walked 1. Box
AA - Jacksonville won 8-2. C.L. Hu was 3-5 with 2 doubles, 2 RBI's, and a run scored. Box
AA - Ching-Lung Lo was solid in his first start at AA, as he led his ball club to it's first win this season. Tulsa won 8-5. Lo pitched 6 innings, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits. He also had 2 walks and 2 K's. Box

NPB:
*Nigun - C.S. Yang was 1-5 as his team won 5-3 Sunday.

*The Giants shut out the Tigers 2-o Sunday. W.C. Lin returned back to the bench and was 0-1 in a pinch-hitting role.

CPBL:
Cobras 10 - Bears 7: Despite CFC's 6th HR of the season, the Cobras put together two 5 run innings early in the game and held on despite a late Bears rally/CFC was 2-4 with 3 RBI's/Cobras RF Yang was 2-4 with 3 RBI's and was chosen Game MVP, while LF Hung-Yuan Lin was 3-5.
Whales 5 - Elephants 4: In keeping up with CFC's blistering HR pace, C.M. Peng cracked his 5th HR of the season for the Elephants/Whales CF Hsu was Game MVP with a 3-3, 1 RBI performance.

4/7/07 Recapped....

US Minors:
AA - Hu was 1-4 with a walk and committed his first error of the season in the field. Jacksonville lost 10-6. Box

Ching-Lung Lo is set to make his seasonal debut tomorrow versus the Corpus Christi Hooks.

Sung-Wei Tseng's debut was put on hold as today's game was cancelled due to the cold weather.

NPB:

Lin
photo from Libertytimes

Wei-Chu Lin got his first start of the season for the Tigers and made the most out of the opportunity. Lin started in RF and was 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI's. For his efforts in the Tigers 4-3 win over the Yomiuri Giants, Lin was elected Game MVP.
Game Recap 1
Game Recap 2

Nigun Minor League News:
*C.S. Yang was 0-4 Saturday as his club lost 8-3.

*En-Yu Lin, throwing in his first game since a blister sidelined him, started on Sat. for the nigun team and was dominant - throwing 5 shutout innings, allowing only 2 hits. He had 1 K and was clocked at 90 mph. Ying-Chieh Lin would relieve E.Y. Lin in the 6th inning and proceeded to throw a perfect inning. Y.C. Lin was clocked at a high of 84 mph.

CPBL:
Bears 5 - Cobras 4: In a battle for first place, the Bears would pull out a dramatic win by tying up the game in the bottom of the 9th and then winning the game in extra innings on CFC's walk-off league-leading 5th HR of the season in the 11th inning/CFC was 2-3 with a HR, a RBI, and 2 walks/CFC's teammate Hao-Chu Tseng was 2-4 with his 1st HR of the season/Cobras LF Hung-Yuan Lin hit his 2nd HR of the season and was 2-5, teammate Keh-Fan Chen was 3-5 with 2 RBI's/Kevin Huang won his 3rd game of the season.

Whales 7 - Elephants 5: In another highly contested game, the Whales prevailed in extra innings/Game MVP honors went to LF Chang-Long Yeh who was 1-2 with a RBI/C.M. Peng was 1-4.

4/6/07 Scores....

US Minors:
AAA - Tacoma leads Sacramento 2-1 in the 5th inning. Yung-Chi Chen is currently 1-2 with an RBI double. He's also been picked off at first base. Game Log Box
AA - Jacksonville beat Tennessee 5-0. Hu was 1-3 with a walk. He was also thrown out trying to steal 2B in the 6th inning. Box

CPBL:
Bulls 6 - Bears 5: CFC was 3-4 with a double and 2 RBI's while teammate C.S. Lin was 4-5 at the plate/Game MVP honors went to Bulls 1B Kuo-Long Hsu who was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI's - teammate T.S. Chang was also 2-4 with 2 RBI's/Bulls SP Chung-Nan Tsai lasted only 3.1 innings, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits while K'ing and walking one batter/Bears SP Ying-Feng Tsai was slightly better as he allowed 2 runs and 5 hits over 4.2 innings.
Elephants 5 - Lions 1: Elephants SS Jui-Chen Chen was Game MVP, as he was 3-3 at the plate with 2 RBI's/C.M. Peng was 1-2 with a double, a RBI, and 2 walks/Elephants starter Nick Bierbrodt was solid, throwing 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 5 hits - he also had 4 K's and 5 walks allowed.

Thursday Rundown....

US Minors:

Lo (Far Left)
pic by STEPHEN HOLMAN / Tulsa World

Nice article/preview on Ching-Lung Lo and the Tulsa Drillers pitching staff.

It's opening night for most of the minor leagues.

Follow how our kids are doing tonight:
1)Chin-Hui Tsao is pitching the bottom of the 9th inning for AAA Vegas. Box Game Log
2)Yung-Chi Chen, playing in the PCL (AAA) is starting for Tacoma versus Sacramento. He's currently 1-1 with a double in the top of the 3rd inning. Box Game Log
3)In AA action, Jacksonville lost 4-1 in it's season opener to the Tennessee Smokies. Ching-Lung Hu was 1-4. Box
4)In A ball, Kuo-Hui Lo was 1-4 with a double and a RBI as his team lost to Peoria 9-5. Box


CPBL:
Bears 5 - Bulls 1: The game featured a good duel between SP's Gary Rath and Alfredo Gonzalez/Gary Rath earned his 2nd win of the season and Game MVP honors with a strong 8 inning performance allowing only 1 run on 6 hits, he had 4 K's and 0 walks/Gonzalez was the hard-luck loser, allowing only 2 earned runs over 7 innings/CFC was 2-4 with a RBI.
Elephants 11 - Lions 10: In an improbable comeback, the Elephants would score 6 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to beat the Lions by the final score/ Geng-Hsin Liu of the Elephants was voted Game MVP as he was 2-5 with 2 RBI's/Cheng-Ming Peng smacked his 4th HR of the season as he was 2-3 with 3 RBI's/Elephants RF Huai-Shan Chen was 4-5 with 3 RBI's/The one-man wrecking crew for the Lions - Kuo-Ching Kao was 3-5 with 4 RBI's.


NPB:
Yang had his first hitless game this season as he was 0-4 against the Marines nigun team.

Wei-Chu Lin walked in his only plate appearance in the 9th inning. The Tigers lost to the Swallows 4-1

Yang on a Tear...

NPB:

C.S. Yang faced off against Si-Yo Wu in a nigun battle between the Fighters and Marines. In a game shortened because of rain, the Fighters prevailed 5-2. Yang continues to impress as he was 2-4 with 2 RBI's on the night. Wu tossed the first 3.2 innings for the Marines and was not impressive, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits. Wu, who clocked 88 mph on his fastball, managed to K Yang his first time up at the plate. However Yang would have the last laugh, as he would crack 2 hits and drive in the runs against Wu.

photos courtesy of libertytimes

CPBL:
Bulls 12 - Cobras 2: Game MVP went to Tarzan (Chang) who was 3-5 with 3 RBI's/His teammate Kuo-Long Hsu was also 3-5 with 3 RBI's.
Lions 9 - Whales 8: CFC's older bro Lien-Hung Chen was Game MVP - despite a 1-5 night, his lone hit was key as he crushed a game-winning 3 run HR in the 8th inning/The Whales Chien-Wei Chen was 2-3 with a HR and 3 RBI's.

A Reason To Cheer.....

photo courtesy of Giants.jp

photo courtesy of Reuters

Photo courtesy of JapanTimes

With Wang and Kuo out, Tsao down...and a rash of others NPB'ers hurt or in the minors, the Yomiuri Giants Chien-Ming Chiang gave us a reason to cheer after winning his first start of the season in the team's home opener. Chiang pitched 7 strong innings against the Dragons, allowing 2 runs (via the longball) on 5 hits. He had 1 K and was clocked at a game-high of 88 mph. Chiang was selected co-MVP of the game along with teammate M. Ogasawara. The Giants prevailed 7-2 on Tuesday.
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

~In other NPB action, W.C. Lin was 0-1 in another pinch hitting role as the Tigers won 4-3 over the Swallows.

CPBL:
Cobras 4 - Bulls 0: Cobras LF Hung-Yuan Lin earned Game MVP honors with a 2-2, 3 RBI night with 2 doubles.
Lions 4 - Whales 2: The Lions SP, Rob Cordemans earned his 2nd win of the season and Game MVP honors with a strong showing. He pitched 7 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits - he had 6 K's and 2 walks/Lions C Cheng-Hua Kao was 2-4 with a solo HR/Whales C Hsin-Min Wang also hit a solo HR.

Sunday News and Scores...

NPB:
The Tigers won 4-2 over the Carp. W.C. Lin was 0-1 in a pinch hitting role.

The Lions lost to the Fighters 6-3. M.C. Hsu faced 5 batters in the 6th and 7th innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 run. Hsu was clocked at only 87 mph.

In nigun action, C.S. Yang was 2-3 with 1 RBI as the Fighters beat the Giants 7-6.

CPBL:
Elephant Cheng-Min Peng was offensive MVP for the month of March. Peng hit .385 with 3 HR's and 11 RBI's. Good to see Peng returning to his old form.
The pitching MVP honors for March went to LA New Bears reliever Kevin Huang. Kevin who's fastball has returned (clocked at a high of 94 mph), collected 2 wins, 2 saves over 6.1 scoreless innings - to go along with 5 K's and 3 walks.
Sunday Scores:
Cobras 9 - Lions 6: Cobras SS Ming-Jen Kuo was Game MVP (2-5 with 2 RBI's)/CFC's older brother Lien-Hung Chen cracked his first HR of the season for the Lions/L.H. Chen's teammate Tilson Brito continues to swing a hot bat with his 3rd HR of the season and a 3-5 2 RBI night.
Whales 9 - Bulls 5: Whales slugger Han-Chou Tseng cracked his 3rd HR of the season and was Game MVP with a 1-4 3 RBI night/His teammate Kwei-Yu Huang cracked his 1st HR of the season and was 3-4 with 2 RBI's/Bulls starting pitcher Chung-Nan Tsai struggled, giving up 5 runs on 5 hits in 1 inning! The former CPBL ROY and top draft pick in 2002 hasn't been the same since injuring his shoulder in 2003. Tsai was once one of the top pitchers in Taiwan and was feared for his major-league quality split-finger fastball. Check out Tsai matching Dice-K inning for inning during the 1999 Asian Baseball Championships.

Tsao Headed to Vegas...

...and not for pleasure either....Tsao was optioned by the Dodgers to their AAA ball club in Vegas. Despite a strong spring performance from Tsao, veteran Rudy Seanez earned the last spot on the pitching staff.

Wang and Kuo will both start the season on the DL for their respective clubs. Peter Abraham has a nice article on Wang & Cano.