Google
 

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Wood Bat Tourney and CPBL Draft Updates

*Kao-Yuan HS won the 2011 Wood Bat Tourney, defeating Ping-Zhen HS 8-1 in the final.  Tzu-Wei Lin was the man for Kao-Yuan, not only leading the tourney in slugging, OBP, and BA, but also throwing some key innings in relief for his squad.

Shi-Yuan defeated Ku-Pao 1-0 to earn 3rd in the tourney behind SP Chih-Wei Hu's dominating 1 hit shutout.  Hu, whose fastball approached 150 kph, K'd 12 in the process.



*Immediately following the national WBT, the top two counties/cities in Taiwan -Taoyuan (composed of kids from Ping-Zhen HS) and Kaohsiung City (made up of  kids from Kao-Yuan, San-Min, and San-Hsin HS) competed against a select Korean All-Star team (with several top junior prospects) and a team from Japan - Japan Meiji-Jingu.  These four teams faced off in the 2011 E. Sun Cup International AAA Baseball Tourney.   Taoyuan earned the tourney championship with a 2-1 record, losing only to South Korea  (South Korea and Japan also had 2-1 records).  Kaohsiung City went 0-3 in the tournament. 

As for how the top Taiwanese kids fared in the tourney:
-IF Tzu-Wei Lin played only against Japan (due to the flu) and was 1-3 with a BB and RBI.
-P Ren-He Tseng threw 6.2 IP against South Korea, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits.  He had 6 K's, 1 BB in a no-decision for him.
-P Jung-Hung Sen took a look a loss against South Korea (0 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 K's/BB's).




* The 2011 CPBL draft just concluded.   The Sinon Bulls selected P Chen-Hua Lin with the top pick.
Other first round picks included:
>Elephants - P Yu-Ching Lin
>Monkeys - P Wang-Yi Lin (former Red Sox farmhand)
>Lions - P Chih-Lung Huang (former Giants farmhand)

P Yen-Feng Lin was the 5th overall pick (first pick of the second round) of the Bulls.  Lin played in the Phillies and Marines (NPB) minor league system.



*Dai-Kang Yang was selected to the 2011 Player's Choice Best 9 in the Pacific League as a RF.

 








Thursday, December 08, 2011

2011 Wood Bat Tourney

The 2011 Wood Bat Tourney is underway.   37 HS teams are partaking in the annual tourney.   Some of the top names to watch include the usual suspects:  Tzu-Wei Lin, Jung-Hung Sen, and Ren-He Tseng.

Lin was recently named the 2010 world junior player of the year by the IBAF.   The Kao-Yuan product is hands down the top HS prospect in the country.  Formerly linked to the Yankees, he is currently being watched by reps from a lot of MLB squads including the Yankees, Red Sox, D-Rays, Twins, Indians, A's, Braves, Mariners, Pirates, Rangers, and Cubs in the tourney.  Many are speculating that his signing bonus will exceed the $400 K offer from the Yankees, potentially making him one of the highest non-pitcher signings from Taiwan (CFC signed for $680 K in '99 while CH Lin signed for $400 K in '07).

As for Sen, he pitched 2 scoreless innings yesterday for Ping-Zhen, K'ing 3 and topped out at 91 mph.

Tseng is currently pitching for San-Min (Chih-Hsien Chiang's alma mater).   He's also been clocked in the 150's (kph).   Tseng was earlier linked to the A's this year.   He was on this year's junior NT and faced South Korea in the Asian Championships.   Over 9+  innings, he allowed 4 runs (only 2 were earned) on 5 hits.  He also K'd 8 in the 4-3, 10 inning loss.  



*Speaking of the A's.  They (local scout - Adam Hislop) are reportedly to be aggressively pursuing an undersized LHP (tops 88) at Qiang-Shu HS in Taipei City.




*RHP Chen-Hua Lin had a workout with the Softbank Hawks back in November
This was arranged via the CTBA.    There may be an offer for a developmental contract but nothing is definitive yet.


*The Orix Buffaloes are pursuing Lions middle relief man Ming-Chieh Hsu.

Sunday, December 04, 2011

HS Pitching Prospect: Jung-Hung Sen


Rong (Jung)-Hung Sen, a 17 year old RHP at Ping-Zhen HS was clocked at a high of 93 mph in the recent Care Cup (Aboriginal Tourney).  The kid is garnering attention from local scouts.



He led his team to the final of the Care Cup, which his team won 12-0.    Sen also was the winning pitcher for Ping-Zhen HS in the championship game of the Tung-Kao Cup (completed in September).  He was selected the top pitcher in the tourney (2W-0L, 0.00 ERA). 


Sen has been on a roll.   He was also selected the top pitcher in the Yu-Shan Cup completed in June.   He helped lead Taoyuan County to the championship.     Sen has been on the scene for quite some time.  He's represented Taiwan in the 2009 Pony Baseball League World Series. He was also selected to the 2010 Youth National Team.

Despite solid velocity, he will need to work on his secondary pitches and his command.




***Military Dodger:  Culture University RHP/OF Cheng-Yu Hung gained a significant amount of weight (as big as 113 kg) in an effort to skip his military obligations.


***CL Hu is playing in the inaugural ABL All Star game.  

Thursday, December 01, 2011

News Updates

*Indians farmhand Chen-Chang Lee was named the organization's minor league pitcher of the year.

*The Red Sox and Mariners have added Che-Hsuan Lin and Chih-Hsien Chiang to their 40 man roster.

*Over in Taiwan, in the recently completed collegiate tourney, a few pitchers were clocked in the low 90's:
Lefty Sheng-Hsiung Huang topped out at 93 mph






Righty Rui-Jing Weng topped out at 90 mph









19 year old righty Chun-Lin Kuo helped lead his squad to the tourney championship, pitching a shutout and K'ing 9 in the process.   He was also clocked at 93 mph in the game.   Kuo was impressive earlier last month against the MLB All-Star traveling squad. 






Righty Hung-Chieh Shih hit 91 mph.






*Nippon Ham Fighters OF Dai-Kang Yang fired his rep - Octagon and is now represented by Sports Biz.

*Cubs minor leaguer RHP Yao-Lin Wang and Yankees farmhand INF/OF Fu-Lin Kuo may have to serve in the military if called upon as their agent misunderstood the rules and had both players drop out of college.   Without student status, they will need to serve in the military if called upon. The CTBA and Octagon are pointing fingers at each other over this gaffe.

*Update on Kuo-Hui Lo's injury status

*The Samsung Lions won the 2011 Asia Series.  

*Kai-Wen Cheng and Yi-Hao Lin earned some recognition for their 2011 performances in the NPB minors.