Taiwan Baseball

Chen Coming to America

2012-01-09T23:41:00.000-08:00

Reports have it that lefty Wei-Yin Chen has agreed to a 3 year deal (11 million +) with the Baltimore Orioles.   The deal is pending Chen passing his physical.

Chen is the 4th member from Kao-Yuan HS's graduating class ('03) to join a MLB organization.   Other HS teammates included Ching-Lung Lo who made the biggest initial splash with his large signing bonus with the Rockies; Chi-Hung Cheng with the Jays; Kuo-Hui Lo with the Mariners.

Chen - Wiki

Here's a look at Chen in 2009 in arguably his most dominant year in the NPB.   These are the highlights (K's) of his 4 shutouts thrown that year.

Wood Bat Tourney and CPBL Draft Updates

2011-12-28T21:05:00.000-08:00

*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.

2011 Wood Bat Tourney

2011-12-08T21:56:00.001-08:00

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.

HS Pitching Prospect: Jung-Hung Sen

2011-12-04T22:09:00.001-08:00

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.

News Updates

2011-12-01T10:34:00.001-08:00

*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.

News and Notes

2011-11-12T23:32:00.001-08:00

*Giants Ni-gun lefty Yu-Hung Lee was released by the Giants.
His former ni-gun teammate, Yi-Hao Lin has impressed enough to be considered for a closer role with the parent team next year.

*Speaking of Yi-Hao Lin, he was very impressive against the MLB All-Star travel squad.   Lin was one of a few pitchers to put up a 0.00 ERA (3 IP, 3 Ks, 1 H, 1 BB) against some top talent from the MLB.
Other NT pitchers to impress against the ML All-Stars include:
1)Yao-Lin Wang - In 2 games, had a 3.60 ERA, K'ing 4, walking 6 in 5 IP.
2)Fu-Te Ni - In his sole appearance, allowed only 1 run on 2 hits over 3.1 IP (2.70 ERA)
3)Chun-Lin Kuo - This 19 year old blanked the MLB hitters he faced in his only appearance of the Series. He had 3 K's, 0 BB's, 0 hits allowed in 2.1 IP. (0.00 ERA)
4)Kai-Wen Cheng - Although he allowed 4 runs on 7 hits (including a HR) in 4 IP, he did K 7 MLB hitters.

The top hitter for the NT was not surprisingly, Che-Hsuan Lin.
CH Lin hit .417 (5/12) with 2 XBH (doubles) and 2 RBI.

His other heralded teammate, Chun-Hsiu Chen hit .250 (4-16) with 1 XBH (double), RBI, and 2 runs scored.

Other MLB farmhands such as Pin-Chieh Chen (2-4 with a double) and Chih-Fang Pan (1-4, 2B, RBI) showed promise at the plate, but did not get many opportunities. It was frustrating watching guys like IF Wei-Ting Lin get more PAs   (0 for 7 at the plate with 6 K's).

Aside from CH Lin, 1B Chih-Pei Huang had a .294 BA (5/17).

*Dragons lefty Wei-Yin Chen had a nice start against the Hawks in game 1 of the Japan Series. Matched against T. Wada, another top lefty in the NPB, Chen earned a ND, but K'd 11 in the process (8 IP, 1 R, 4 H). View his outing on YouTube here.

There is a lot of speculation about Chen making the jump to the MLB after the season. (Google Wei-Yin Chen in the news section)

*Chin-Lung Hu is currently playing in Australia (Adelaide Bite)

Indians Sign Shao-Ching Chiang

2011-10-22T00:26:00.000-07:00

Per BA, the Indians inked RHP Shao-Ching Chiang, marking the 5th time that the club has invested in a player from Taiwan.

Indians Prospect Insider has a nice read on Chiang.

Chiang signed for about $250K and is represented by his HS (Ku-Pao) Manager Ming-Tang Tsai.

He also passed his physical despite having a slight labrum issue.

He was on the 2011 Junior NT that placed 3rd in the Asian Championships, primarily DH'ing. He hit .181 with a double, a triple, and a RBI.

Vitals:

DOB - 11/10/93

H: 185 cm

W: 75 kg

T:R

B:R

He made his debut in the US on the 13th.

***The Braves released RHP Wei-Chen Huang and C Meng-Hsiu Tsai.

The Price is Right for Wang and the Pirates

2011-10-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

*The Pirates were finally able to ink lefty Wei-Chung Wang, albeit at a significantly reduced signing bonus (original offer was $350 K). The kid's agent didn't want him to sign, but Wang ultimately wanted to to play in the US. He will also fly out to the US on the 12th and have an elective Tommy John surgery performed on his throwing appendage. Props to the Pirates for giving Wang a chance and props to Wang for recognizing the long-term ramifications of his decision. God-speed in his recovery.

*The Yomiuri Giants released RHP Chih-Lung Huang.

*The senior NT disappointed in the World Cup, but managed to win its last 2 games in round 1 play.

Palomino World Series: Lynnhaven 5 - Taiwan 4

2011-08-04T22:36:00.000-07:00

At the Palomino World Series, the Taiwanese reps lost their first game 5-4 on Thursday. Team ace Chia-Hao Sung started for the squad Read more from here:
"Lynnhaven 5, Taiwan 4. It was another nail biter for Lynnhaven fans with Lynnhaven’s first lead of the game not coming until the final out of the game. Taiwan jumped ahead with their first two batters of the game scoring. Lynnhaven scored 1 in the bottom of the 1st when Ryan Cook singled in Butt who had walked and advanced to second on Terrell Joyce’s single. Taiwan added 2 more in the 3rd with 4 singles, a sac and a fielder’s choice. In the bottom of the 3rd, Lynnhaven narrowed the gap with a single run; Joyce singled to right and scored on Cook’s triple to right center. The score remained 4-2 until the bottom of the 5th when Joyce hit a booming solo home run to left field to make the score 4-3. Lynnhaven tied the game in the bottom of the 6th. Adam Posey led off with a double to left center and scored on Greg Tomchick’s single up the middle. In the bottom of the 7th, Butt walked on a full count, advanced to 2nd on Nick Thompson’s single down the 3rd base line, advanced to 3rd on Joyce’s fly out to right center field and scored on Posey’s sac fly to left field. Rian Ellis pitched the complete game to earn the win, allowing only 1 base runner after the 3rd inning." The team will now have to win tomorrow against Puerto Rico or else their trip to the US will be cut short.

***CH Chiang is now with the Mariners organization. From Peter Gammons:
One scout said, "I had 'marginal prospect' in on [Chih-Hsien Chiang] last summer, and this July, I had him in as an everyday big leaguer. Everything changed." It had to do with managing diabetes. The Mets wanted Chiang in a deal for Carlos Beltran; the Mariners insisted on him in the Bedard deal.

***CMW lost his second start against the Braves.

***Taiwan won the Asia-Pacific Regionals and will rep A-P at the Pony League World Series.

Nan-Ying Roster

2011-07-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

號	背號	姓名	守位	出生年月日	身高	體重	投	打	備註
01	1	宋家豪	P	1992-09-06	186	88	R	L	南英商工
02	2	林以哲	C	1994-01-25	172	73	R	R	南英商工
03	3	陳維豪	IF	1993-03-21	175	85	L	L	南英商工
04	4	陳玉恭	IF	1993-02-20	172	60	R	L	南英商工
05	5	謝榮展	IF	1992-09-07	181	76	R	L	南英商工
06	6	林家煌	OF	1992-09-15	173	70	R	R	南英商工
07	7	林書逸	OF	1993-05-20	176	70	R	L	南英商工
08	8	林志豪	OF	1992-10-01	177	73	R	L	南英商工
09	9	陳逸軒	OF	1994-02-11	174	65	R	L	南英商工
10	10	吳柏毅	C	1993-04-07	172	70	R	R	南英商工
11	11	黃偉仁	P	1993-05-11	171	64	L	L	善化高中
12	12	鐘振嘉	IF	1993-04-18	168	70	R	R	南英商工
13	13	黃威銓	IF	1993-04-15	176	76	R	R	南英商工
14	14	方敏任	P	1992-09-14	177	75	R	R	南英商工
15	15	詹子賢	P	1994-02-24	183	85	R	R	南英商工
16	16	謝柏賢	P	1993-05-17	182	73	L	L	南英商工
17	17	辛柏霖	P	1993-02-04	177	65	L	L	南英商工
18	18	黃子鵬	P	1994-03-19	181	70	R	L	南英商工

1)Chia-Hao Sung - Sadaharu Oh Cup MVP; top fb 145 kph; cousin of Wen-Hua Sung (on this year's "AA" NT)
2)Yi-Tze Lin
3)Wei-Hao Chen
4)Yu-Kung Chen
5)Jung-Chan Hsieh - (Rong)Jung-Hao Hsieh's lil bro
6)Chia-Huang Lin
7)Shu-Yi Lin
8)Chih-Hao Lin
9)Yi-Hsuan Chen
10)Po-Yi Wu
11)Wei-Jen Huang - only non Nan-Ying player on roster
12)Tsen-Jia Tsung - on the '04 LLWS NT roster
13)Wei-Chuan Huang
14)Min-Jen Feng
15)Chi-Hsien Chan - topped out at 146 kph in the past
16)Po-Hsien Hsieh
17)Po-Lin Hsin
18)Tse-Peng Huang

Despite churning out the likes of Hong-Chih Kuo, Chin-Lung Hu, Che-Hsuan Lin, Pin-Chieh Chen, Fu-Lin Kuo, Kai-Wen Cheng, etc., in the past, there's not a lot of star power on this year's Nan-Ying squad. Righty Chia-Hao Sung is arguably the most talented player on this team. Nonetheless, it's exciting to get an opportunity to see the Nan-Ying program here in the US.

See the squad in person next week. Jiayo!

Nan-Ying Coming to So Cal/CMW Back to the Bigs...

2011-07-26T00:20:00.000-07:00

***After two+ years of physical and mental anguish, CMW will finally make his return to the Majors with a Friday start against the Mets.    In a season marred by injuries and disappointments to several players, you can't but help root for CMW to do well.

***Congrats to the World "A" LL Champs!   The national team beat Cuba in a rematch during the championship game. RHP Wei-En Tseng earned the W in the championship game, won tourney MVP honors, was the top RHP, and was an All-Star at 1B.

***Laying Claim to having the world's best Little Leaguers?    Taiwan will have an opportunity to win two more world titles at the "A" level.   Ching-Tang LL blitzed the field (outscoring opponents 85-19) in the Asia-Pacific Tourney and will be the A-P reps in Williamsport. Here is the team's schedule in PA.
In Pony Baseball, a team from Taoyuan will rep Asia in the Bronco World Series. This team outscored its opponents 92-3 (toughest game was the semis against Japan: 3-2 win). See the schedule here.

***Here's the schedule for the Junior League World Series. In Pony Baseball, a rep from Taiwan will need to win the Asia-Pacific Regionals in China going on July 29th - August 4th to advance to the Pony World Series.

***Nan-Ying HS will represent Taiwan in the Palomino World Series.   The World Series will be held here in Los Angeles from August 4th through the 8th.   I'll try to make it out with my kids for a few games.    Come to support the team and hope to see you guys there.

***Nice read on Che-Huan Lin.   It must be nice to have a howitzer for an appendage!
What else does Chih-Hsien Chiang have to prove in AA ball to get a promotion?   The kid is killing Eastern League pitching.
CH Chen having a quiet but solid year in AA.
Yao-Ling Wang - best player in Boise?

***The MLBAAP is under way in the land down under.   Kuo-Hua Lo and Jin-De Jhang are doing well in their debut.

***Mixing Biz and Pleasure? Interesting media news on Fu-Te Ni - He announced on his blog that he got married but he did not mention his wife's name. It is widely known that Ni has been dating his baseball agent (a female rep from Octagon) which is probably why he chose not to mention her name.

***CPBL All-Star Festivities: HR Derby Champ / All-Star Game Result

***The Senior NT finished second to Cuba at the WBC. Cuba brought its "A" squad this time around.   1 win in 3 tries against the Cubans with essentially a roster made up of NT trainees ain't too shabby. IF Po-Ting Hsiao was impressive in the tourney.

More News....(Updated 7/14)

2011-07-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

*LHP Wei-Chung Wang (Octagon) failed his physical with the Pirates due to an ulnar collateral ligament tear that will require Tommy John surgery; his contract was voided.
***UPDATED 7/14 - Some new info on Wang: Word is that the $350 K offer was rescinded by the Pirates due to the physical, however the Pirates still wanted to sign him (albeit at a lower price) and give him an opportunity. The snag? His agent rejected the offer. Hmmm, if true, the kid passed on an opportunity to at least have his elbow taken care of by a US orthopedic surgeon.

*A few ML teams including the Indians are after former Ku-Pao HS RHP/OF Chih-Yu Lin.

*The Pirates have released OF Chi.

*The Reds have released LHP Tzu-Kai Chiu.

*Reds prospect P Po-Cheng Chi is out for the season with an elbow injury.

*Astros minor leaguer CJ Lo hurt his elbow again in Florida.

*Ex-Cubs farmhand RHP Tzu-An Wang is represented by L3 agency.

*The Cubs have moved 2B Pin-Chieh Chen to CF, with good results.

*Hanshin RHP Kai-Wen Cheng was called up to the 1st team, after 35 consecutive scoreless innings with the ni-gun team.

*CPBL President Lions RHP Wei-Lun Pan has an ulnar collateral ligament injury and is out indefinitely.

*CPBL Elephants RHP En-Yu Lin still has not made progress from his labrum surgery.

*CPBL Elephants RHP Sung-Wei Tseng has lost velocity and his feel for pitching, as he is struggling while playing for the minor league team.

*Nice read on Red Sox prospect CH Chiang.

*New Pirate Chin-De Chang flashing his Black and Yellow Pride:

Chang goes by Jhin-De Jhang.

*Taiwan will most likely face South Korea tomorrow in the AP Regional Championship game. Winner heads to Williamsport.

Chiang - Eastern League Player of the Month

2011-07-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

***Red Sox prospect Chih-Hsien Chiang has had one helluva season so far. In addition to earning an invite to the Futures World All-Star team, he's also been selected to the Eastern League All-Star team (Chun-Hsiu Chen was also on the roster, but will not play due to injury), and was just picked the Eastern League Player of the Month for June.
Read more about Chiang here, from Soxprospects.com.

***Other minor leaguers off to good starts include:
CC Lee - recently promoted to AAA (impressive K/9-BB ratio)

PC Chen - hitting at a .356 clip (scouting report)

FL Kuo - has 2 HRs in his first 9 games of the season

ZF Pan - has a .327 BA early on
YL Wang - 2-0, 1.35 ERA, 19 Ks/20 IP

***IN THE NPB: After a hot start with the Fighters, DK Yang has cooled down considerably. He's currently at .268 with 2 HRs and 15 RBI. The good news is that he is still starting for the Fighters in the OF and is frequently in the lead-off spot.
Dragons LHP Wei-Yin Chen is still trying to find his groove after working his way back from an early season injury. He's currently 2-6, but does have a 2.73 ERA.

***The Minnesota Twins have signed RHP Kuo-Hua Lo (former San-Hsin HS star).

Wei-Chung Wang

***The Pirates inked C Chin-De Chang for ~ $250 K while LHP Wei-Chung Wang received ~ $350 K. Reportedly, it was unclear if Wang would be able to pass his physical due to elbow issues. Nonetheless, Wang did represent the Taiwanese national team at the World Port Tournament. Taiwan won its first ever WPT title, defeating Cuba (did not send its top squad) 3 times in the tourney. Han Lin was the tourney MVP, MPP, and the top hitter.
The senior NT will now participate in the World Baseball Challenge.

***Shi-Yuan HS RHP Lee-Wei Chiang will potentially require elbow surgery (TJ).

***Mariners prospect Yao-Wen Chang had shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum.

***Kao-Yuan HS IF Tzu-Wei Lin was clocked at 3.7 s going from home to first in the recent Yu-Shan Cup. As a LHH, that still puts Lin in some elite company (80 category with Ichiro).

***Stiff jail sentences were handed out to former CPBL/national team stars Chih-Chia Chang and Chih-Yuan Chen for their involvement in the CPBL game-fixing scandal.

***With all of the not-so-good news about Kuo and Hu (bad bouts of the Yips), Chien-Ming Wang seems to be on the right path in resurrecting his career.

***Taiwan will defend its title at the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Michigan. Taiwan won the Asia-Pacific Regionals, defeating Hong Kong 24-1, the Philippines 25-2, and Indonesia 22-0 in the preliminary rounds.   The team then blanked the Philippines in the A-P championship game 24-0.   Starting pitcher Chuan-Yu Hsu was the star, earning the W after blanking the opponents over 3 IP with 5 K's. He also had 4 hits.

***The inaugural IBAF "A" World Championship kicks off on Friday.
Taiwan will face:
1)7/8 - vs. Cuba
2)7/9 - vs. Ecuador
3)7/10 - vs. Japan
4)7/11 - vs. Lithuania
5)7/14 - vs. Brazil
6)7/15 - vs. Hong Kong
The boys will need to finish in the top 2 of their group in order to advance to the semifinals taking place 7/16. The championship and consolation games will take place 7/17.    Mexico and Korea are in the other pool group and in an interesting side note, there is NO US representative.

***The Taiwanese LL reps will also attempt to make their way back to Williamsport. The team plays in the Asia-Pacific Regionals beginning July 9th. The team is in pool A with Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Thailand, and New Zealand.   Pool B heavyweight South Korea is grouped with host Guam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and CNMI.
SCHEDULE:
1)7/9 - vs. Australia
2)7/10 - vs. New Zealand
3)7/11 - vs. Singapore
4)7/12 - vs. Thailand
5)7/13 - vs. Indonesia
Again, the team will need to finish in the top 2 of its pool to play in the semis on the 14th of July.
The championship and consolation games will take place on 7/15.

Multiple Signings and Other News (2011 LL/Youth/Junior NTs Announced)...

2011-06-11T00:35:00.000-07:00

1)The Pittsburgh Pirates signed two kids: slugger C Chin-De Chang and LHP Wei-Chung Wang. Their effort this time around is more commendable after signing three questionable kids last time around.

Chin-De Chang

***The 2011 "AAA" Junior NT has been anounced:
PITCHERS (6):
1)Keng-Sheng Lee    (RHP/1-15-93/182 cm, 80 kg/Tops 143 KPH/'09 Youth NT)
2)Yan-Chang Lee      (RHP/11-7-93/178 cm, 78 kg/Tops 144 KPH)
3)Ren-He Tseng (RHP/10-3-94/182 cm, 84 kg/Tops 152 KPH/Drew interest from A's)
4)Chao-Wei Yu   (RHP/4-16-93/175 cm, 67 kg/Tops 144 KPH/'09 Youth NT)
5)Chih-Wei Hu   (RHP/11-4-93/184 cm, 96 kg/Tops 147 KPH/'09 Youth NT/'09 Pony League WS)
6)Chih-Lung Yang (RHP/4-7-93/190 cm, 85 kg/Tops 145 KPH/'06 LL NT)
CATCHERS (2):
1)Tse-Yang Peng   (T:R,B:R/9-1-93/183 cm, 88 kg)
2)Wei-Ming Huang   (T:R,B:R/11-10-93/171 cm, 61 kg)
INFIELDERS (6):
1)Che-Chieh Su   (T:R,B:L/7-28-94/170 cm, 65 kg)
2)Tsung-Hsien Lee   (T:R,B:R/6-29-94/173 cm, 68 kg/2011 Yu-Shan Cup MVP)
3)Hao-Wei Chang    (T:R,B:R/12-13-94/176 cm, 78 kg)
4)Tze-Wei Lin    (2010 AAA World Championships MVP/Formerly connected to the Yankees)
5)Yuan-Kai Lu (T:R,B:R/8-16-93/179 cm, 85 kg)
6)Hung-Sheng Yang (2010 AAA World Championships All-Star at 2B)
OUTFIELDERS (4):
1)Tze-Chun Hsu   (T:R,B:R/1-5-94/172 cm, 56 kg)
2)Kuo-Lin Lo (Kuo-Hui Lo's younger bro)
3)Shao-Ching Chiang (T:R,B:R/11-10-93/188 cm, 82 kg/Also a RHP, tops out at 148 kph/2011 Yu-Shan Cup HR King)
4)Wen-Chia Sung   (T:R,B:L/12-1-93/180 cm, 75 kg)
This team will represent Taiwan at the 9th Asian "AAA" Championships in Yokohama, Japan. The tourney will run from 8/28/11 to 9/2/11.

***The 2011 "AA" Youth NT Roster:
PITCHERS (6):
1)Chia-Wei Yang
2)Wen-Hua Sung (Former '09 LLWS Star)
3)Chia-Ming Tu (2010 Youth NT/'08 Bronco World Series Star)
4)Yi-Hsin Huang
5)Yu-Cheng Chang (Chin-De Chang's lil' bro)
6)Yu-Pu Wang
CATCHERS (2):
1)Min-Hao Chiang
2)Wei-Tai Tsai
INFIELDERS (6):
1)Yu-Hsiang Keng
2)Lee Lin
3)Kuo-HaoWu
4)Wei-En Chen
5)Chun-Yu Pan
6)Wei-Chien Chang
OUTFIELDERS (4):
1)Ming-Yu Peng (already stands 183 cm, ran an 11.84 100M as an 8th grader)
2)Tse-Chun Wang
3)Chin-Che Chien
4)Tse-Chuan Liu
This team will participate in the 2011 World Youth Championships in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico. The tourney will be held from August 19th to the 28th. This should be a fun team to follow with its prospect-laden roster.

*The 2011 "A" NT:
PITCHERS (7):
1)Tse-Yang Chen
2)En-Chieh Yang
3)Yu-Lun Chang
4)Wei-En Tseng
5)Wei-Hsiang Chen
6)Chao-Yu Yeh
7)Mai-Ko Chu
CATCHERS (2):
1)Chun-Yu He
2)Yi-Chieh Kao
INFIELDERS (5):
1)Kuan-Wei Chiu
2)Ta-Yu Chiu
3)Tsu-Yuan Lo
4)Hsiang-Chih Chang
5)Tse-Chieh Lin
OUTFIELDERS (4):
1)Yi-Cheng Wang
2)Chao-Ching Wen
3)Hsueh-Chao Tsung
4)Ping-Yi Chou
The inaugural little league level world championship takes place in Taipei, Taiwan from July 8 - 17.

OTHER:
*The Cubs released RHP Tzu-An Wang.
*Kao-Yuan HS SS Tzu-Wei Lin reportedly fired Octagon as his rep.
*L3-Dave Stewart has signed RHP Yao-Wen Chang and RHP Po-Cheng Chi as their clients.
*Chih-Hsien Chiang has been tearing the cover off the ball in AA ball. I smell a potential 2011 All-Star Future Games invitation?
*Update on Hong-Chih Kuo
*MLB coming to Taiwan in November

4/16 MLB/NPB Stats Run Down

2011-04-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a snapshot as to how the kids are doing overseas:

MLB:
HC Kuo (Dodgers)- 0-0, 3.38 ERA, 2.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 K's, 4 BB's
CL Hu (Mets)- .125 BA, 2 R, 1 H, 0 2B/3B/HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

MILB:
FT Ni (AAA Toledo) - 2-0, 3.38 ERA, 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 K's, 2 BB's
HW Chen (AA Tennessee) - 0-1, 6.75 ERA, 4 IP, 3 ER, 5 K's, 2 BB's
CH Chen (AA Akron) - .276 BA, 3 R, 8 H, 1 2B, 0 3B/HR, 4 RBI, 0 SB
CC Lee (AA Akron) - 0-1, 4.91 ERA, 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 K's, 2 BB's
CH Chiang (AA Portland) - .200 BA, 3 R, 4 H, 2 2B, 0 3B/HR/RBI, 1 SB
CH Lin (AA Portland) - .192 BA, 3 R, 5 H, 0 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR/RBI, 2 SB
KH Lo (AA Jackson) - DL
SA Kuo (A+ Modesto) - 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 IP, 0 ER, 3 K's, 0 BB's
TK Chiu (A+ Bakersfield) - 0-0, 5.79 ERA, 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 3 K's, 3 BB's
WW Lin (A Beloit) - .083 BA, 2 R, 1 H, 0 2B/3B/HR/RBI/SB

NPB:
MC Hsu (Lions)- 1-0, 1.93 ERA, 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 K/BB
DK Yang (Fighters)- .267 BA, 2 R, 4 H, 0 2B/3B/HR/RBI/SB
WC Lin (Tigers)- .500 BA, 1 R, 2 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB

Nigun:
TH Lee (Hawks) - .339 BA, 6 R, 19 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB
YH Yang (Hawks) - 2-2, 3.67 ERA, 27 IP, 11 ER, 24 K's, 12 BB's
SF Tsai (Marines) - .238 BA, 2 R, 5 H, 1 2B, 0 3B/HR/RBI/SB
YF Lin (Marines) - 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 1.1 IP, 1 ER, 0 K's, 2 BB's
WY Chen (Dragons) - 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 K, 0 BB's
KW Cheng (Tigers) - 0-0, 2.50 ERA, 18 IP, 5 ER, 14 H, 14 K's, 1 BB
I. Shoh (Tigers) - 2-1, 2.11 ERA, 21.1 IP, 5 ER, 13 H, 12 K's, 6 BB's
CL Huang (Giants) - 0-1, 4.26 ERA, 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 K, 3 BB's
YH Lin (Giants) - 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 9.2 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 12 K's, 1 BB, 6 SV
IC Wang (BayStars) - 1-0, 1.86 ERA, 9.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 5 K's, 1 BB

Spring Happenings.....

2011-03-05T15:04:00.000-08:00

MLB:
*Che-Hsuan Lin is in big league camp.   He's currently hitless this spring. Here's a 2011 profile preview.

*Chun-Hsiu Chen is also in big league camp. He's currently 0-4 with 2 RBI this spring.

*Chin-Lung Hu receiving praise for his defense. He was 1-2 with a SB at the plate today.

*So far, so good for Fu-Te Ni.

*Hong-Chih Kuo "feels great."    He threw live BP today.

*Chien-Ming Wang topped out at 87 mph recently, but reported soreness after one inning.

*Chia-Jen Lo is in minor league minicamp.

NPB:
*Wei-Yin Chen is currently out with a groin pull.

*MC Hsu threw 2 scoreless innings today.

*DK Yang was 1-3 with a RBI.

*WC Lin: 2-4, 2 RBI

HS-Taiwan:
*Ku-Pao won the inaugural HS (Basebal) Super Bowl, defeating long time nemesis Nan-Ying 7-0 in the championship game on 2/25.    Chih-Yu Lin from Ku-Pao was the tourney MVP with a .444 BA and 8 RBI. The tourney featured the top 8 teams from the Elite Cup.

Kuo Comes to Terms with Dodgers...

2011-02-02T19:12:00.000-08:00

The Dodgers inked Hong-Chih Kuo to a one year deal for $2.725 million. He also has the opportunity to earn an additional $675 K in bonuses. Kuo will make nearly the same amount as he earned cumulatively from 2005-2010.

Ku-Pao: 2011 Elite Cup Champs

2011-01-31T22:09:00.000-08:00

HS Baseball:
Finals (1/31):
*Ku-Pao won the 2011 Elite Cup championship with a 9-2 win over Shi-Yuan. Ping-Hsueh Chen came on in relief to pick up the W for Ku-Pao. Chen threw 8.1 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, while K'ing 13. Ku-Pao won its first Elite Cup since 2006 and in the process, earned 500 K NT. Runner-Up Shi-Yuan earned 300 K NT.

*Ping-Zhen earned 3rd in the tourney with a 10-0 victory over Mei-Ho. Ping-Zhen HS picked up 200 K NT in prize money.

*Tourney Awards - a Ku-Pao Sweep

PH Chen

MVP: Ping-Hsueh Chen (Ku-Pao)
Top Pitcher: Ping-Hsueh Chen (Ku-Pao) - 2 W's, 15.1 IP, 0 ER, 25 K's

HS Yang

HR King: Hung-Sheng Yang (Ku-Pao) - 1

CY Lin

Top BA: Chih-Yu Lin (Ku-Pao) - .500
RBI King: Chih-Yu Lin (Ku-Pao) - 7

Semifinals (1/30):
*Ku-Pao held on to defeat Ping-Zhen 9-8 in 10 innings in one semifinal. Ku-Pao slugger Hung-Sheng Yang led the way by cracking a 2-run home run in the 2nd inning and was 2-4 with 3 RBI.

*Shi-Yuan moved on to the finals by shutting out Mei-Ho 4-0. Shi-Yuan starter Chih-Wei Hu was the star with a CG 3 hit shutout. Hu K'd 9 and walked 6 while topping out at 143 kph.

WBC Update:
Taiwan will host the 2013 WBC Qualifying Round in November of next year.

Elite Cup: Final Four Finalized

2011-01-29T19:59:00.000-08:00

HS Baseball:
*Mei-Ho defeated San-Hsin 4-1 to move on the semifinals of the Elite Cup.

*In a highly anticipated match up of traditional HS power houses, Ku-Pao routed Nan-Ying 10-0 behind starter Ping-Hsueh Chen. Chen threw 7 shutout innings, allowing only 3 hits, while K'ing 12. Nan-Ying ace Chia-Hao Sung was roughed up for 7 runs (6 earned) on 12 hits in 6+ innings. Chen touched 91 mph (146 kph).
Some other top guns in the tourney:
1)Kuo-Hua Lo (San-Hsin) 144 kph
2)Ming-Hung Lin (Cheng-Kung) 144 kph
3)Chih-Wei Hu (Shi-Yuan) 143 kph

*Shi-Yuan beat Cheng-Kung 6-2 to advance in the tourney.

*Ping-Zhen won 8-2 over San-Min HS.

Tomorrow's semifinal matchups include:
Ping-Zhen vs. Ku-Pao
Mei-Ho vs. Shi-Yuan

MLB:
Chin-Lung Hu was officially introduced by the Mets. There is a large Taiwanese contingency in nearby Flushing, NY. The NY Media labeled Hu as a "4A" player, a label that befell Chin-Feng Chen.

ASIA:
The Asia Series will resume this year in Taiwan - Nov. 11th to be specific.

Elite Cup Update...

2011-01-26T06:49:00.000-08:00

HS Baseball: Elite Cup
-Action from the 25th:
*San-Min eliminated Kao-Yuan 2-1 in extra innings to move on to the Elite Eight. Yi-Hsiang Lin started for San-Min (6.2 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 9 K's, 1 BB) and had the GW sacrifice hit in the bottom of the 10th. Ren-He Tseng closed out the game for San-Min (3.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 6 K's, 2 BB's). For Kao-Yuan, Tzu-Wei Lin was 2-4 with a BB.

* Nan-Ying also moved on to the Elite Eight with a 7-0 win over Da-Li HS. Nan-Ying starter Po-Hsien Hsieh was dominant, throwing a CG shutout. He allowed only 1 hit, while K'ing 4 and walking 2.

*Ku-Pao is also in the final 8 after shutting out Hsin-She HS 7-0. Ku-Pao coach Tsai noted that P Chun-Lung Chang has an opportunity to play overseas in Japan. Also, two-way player Shao-Ching Chiang has a strong desire to play in the US. Chiang closed out the game for Ku-Pao, throwing one perfect inning, and was 3-4 at the plate with a 2B, BB, and 2 RBI.

*Chang-Yi defeated Ren-Yi HS 6-4.

*Ping-Zhen advanced with a 7-1 victory over Tung-Shih HS.

*Chung-Dao defeated Chiayi HS 5-4 in extra innings.

-Action from the 26th:
*San-Hsin defeated Chung-Dao 6-3 to advance. Kuo-Hua Lo picked up the W for San-Hsin.

*Mei-Ho shut out Chang-Yi 4-0 to advance to the Elite Eight.

*Cheng-Kung beat Shan-Hua 5-0 to continue in the tourney.

*Shi-Yuan advanced with a 7-4 victory over Hualien PE.

-The quarterfinals of the tourney will take place on the 29th:
Mei-Ho vs. San-Hsin
Ku-Pao vs. Nan-Ying
Shi-Yuan vs. Cheng-Kung
San-Min vs. Ping-Zhen

CPBL:
*Sung-Wei Tseng may be the opening day starter for the Elephants.

*RHP En-Yu Lin's recovery has been slow; his shoulder still doesn't feel well after throwing at 35 M.

*C Kun-Sheng Lin has reported to the Bulls' camp.

NPB:
*Dragons lefty Wei-Yin Chen received a hefty raise for 2011. He'll receive 170 million yen (~2.07 million USD) in 2011, plus the opportunity to bonus an additional 50 million yen based on performance incentives.

The Cultural Divide?

2011-01-24T23:03:00.000-08:00

*A journalist from UDN, Lou (Chin-Pin Lo) has voiced his displeasure with some of the "foreign" scouts at the recently completed Wood Bat Tourney. Lo noted that some of the foreign scouts parked themselves inside the VIP boxes and were inconsiderate, noting that one foreign scout was smoking inside the VIP box while scouting the HS games. Read more here.

*ELITE CUP:
-Mei-Ho HS advanced to the Sweet 16 after defeating Taitung PE 6-4. Mei-Ho OF Chan-Chia Liu hit well in the game and got rave reviews from Indians' coaches (Bruce Fields and Gary Thurman). Liu was on the 2008 NT that represented the country at the 5th Junior Nankyu Baseball World Championships. Liu won the most outstanding player award in the tourney and hit a HR in helping lead the NT to the title.

-Cheng-Kung HS eliminated Yang-Ming HS with a 5-2 victory. Yang-Ming HS head coach Tu-Hung Lee has stated his wishes for better recruits while Cheng-Kung's head coach Kao has complained of a lack of budget for the baseball program.

-HS Wood Bat Champs Kao-Yuan advanced to the field of 16 with a 12-2 win over Yang-Der HS. Tzu-Wei Lin (double, triple) and Tzu-Hao Chen (3 hits, 3 RBI) led the way for Kao-Yuan.

-Other winners on the day included Shi-Yuan, Tung-Shih, Ping-Zhen, Hualien PE, & Shan-Hua.

News and Notes....

2011-01-24T01:08:00.000-08:00

HS Baseball:
WBT:
*Kao-Yuan won the HS Wood Bat Tourney, winning 2 out of 3 against Ping-Zhen HS. The championship was Kao-Yuan's first Wood Bat championship (KY HS had won 5 previous tourneys when aluminum bats were still being used).

Kao-Yuan beat Ping-Zhen in game 1 5-2. Kao-Yuan starter RHP Wei-Chieh Huang didn't become an official roster player until this tourney; he was a non-scholarship/practice squad player previously.

Ping-Zhen won game 2 behind starter LHP Ming-Chieh Lu's 8 K's (1 R, 7.1 IP).

In the third and decisive game, Kao-Yuan came out on top with a 1-0 win over Ping-Zhen. Kuo-Lin Lo had the game-winning hit while Tzu-Wei Lin preserved the win, closing out the game with 3.1 scoreless innings. After last summer's spectacular showing in the World Junior Championships, Tzu-Wei Lin has found better success on the mound than at the plate since his return to home from Canada.

*Ku-Pao beat San-Hsin 3-0 for the bronze medal in the WBT. San-Hsin ace RHP Kuo-Hua Lo (5 IP- 7 hits) didn't pitch well;   Ku-Pao RHP Chun-Lung Chang pitched well (CG - 12 K's, 0 BB's) but did not show good velocity, stating that he was focusing on his control. Chang had also been losing weight (from 98kg to 85kg over a period of several months), leading some scouts to attribute that to his drop in velocity (topped out at 138-140 kph in 3rd place game, was previously consistently over 145 kph).

*Nan-Ying defeated Shi-Yuan 3-1 to earn 5th in the tourney. Nan-Ying RHP Chia-Hao Sung K'd 5 in 3 IP

of relief.   Shi-Yuan starter RHP Chih-Wei Hu 8 IP K'd 5 walked 1 in the loss.

*Hsin-She earned 7th place after a 3-0 win over San-Min.

Elite Cup:
*The tourney kicked off yesterday (23rd) with a record 32 teams participating. The Elite Cup, based on its single elimination format, will award the champions 500 K NT.

*Nan-Ying eliminated Taichung Gao-Nong 4-2 behind RHP Chia-Hao Sung's CG (5 H, K'd 8). Sung said that he's tired - he's had 4 CG since late December.

*Ku-Pao won behind RHP Yu-Fan Wen, who became a side-armer not long ago, to move on to the Sweet 16.

*The Atlanta Braves worked out San-Min HS LHP Yi-Hsiang Lin

*The A's are interested in RHP Ren-He Tseng (tops 140 kph) per San-Min HS head coach Che-Sheng Chen.

CPBL:
*The Sinon Bulls are trying not to have any foreign players this year; RHP Chien-Fu Yang turned down

a tryout with Chunichi.

*Bears/Monkeys C Hung-Yu Lin has been working on his ability to throw out baserunners.

*Former NPB'er Sheng-Hsiung Chuang has been working with the Bears/Monkeys pitchers.

MLB/MILB:*Che-Hsuan Lin is scheduled to return to the US on the 31st of this month to attend the Red Sox spring training camp.

*Chia-Jen Lo will report to mini-camp on February 20th.

*The Indians are high on C Chun-Hsiu Chen; he's been in camp since mid-January.

NPB:*Shen-Fu Tsai is on his way to Japan. Despite not receiving a signing bonus from the Marines, Tsai's contract is incentive laden (his ikusei contract is reported to be worth 2.4 million yen).   He will wear the number 125.

*Giants RHP Kai-Wen Cheng has been practicing at home with the Lions, alongside other overseas ballplayers - Ching-Lung Lo and fellow Nan-Ying alumni: Che-Hsuan Lin, Fu-Lin Kuo, and Yen-Wen Kuo.

*All three Taiwanese Hanshin Tigers players (Wei-Chu Lin, Kai-Wen Cheng, Yi-Chieh Hsiao) are on the team's first team squad for spring training.

*The Yokohama Baystar are interested in playing exhibition games in Taiwan.

Hong-Chih Kuo Set to Be Highest Paid Taiwanese Player in 2011...

2011-01-19T07:20:00.000-08:00

MLB:
*HC Kuo has been offered a one year contract for $2.55 million by the Dodgers; he's asking for $3.075 million.   Regardless, he'll receive a well-deserved raise in 2011.
Dragons RHP Wei-Yin Chen is expected to make ~ 150 million yen ($1.8 million USD) in 2011 with his club.

*Astros GM Wade has said that CJ Lo is behind progress in his development.   Lo was out for much of last year after suffering a partial tear of his UCL.

CPBL:
*The Monkeys and slugger Chih-Sheng Lin have agreed to a 5 year deal worth 24.12 million NT (~$830,000) with an additional 5.88 million NT (~$202,000) in bonus incentives. The contract is the third richest in CPBL history (behind CFC's 2 three year contracts - '06-'08 worth 30 million NT, and '09-'11 worth 30.03 million NT).

*The Lions are expecting the presence of Yung-Chi Chen to boost attendance for the upcoming year.

*The Elephants are currently looking for a foreign pitcher.

*Several Dodgers minor league coaches are assisting the Bulls during their ST.

Other:
*The government's amateur city teams (industrial league) have significant financial issues and may fold.

*Taitung Agricultural HS will build a dorm on the baseball field.

*In a bit of good news, the way the junior NT is selected may be overhauled. Rather than utilizing the current method of having tourney winners make up the majority of the NT roster, the new selection process will include a trial process in which all potential players will be evaluated during games/training.

HS WBT:
Quarterfinals -
*RHP Kuo-Hua Lo helped lead San-Hsin into the final four.
*IF Tzu-Wei Lin had a double and a triple in leading Kao-Yuan into the final 4.
*Ku-Pao RHP Shao-Ching Chiang was impressive in relief as he touched 91 mph and also had 2 triples in leading his team to final 4. A lot of scouts were on hand to check out the quarterfinal matchup between San-Min LHP Yi-Hsiang Lin vs Ku-Pao RHP Ping-Hsueh Chen.   Lin touched 87 mph while RHP Chen topped out at 91 mph.

Semifinals-
*Kao-Yuan defeated San-Hsin 8-5 to move on to the finals.
*Ping-Zhen upset the defending champs - Ku-Pao 3-1 behind RHP Keng-Sheng Lee, on the '09 youth NT, in the other semi. Ku-pao also had several defensive lapses, committing four errors in the field.

*In the consolation matches:
Shi-Yuan beat San-Min 4-2 while Nan-Ying defeated Hsin-She 5-4. Shi-Yuan and Nan-Ying will play each other for 5th place while San-Min and Hsin-She will duke it out for 7th place.

WBT: Power Surge and the Elite Eight...

2011-01-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

HS Wood Bat Tourney:
*The final field of 8 HS squads has been determined.
In the Quarterfinals:
Ping-Zhen plays Shi-Yuan
San-Hsin plays Nan-Ying
Ku-Pao plays San-Min
Kao-Yuan plays Hsin-She

*Chia-Ming Cheng of Shi-Yuan HS will focus exclusively on pitching. The lefty was on the 2009 youth NT as an IF.

*IF Hung-Sheng Yang of Ku-Pao leads the tourney with 2 home runs. This comes as no surprise as Yang was a member of the 2010 world junior championship squad. He led the world junior tourney with 12 RBI while also leading the team with 2 HR while hitting at a .346 clip. He was the tourney All-Star selection at 2B. Yang's well-scouted teammate Po-Rong (Jung) Wang, has also cracked a HR in the tourney.

There's been 9 home runs hit in the tourney so far, 8 of which came in the same park (Chung Cheng University ballpark in Chiayi), leading some to argue that the wind has had something to do with the power surge.

CPBL:*Former Lions 2B Sen Yang is considering legal action to try and get back his salary.

Other:Where have you gone Chia-An Huang?

Shen-Fu Tsai to the Lotte Marines...

2011-01-14T01:19:00.000-08:00

*IF Shen-Fu Tsai has signed with the Chiba Lotte Marine(s).   Tsai had worked out with the team back in November. Tsai will join fellow Taiwanese player Yen-Feng Lin in Chiba.

*HS WBT:
-In a media interview with NYY scout Ken Su, Su noted that progress is being made in the amateur ranks, especially at the HS level.   The progress was attributed to the special camps/training with MLB personnel over these past few years.   Currently in the HS Wood Bat Tourney (the field has been narrowed down to 16 teams), 4 home runs have been hit in the preliminary matches.   In the past two wood bat tourneys, no home runs had left the yard.

-
Remember Chia-An Huang?   Well, his younger brother (#25) is currently making a name for himself after a nice outing against Kao-Yuan HS. Sheng-Chieh Huang, despite taking the loss against Kao-Yuan, K'd 7 in 5.2 innings and was clocked around ~ 87 mph. The 17 year old, who stands in at 6'1" attends Ta-Cheng HS in Miaoli.*Edited

-Gao-Nong slugger Chin-De Chang is likely to sign after HS. Aside from Chang, RHP Kuo-Hua Lo of San-Hsin HS is the other top name in the tourney.   Both are expected to garner MLB signing bonus offers in the 150-200 K range per media speculation. Other names mentioned as ones to keep an eye on included: San-Min HS LHP Yi-Hsiang Lin, Ku-Pao HS INF Po-Rong (Jung) Wang, Gao-Nong HS RHP 6'5" Che-Wei Kao, and Kao-Yuan HS RHP/OF Kuo-Lin Lo, the younger brother of Mariners farmhand Kuo-Hui Lo.

CW Kao

KL Lo

*CPBL News:
-Chih-Sheng Lin is not in good standings with his CPBL club.

-CPBL ST is underway.

-Former Red Sox farmhand Chia-Chu Chen is now training with the Lamigo Monkeys; he will serve in the military this summer and then make himself eligible for the CPBL draft after finishing his military service.

Amateur Updates..

2011-01-10T23:12:00.000-08:00

HBT:

*C Tse-Yang Peng from Ping-Zhen HS and IF Sung-Yuan Niu of Shi-Yuan HS both hit HR's in the current HS Wood Bat Tourney. Peng was the 2006 Bronco League World Series HR derby champ; while Niu (pictured below from '08) was on the 2008 Pony League World Series NT squad.

*Also from the tourney, Ku-Pao HS RHP Ping-Hsueh Chen topped out at 91 mph and RHP Shao-Ching Chiang was consistently at 90-91 mph.

*The NYY are pursuing Ku-Pao HS INF Po-Rong (Jung) Wang, who is an above average runner

*Shi-Yuan HS RHP Lee-Wei Chiang is still nursing an arm injury; he has been heavily pursued by the NYY since he was in JR HS.

CPBL:*Lions RHP Wei-Lun Pan's new salary will be 530 K NT/month ($18,150 USD/month); the contract is just pending his signature.

*Elephants Manager Chen is encouraging LHP Fu-Te Ni to return to the CPBL. Chen feels that Ni's fastball and breaking pitches won't be effective vs. MLB hitters. Ni is a non-roster invitee to the Tigers' ST camp.
*There's been some drastic measures passed to help curb the rigging of games in Taiwan. A player could get up to 10 years in jail.

*Taiwan is willing to host the Asian Series this year in an effort to revive the tournament.
*Lamigo Monkeys slugger Chih-Sheng Lin still hasn't reported to ST camp; he's waiting to hear back from the Cleveland Indians.

*Sinon Bulls RHP Chien-Fu Yang may get a tryout with the Chunichi Dragons.

*The Bulls signed their 4th round pick: C Kun-Sheng Lin to a ~ 2.5 million NT signing bonus (~$86 K USD).

MLB:Mets GM Sandy Alderson on Chin-Lung Hu:
With the remainder of the bench, I presumed -- I believe correctly -- that Chin-lung Hu’s role would be as a backup middle infielder, not directly in the second base competition. Is that correct?

“I think that’s the likely result. I think we view him as a very capable defensive shortstop, and provides us some insurance there, as well as at second base -- maybe late-inning defense at second, given what we have there at the moment, and foreseeably what we will have there at beginning of spring training. I think that’s the likely role for him. We’ll let spring training play out.”

KY Chen Links Self with Yokohama.....

2011-01-09T20:51:00.000-08:00

Here's a pic of Kuan-Yu Chen acknowledging his signing with Yokohama, courtesy of Chen's FB page.

*The La New Bears are now the Lamigo Monkeys.

*The Bears/Monkeys signed their first round pick - IF Yen-Wen Kuo. Kuo will make 130 K NT/month (~$4,400 USD/month) with the potential to earn nearly 1 million NT in bonus incentives.

*The SK Wyverns have supposedly cooled on RHP Wei-Lun Pan.

Kuan-Yu Chen To Sign With BayStars...

2011-01-06T01:40:00.000-08:00

*Here's some more details about Chen's contract with the BayStars. He will receive a ~ $210K signing bonus and earn $60K USD annually.
Per his agent, Ku-Pao HS head coach Ming-Tang Tsai, Chen's contract states 2 things: 1)his team can't modify his delivery unless Chen agrees and 2)anytime the national team needs him, the BayStars must let him participate.

*Hong-Chih Kuo is expected to earn ~ $2.1 to 2.5 million for this upcoming season.

*A baseball player from Taoyuan Agricultural HS was booted off the team after testing positive (via urine analysis) for the drug ketamine.

*Softbank Hawks LHP Yao-Hsun Yang is also seeking a similar path to the US ala Wei-Yin Chen of the Dragons. Yang wants to be a free agent so that he can have the opportunity to play on the world's biggest stage, in the majors.

Lefty Kuan-Yu Chen to the BayStars?

2011-01-05T08:19:00.000-08:00

*Amateur lefty Kuan-Yu Chen is likely to sign with the Yokohama BayStars. His signing bonus would approach ~ $300 K. Chen had worked out for Yokohama not too long ago and was being pursued by the Yomiuri Giants & Chunichi Dragons.
The BayStars were also interested in Chen's amateur teammate Yu-Ching Lin.

*In other NPB news, the Orix BlueWave are interested in CPBL veteran star Bulls RHP Chien-Fu Yang. Yang was the most impressive NT pitcher at the Asian Games.

*In the final poll for 2010, the IBAF has Taiwan in the 5th spot, behind world leaders: Cuba, US, South Korea, and Japan.

*Taiwan defended its Asian "A" little league level championship (5-peat) with a 4-1 win over Japan in the championship game. Chun-An Wu cracked a HR for the NT.

*A team from Kyoto, Japan won the Chu-Lo Cup (12 and under) tourney in Taiwan.

*Former Taiwanese little league star, Tung-Jung Wu (now at National Physical Ed U. in Taiwan) has a partial ligament tear in his elbow.

*CPBL NEWS:
-The President Lions released IF Sen Yang and P Yi-Cheng Tsai.
-The Elephants will pay CPBL rookies Sung-Wei Tseng 160 K NT/month and Chi-Hung Cheng 135 K NT/month.
-The Sinon Bulls may be sold to the Ta-Rong Cargo Delivery/Moving Corp?
-Lions C Chih-Kang Kao and Elephants C Chun-Chang Yeh are spending their own money to train at the Indians' ST camp beginning 1/17 for a month.

*Here's a great series on Taiwanese HS players in Japan with the aim of playing in the sacred Koshien Tournament:

*Life After Baseball?
-Former pitcher Shih-Kui Huang, who is now the pitching coach at Chinese Cultural University, is the only coach with a PhD degree from the US currently in Taiwanese baseball.
-At 25, former Yomiuri Giant and NT RHP Chien-Ming Chiang is out of baseball and currently working in a jewelry store.

Fresh Start for Hu and Chang...

2010-12-27T22:40:00.000-08:00

*The LA Dodgers traded Chin-Lung Hu to the NY Mets.

*The President Lions acquired Tarzan from the Bulls for ~ $83 K USD. The team also reassigned
their GM within the corporation.

*One time star RHP Chung-Nan Tsai is now the Sinon Bulls' pitching coach.

*At the Asian LL Championships, the NT defeated South Korea 2-1 to move on to the championship game against Japan. Japan beat China 7-6 in the other semifinal.

*Shi-Yuan Junior HS won the Taipei International Junior HS tourney, winning 11-4 in the championship game. Chun-Jen Cheng, despite arm pain, logged another 5 innings to pick up the W and threw 398 pitches over 4 days! Cheng was easily the MVP of the tourney with 3 W's.

CJ Cheng

SW Liu

Shao-Wei Liu from Taipei County has created the most buzz in the tourney with his 84-85 mph fastball. He won the tourney batting title with a .541 BA. The 14 year old already stands in at 6"1". Liu was on the 2008 LL NT team that won the Asian Championships. See below vid:

*Taiwan's legislators are pushing forward an attempt to put a halt to fixing pro games.

Amateur Tourney Updates...

2010-12-26T23:57:00.000-08:00

*The LL NT is currently 3-0 in Japan at the Asian LL Championships.   The team squeaked by China in its first game, 4-3, before defeating Thailand 16-0 in game 2. The NT moved on to the semifinals after defeating Indonesia 20-0 in its last group game.
The boys will face South Korea in one semifinal, while Japan plays China in the other semi.

*Some news on the current Taipei International Junior HS Tournament :
1)Hsin-Ming RHP Chuan-Yu Hsu from Taoyuan County has pitched well, topping out at 78 mph.
2)Shi-Yuan RHP Chun-Jen Cheng has thrown 2 CG's in 3 days (300 pitches!) to help his team enter the semifinals.

*In the College Cup, Chinese Culture University won the title with an 11-1 victory on Friday.   SP Chen-Hua Lin started the game, pitched a CG (7 innings) to pick up the W (1 unearned run on 5 hits, 8 K's, 1 BB). Lin was elected the top pitcher in the tourney (0.00 ERA, 7.1 IP, 1 W).
On the losing end was SP Kuan-Yu Chen (0.1 IP, 3 R, 4 H).   KY Chen is still suffering from some confidence issues since getting hammered against South Korea in the Asian Games.
Fu-Jen University won third with a 7-1 victory over Taipei Sports College.

*CPBL News:   The President Lions signed their second round draft pick: RHP Wen-Yang Liao to a 2.5 million NT signing bonus, 100K NT/month salary.

Speaking of the Lions, veteran star slugger Tarzan (Tai-Shan Chang) has been linked to the club.

*Other: Interesting read on Genji Kaku's son in Japan - looks like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree.

News Briefs...

2010-12-23T22:02:00.000-08:00

*The Asian Little League Championships (12 and under) will kick off tomorrow in Kurashiki, Japan. Taiwan earned the easier draw as it was grouped with China, Indonesia, and Thailand. Group B consists of Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Pakistan.
The LL NT will play:
12/24 vs. China
12/25 vs. Thailand
12/26 vs. Indonesia
The top 2 teams from each group will play on the 27th (1 vs. 2 format), with the semifinal winners meeting in the championship game on the 28th.

*Speaking of little league baseball, the Chu-Lo Mountain Cup LL Tourney in Chiayi has a record number of teams participating (120 total with 12 teams coming from other countries - 7 from Japan) this year. Last year, 117 teams were involved in the tourney. To help protect young arms, a pitch count restriction will be implemented.

*CPBL News:
The Elephants have released a total of 9 players from this past season's roster to help make room for some of their new draft picks.

The Bears inked last year's top pick, RHP Chu-Kuan Lee to a 2.5 million NT signing bonus (~$84 K USD).

The President Lions hired new hitting (Terushi Nakajima) & pitching (Makoto Kito) coaches from Japan.

*Amateur lefty Kuan-Yu Chen had a tryout on Tuesday with the Yokohama BayStars. He topped out at 84 mph.

*RHP Chun-Lin Kuo was clocked at ~92 mph recently in the collegiate tourney (12/22 loss vs. CCU). Kuo, who currently plays for Taiwan Sports University, was a member of the 2010 world champion junior NT.

2010 CPBL Draft Results

2010-12-22T06:56:00.000-08:00

Read more here.

Team:          Lions                      Bears                    Bulls                     Elephants
Round1:  Yung-Chi Chen      Yen-Wen Kuo        Chih-Pei Huang      Sung-Wei Tseng
Round2: Wen-Yang Liao      Cheng-Hao Tseng   Hung-Cheng Lai     Chi-Hung Cheng
Round3: Ying-Shan Wang     Te-Lung Yu            Wen-Cheng Hsu    Chun-Wei Chiu
Round4: Wan-Lin Tsai          Wei-Jen Wang        Kun-Sheng Lin       Ta-Yuan Kuan
Round5: En-Tse Huang         Yueh-Teng Hsu       Kai-Lun Chen        Hsiao-Jung Shih
Round6: Yu-Kang Fu             Ko-Yao Weng       Chia-Chu Lee         Chia-Wei Yen
Round7: Na-Yao Fang         Chun-Yi Wu           Liu-Ching Huang    Chun-Sheng Huang

For the rest of the draft, go to the official CPBL site.

Yung-Chi Chen to the Lions....

2010-12-20T23:37:00.000-08:00

*The President Lions will select IF Yung-Chi Chen with the 1st overall pick in the CPBL draft tomorrow (December 21st). Chen will receive a multi-year deal (3 years) worth 300 K NT/month (~10 K USD/month)+ additional bonus incentives. This is the second highest rookie salary in Lions team history (Genji Kaku, better known as Yuen-Chih Kuo earned 500 K NT/month in '97 with the Lions).

The Bears have the # 2 pick and will most likely select IF Yen-Wen Kuo. The Bulls have the third overall pick and are expected to go with a positional player - perhaps C Kun-Sheng Lin. The Elephants will choose last in the first round and are expected to select RHP Sung-Wei Tseng.
RHP Wen-Yang Liao is a wild card to be selected in the first round and is the top amateur pitcher available in the draft.

*Taiwan Coop Bank 19 year old RHP Wei-Hua Wu was clocked at a high of 92 mph in the recently completed winter amateur tourney. He threw a CG shutout on the 19th, giving up only 3 hits in his team's 5-0 win over Tai-Power. Wu also started on 12/11 against Tai-Power, picking up the W after throwing 7 shutout innings, K'ing 5, walking none, while allowing only 3 hits.
Taiwan Coop bank won the tourney.
Po-Yu Lin (formerly with the White Sox organization) ended up winning the top pitcher award in the tourney (2 W's, 0.15 ERA)

*Negotiations haven't gone too well with Octagon and Chunichi regarding Wei-Yin Chen's desire to play in the US. Chen was seeking to have his status changed to that of a foreign player. The club currently views him as a domestic/Japanese player. In order for Chen to play overseas, he'll either have to be 1) posted by his NPB club or 2) wait till he's 31 years old, when he becomes an international free agent (with 9 years of service - this is defined as being active for 145 days on the team's top roster for nine seasons. Time missed for injuries during these years does not count).

MT Chen Signing Confirmed...

2010-12-19T09:05:00.000-08:00

*Apple Daily is confirming MT Chen's signing with the Mariners.

*Here's the latest update on WL Pan, contrary to what's been reported. Again, the biggest limiting factor with CPBL star veterans jumping ship is the transfer fee.

Rumored Signing: Min-Tzu Chen

2010-12-17T20:13:00.000-08:00

The Seattle Mariners are rumored to have signed RHP Min-Tzu Chen (tops out at 94 mph, but has had a history of elbow problems) for $150 K.
It's good to see the Mariners continue to sign players in Taiwan despite their lack of success (Chao-Kuan Wu, Yung-Chi Chen, Chia-An Huang, Kuo-Hui Lo, Yao-Wen Chang).

*CMW has rejoined the Nationals, agreeing to a one year $1 million guaranteed deal (worth up to $5 million with incentives). This news comes on the heels of the awkward public display put on by CMW's reps Octagon and the CPBL. (The CPBL blasted Octagon for communicating with the league through the media rather than directly with the league and giving false facts to the public.)

2010 CPBL Draft News

2010-12-16T06:44:00.000-08:00

The 2010 CPBL draft will have some big names available for the 4 CPBL clubs. Yung-Chi Chen, Sung-Wei Tseng, Yen-Wen Kuo, and Chi-Hung Cheng are former US minor leaguers who will make things interesting as to who the Lions will select with the first overall pick. Yung-Chi Chen is still seeking an opportunity to play in the US while the Lions are looking to avoid the same fate the Elephants suffered in '08 when they selected Fu-Te Ni with their first round pick. Ni never pitched an inning for the pachyderms as he ended up signing with the Detroit Tigers.

As an interesting side note to the draft, CMW and his agent attempted to register for the CPBL draft but had issues with CPBL draft rules, which are similar to the KBO and NPB.

*In a stark contrast of Eastern/Western philosophies regarding how to train young arms, the Yomiuri Giants Yi-Hao Lin recently completed a 150 pitch bullpen. The Yomiuri Giants pitching coach said "he's young, he needs to pitch a lot."!!

Wei-Lun Pan to the SK Wyverns

2010-12-06T21:18:00.000-08:00

WL Pan (L), CH Lin (R) - 2010 Intercontinental Cup All-Stars

Per Korean news reports, the 2010 KBO champs - SK Wyverns have signed CPBL RHP Wei-Lun Pan. The signing would make Pan the first CPBL player to jump ship to the KBO, completing the trifecta (En-Yu Lin was the last player to jump from the CPBL to the NPB; Fu-Te Ni was the first and only player from the CPBL to play in the Majors).

*Update on CMW

HS Pitcher Catches Hibbard's Attention...

2010-12-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

Pei-Yuan Huang, a 17 year old senior at Tung-Shih HS, impressed Indians personnel Greg Hibbard in a scrimmage yesterday during a select HS elite training camp. Huang started the game and threw 5 shutout/hitless innings while K'ing 6. He was clocked at a high of 88 mph. Hibbard mentioned that Huang would be a player worth following and that if he was in the US, he would be sought after by collegiate teams.

CPBL Vets Gathering Attention....

2010-12-03T20:49:00.000-08:00

*Star CPBL veterans Chih-Sheng Lin and Wei-Lun Pan are some of the new crop of eligible CPBL free agents (Chien-Fu Yang and Cheng-Min Peng are two other names that come to mind) gathering some attention from overseas teams. Lions stalwart RHP Wei-Lun Pan is rumored to have gathered some interest from KBO teams.

Bears IF Chih-Sheng Lin worked out for MLB teams today (12/3) in Taichung (see above pic). The Twins, Tigers, Indians, A's, and Pirates had scouts present at the work out.   Two factors working against Lin (and other CPBL vets) are:
1) his age - he turns 29 in January.
2) the cost to sign him could be a deterrent:   Lin currently makes 350,000 NT/month, which is roughly $11,500 USD/month.   The Bears would ask for a transfer fee equivalent to 2.5x his current wages for this year - that would amount to ~$346,600 USD/year.    For the second year of services, the Bears would ask for a transfer fee of no less than 1.5x his current wages - equating to ~$208K USD/year.

Korean KBO teams are also interested in Lin and would have no problem paying him a salary of ~ $300 K USD/year, however, when you factor in his transfer fee of ~ $550 K USD over 2 years, one can see why there would be a hesitancy to invest in a perennial CPBL All-Star.

Recently released Pirates farmhands IF Chih-Wei Hsu and RHP Shen-Cin Hong were also trying to impress scouting personnel at the workout.    Hong was seeking another opportunity to return to the US with the Indians.   Greg Hibbard, a pitching coach in the Indians organization, is currently in Taiwan. While performing a HS pitching clinic recently, Hibbard was shocked to hear that most youth pitchers threw 80-100 pitches daily in practice.   To help protect these young arms, Hibbard advocated for the "less is more" concept, where pitchers throw no more than 3x/week and no more than 50 pitches each session.

*Speaking of clinics, Chin-Lung Hu, Jim Lefebvre, and Rick Dell put on a hitting clinic in Taiwan.

*Chien-Ming Wang was non-tendered by the Nationals, signaling that the team did not want to pay the $1.6 million/year minimum that Wang would have earned in arbitration. On the other hand, Hong-Chih Kuo is expected to get a hefty raise after an outstanding year - the early estimates point to a ball park figure of $2 million+/year.

*Former MLB farmhands Sung-Wei Tseng and Chia-Chu Chen alongside amateur standouts P Wen-Yang Liao and C Kun-Sheng Lin are expected to make themselves available for the upcoming CPBL draft.

One And Done....

2010-11-28T23:24:00.000-08:00

*The Pirates released RHP Shen-Cin Hong and 1B Chih-Wei Hsu. The pair were signed last year alongside OF Ping-Hung Chi.

*Lefty Fu-Te Ni was removed from the Tigers' 40 man roster.

*23 year old Shen-Fu Tsai expects to hear back from the Chiba Lotte Marines by December (pics from November workout in Japan). The 6'3", 220 pound slugger was 2-4 with a RBI in yesterday's amateur tourney game.
Tsai does have legit power (Check out these blasts at the :38 and 1:20 mark in the same game):

*Taking a look at OF Chia-Ching Lin's swing (from this year's Fall Instructional League):

Strong Words from Chen...

2010-11-24T07:01:00.000-08:00

*Per Taiwanese news reports, Cubs minor leaguer RHP Hung-Wen Chen has stated that if he doesn't get put on the 40 man roster, he'll quit and seek an opportunity to play in the NPB or CPBL. He said that the most important thing about playing baseball is being happy, however that has not happened while playing for the Cubs and he feels that he doesn't get any respect from his MLB organization. Chen also said that he hit the Korean catcher during the gold medal game at the Asian Games intentionally as he was upset at how the Korean team reacted after hitting the 2-run HR off LHP KY Chen.

*Amateur 1B Shen-Fu Tsai went to a tryout with the Chiba Lotte Marines and said that he may get a contract offer.

*Lefty Wei-Yin Chen may get his opportunity to jump to the US after next season.

Red Sox Release CC Chen....

2010-11-14T22:46:00.000-08:00

*The Red Sox released C Chia-Chu Chen.

*The NT is currently 2-1 at the Asian Games: 6-1 L vs. South Korea/11-1 W vs. Pakistan / 16-0 W vs. Hong Kong The team's likely next opponent is Japan in one semifinal.

*CH Chen is getting some love in the prospect polls: Call to the Pen / The Hardball Times

Che-Hsuan Lin wasn't in BA's top 10 for his respective team, but he did garner 3 of the "Best Tools" in the Red Sox minor league system. He was one of two NT reps on the 2010 Intercontinental Cup All-Star team

*The CPBL and KBO champs split a two game set.

*Update on CMW - who's currently back home

US Minor Leaguers Performing Well at Intercontinental Cup...

2010-10-27T06:59:00.000-07:00

*Over in Taiwan, the NT has finished the first round with a 3-1 record:
11-5 W vs. South Korea
6-0 W vs. the Czech Republic
10-0 W vs. Hong Kong
2-0 L vs. Cuba

5 players with US minor league experience are among the team's leaders offensively:
-Yung-Chi Chen leads the team with a .571 BA, 6 RBI, and 2 SB
-Che-Hsuan Lin is second in BA (.444) with 2 SB
-Chun-Hsiu Chen is hitting .400 with 1 HR (watch here on youtube) and 6 RBI
-Yen-Wen Kuo has a .389 BA while Kuo-Hui Lo is batting .375

The team has secured second place in group A and is moving on to the second round where it will face the top three teams from group B: Japan, Italy, the Netherlands.

*The Elephants pulled off the unthinkable, winning the 2010 Taiwan Series by sweeping the Bulls. Elephants SP Jim Magrane won the Series MVP. The Elephants will now prepare for a 2 game tilt against the KBO champs - the SK Wyverns next month (Nov. 4th and 5th).

*Update on CC Lee in the AFL

One Away.....& Other News....

2010-10-22T23:40:00.000-07:00

*Rain may be the only thing keeping the Elephants from sweeping the Taiwan Series from the Bulls.

*Hong-Chih Kuo is back home and will toss the honorary first pitch on Saturday's matchup between Taiwan and South Korea.
Here's the (Round 1) schedule for the home team:
10/23 - vs. South Korea
10/24 - vs. Czech Republic
10/25 - vs. Hong Kong
10/26 - vs. Cuba

*There are rumors circulating that the Seattle Mariners recently worked out Chin-Hui Tsao.

*Octagon has been contacting teams to gauge interest in CPBL Bears slugger Chih-Sheng Lin. Lin, who has led the league in HR's the past two years (21 this year and 31 last year) is aspiring to play overseas. A posting fee will be required per La New.

NT Takes Victory over Cuba in Warm Up Match....

2010-10-18T23:24:00.000-07:00

The national team defeated Cuba in a warm up match 3-2 on the 18th.
Hung-Wen Chen started the game and threw 3 shutout innings. Chih-Lung Huang relieved him and allowed 1 run over 3 innings to pick up the W. Ching-Lung Lo and Yi-Hao Lin finished out the game.
19 year old Lin had 2 K's, including one of Cuban star Youliesky Gourriel (see below):

After trailing 1-0 in the 5th, Yung-Chi Chen and Che-Hsuan Lin would provide back-to-back singles to put the NT up 2-1 (see below vid).

Kuo-Ching Kao would drive in the final run (in the 6th) to complete the final offensive tally for the NT (see below):

Offensively, Chun-Hsiu Chen, Che-Hsuan Lin, and Yung-Chi Chen led the way with 2 hits each.

*The Elephants are up 2-0 in the Taiwan Series. The Elephants won game 1 against the Bulls 3-2.
Game 2 also went to the Elephants, who defeated the Bulls 3-1. Bulls manager Hsu failed to show up to the post game press conference.

*CC Lee has made 2 appearances in the AFL so far.

Tigers Release Tang....

2010-10-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

*The Detroit Tigers released OF Chao-Ting Tang.

*After finishing last in both half seasons of the CPBL standings, the La New Bears and their manager have parted ways.

*Lions ace Wei-Lun Pan earned his 100th career victory this past year, becoming the youngest player (at 28) to reach that bench mark in CPBL history. Pan is entertaining the idea of playing overseas if the opportunity arises.

*CMW topped out at 89 mph in his latest outing in the instructional league.

*In an exhibition match against the Sinon Bulls, the NT's Chun-Hsiu Chen managed to gun down CPBL 2010 SB king Da-Hung Cheng. Chen caught NT P's Hung-Wen Chen, Ching-Lung Lo, Yi-Hao Lin, and Chih-Lung Huang. Huang was clocked at a high of 91 mph.

*You can follow how Chia-Ching Lin is faring in the fall instructional league here.

Nan-Ying HS celebrating their Golden Dragon Cup championship

*Nan-Ying HS had several members of their team earn (Golden Dragon Cup) tourney honors, including:

-Top ERA: Po-Hsien Hsieh (0.00 ERA ,16 IP)

-Most RBI, 1B All-Star: Wei-Hao Chen (6 RBI)

-MVP: Min-Jen Fang

-2B All-Star: Yu-Kung Chen

-SS All-Star: Yi-Sheng Lo

-OF All-Star: Chi-Hao Lin

A's Offer Rejected?

2010-10-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

The Oakland A's were rumored to have offered Shi-Yuan RHP Chun-Lin Kuo $70K. Kuo was on the 2010 junior NT and is best known for his 18 K's against the Dutch junior NT.
The supposed offer was rejected.

*Chien-Ming Wang was clocked in the mid 80's in his instructional league outing.

*Astros farmhand Chia-Jen Lo was clocked at 92 mph in a recent outing.

10/6 News Briefs...

2010-10-06T06:55:00.000-07:00

*Hong-Chih Kuo has etched his name in the record books for the Dodgers. His 1.200 ERA for the season broke Eric Gagne's mark of 1.202 back in 2003. -quite an inspirational story for a guy who's been through multiple surgeries on his left elbow.

YC Chen, CH Lin, KH Lo

Lions (L>R): FH Liu, KC Kao, CK Kao, WL Pan

*The NT roster for the Intercontinental Cup has been announced. Here's the official site for the tournament.

*It'll be the Elephants (first half champs 36W-23L) vs. the Bulls (second half champs 33W-20L-7D) in this year's CPBL Taiwan Series. The Series will take place October 16th-24th (Games 5,6,7 if necessary), overlapping with the Intercontinental Cup (10/23-31).

*Nan-Ying HS defeated San-Min HS 4-2 in the championship game of the Golden Dragon Cup. Cheng-Kung HS earned 3rd after defeating Gao-Nong HS 7-6 in the consolation final.

*CMW is scheduled to make an appearance on Thursday in an instructional league game.
Speaking of CMW, how sweet is this? Check out this dual autographed card of CMW and CFC:

News Briefs....

2010-09-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

*Hong-Chih Kuo is 2 games away from reaching a $25,000 bonus incentive (pitch in 55 games). Including today, there are 5 games remaining on the Dodgers' regular season schedule.

*A's scout Adam Hislop was rumored to have expressed interest in Ku-Pao HS INF Po-Rong (Jung) Wang (#7 pictured above). The 17 year old was an All-Star INF at the 2010 Taiwan Cup that Ku-Pao won.

*The Kansas City Royals reportedly offered $100 K to Cultural University C Kuan-Wei Yang.

*In preparation for the Intercontinental Cup, the senior NT will play 3 warm-up games at Tien Mu Stadium in Taipei:
Oct. 18th vs. Cuba
Oct. 19th vs. the Netherlands
Oct. 20th vs. Japan

A Family Affair....National Team Roster Finalized....

2010-09-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

Some news briefs:
*Marines nigun RHP Yen-Feng Lin had surgery (near the end of August) for a broken bone in his right wrist after being struck by a hit ball.

*News brief on CC Lin coming to the US.

*A Name to Remember for Next Year - CH Chen.

*CH Lin won the Red Sox minor league DPOY award. - he also had 15 OF assists this year.

*The CPBL and KBO champs will face off in November for a 2 game tilt.

*Amateur player Chia-Ming Cheng (playing for Taiwan Coop. Bank) has a torn ligament in his throwing elbow. The ace pitcher is a former Little League star (selected the top national pitcher in '94/was also selected tourney MVP of the '97 world youth "AA" championships and one of the top pitchers in the '98 world youth "AA" championships) who helped lead TCB to a 2nd place finish in the recently completed 2010 Association Cup (Taipei City won the tourney). Cheng hit 4th in the lineup and batted .384 (good for 7th in the tourney). To continue his career as a pitcher, Cheng will require Tommy John surgery.

*The Dodgers will allow IF Chin-Lung Hu to play in the Asian Games only (Hu will not play in the Intercontinental Cup). As expected, Hong-Chih Kuo will not be representing his country in either competition.

*The 24-man final senior national team roster has been announced for the upcoming Asian Games:
Pitchers:
1)Hung-Wen Chen (Cubs)
2)Yao-Hsun Yang (Hawks)
3)Chih-Lung Huang (Giants)
4)Yi-Hao Lin (Giants)
5)Ming-Chieh Hsu (Lions)
6)Yi-Chieh Hsiao (Tigers)
7)Chien-Fu Yang (Bulls)
8)Ying-Chieh Lin (Bulls)
9)Wei-Lun Pan (Lions)
10)Kuan-Yu Chen (Amateur - Taiwan Beer)

Catchers:
1)Chun-Hsiu Chen (Indians)
2)Chih-Kang Kao (Lions)
3)Kun-Sheng Lin (Amateur)

Infielders:
1)Chin-Lung Hu (Dodgers)
2)Yung-Chi Chen (Pirates)
3)Tu-Hsuan Lee (Hawks)
4)Cheng-Min Peng (Elephants)
5)Yi-Chuan Lin (Bulls)
6)Tai-Shan Chang (Bulls)
7)Chih-Sheng Lin (Bears)

Outfielders:
1)Che-Hsuan Lin (Red Sox)
2)Kuo-Hui Lo (Mariners)
3)Dai-Kang Yang (Fighters)
4)Chien-Ming Chang (Bulls)

The South Korean contingent has been finalized and includes MLB standout Shin-Soo Choo.

*Yi Chang, is a 16 year old IF/RHP playing in Japan. He's currently playing at Fukuoka Daiichi HS. Sounds familiar? Chang is following in the footsteps of his cousin - Dai-Kang Yang (formerly known as Chung-Shou Yang) by attempting to trace his career path (Taiwanese middle school>Japanese HS>NPB?) at Yang's alma mater.
Chang belongs to an exclusive baseball family with good bloodlines.
His cousins include:
-brothers -Dai-Kang Yang (Fighters), Yao-Hsun Yang (Hawks), Yao-Hua Yang (Nagasaki Saints)
-brothers - Chih-Yuan Chen (Ex-Elephants), Chih-Peng Chen (Elephants)
-Hua-Wei Tseng (Ex-Bulls)
-Hua Yang (2009 Lions' 10th round draft pick)
-Chia-Min Tseng (Ex-Elephants)

Junior NT Retro Look......

2010-09-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, we've looked at past junior national teams and their rosters/results.  One interesting thing to note is that the success of the junior NT has not always correlated with the amount of talent (based on overseas signings) on the team.
(Bold # -overseas signees/team final ranking)

2000(2/5th World)
2001(5/1st Asia)
2002(5/2nd World)
2003(6/2nd Asia)

2004(8 -see below/5th World)
2005(5 -see below/3rd Asia)
2006(6 -see below/5th World)
2007(2 -see below/1st Asia)

-To update the list:

1)the 2004 junior NT also included three more recent signees: Chia-Jen Lo (Astros), Chen-Chang Lee (Indians), and Kai-Wen Cheng (Tigers) to up the total of junior NT members to sign abroad to 8.

2)An update to the 2005 junior NT includes: Kai-Wen Cheng (Tigers) and Chao-Ting Tang (Tigers) to up the total to 5 (MLB/NPB signees).

3)The 2006 junior NT also saw Kai-Wen Cheng (Tigers) and Chih-Lung Huang (Giants) sign abroad - to up the total to 6 (MLB/NPB signees).

4)From the 2007 junior NT, Chih-Lung Huang (Giants) and Chia-Chu Chen (Red Sox) signed abroad (2 total).

-The 2008 junior NT finished 5th in the world. To date only one player has signed abroad - Fu-Lin Kuo (Yankees).

-The 2009 junior NT placed 2nd to South Korea in Asia.   Three players signed overseas: Yao-Lin Wang (Cubs), Fu-Lin Kuo (Yankees), and Pin-Chieh Chen (Cubs).

-And of course, the 2010 junior NT made us all proud with a world title.   OF Chia-Ching Lin has already signed with the Indians and RHP Hung-Yi Chen is a Minnesota Twins signee. IF Tzu-Wei Lin is a sure bet to sign somewhere when all's said and done with his HS career.

Prior to 2000, there were several outstanding junior NT's, however we'll only look back to 1994 as that was the year the current elder statesman overseas (MC Hsu) was on a junior NT roster:

1)1994 (1/3rd Asia - 0/3rd World) - The junior NT sent two squads to participate in both tourneys. RHP Ming-Chieh Hsu (Lions) was on the Asian junior NT. Ex-Elephants great Chih-Yuan Chen played on both junior NT squads.

2)1995 (2/2nd World) - Chin-Feng Chen (Dodgers/Bears) and Chia-Chia (Elephants) headlined this squad. P Wen-Ping Yu played briefly overseas in the NPB (Orix Blue Wave).

3)1996 (1/2nd Asia - 0/2nd World) - CFC (Dodgers/Bears) was on the Asian junior NT. Chia-Chia (Elephants) and Kuo-Ching Kao (Lions) played on the world squad.

4)1997 (2/2nd World) - Chien-Ming Wang (Yankees/Nats) and Chin-Hui Tsao (Rockies/Dodgers/Elephants) were future major leaguers on this squad.

5)1998 (3/2nd Asia) - Chih-Chia Chang (Lions/Bears), Chien-Ming Wang (Yanks/Nats), and Hong-Chih Kuo (Dodgers) headlined this junior NT.

6)1999 (3/2nd World) - Chin-Hui Tsao (Rockies/Dodgers/Elephants), Ying-Chieh Lin (Cobras/Eagles/Bulls), and Chi-Hung Cheng (Jays/Pirates) were some of the power arms on this squad.   Hong-Chih Kuo was supposed to be on this team, until he was booted for signing with the Dodgers prior to his HS graduation.

Tung-Kao Cup...

2010-09-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

*The Tung-Kao Cup (HS Baseball) kicked off yesterday. Tzu-Wei Lin (pictured above) helped lead Kao-Yuan HS to a 4-3 win today in a two-way role (He was brought in to close out the game, K'ing the only batter he faced to end the game).

*TW Lin's junior national teammates Chia-Ching Lin (pictured above L) and Hung-Yi Chen (pictured above R) are US bound. Chia-Ching Lin (Indians) will head to the US this month in preparation for the Fall Instructional League. Chen (Twins) will train in Taiwan this winter and then head to the US some time in February.

*Indians prospect Chun-Hsiu Chen is back in Taiwan with the NT in preparation for the upcoming Asian Games.

Labor Day News Briefs.....

2010-09-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

*More trouble looming for Tsao?    Chin-Hui Tsao went to a tryout for some Indy League team in Texas, and in the process of trying to obtain a work visa in the US, was taken down when he entered Taiwan at immigrations. The court had ordered him twice to attend court sessions as a possible witness to provide further "insider info" related to the game-fixing scandals, but he was a no-show both times. Hence, he was taken into custody and then subsequently released after he was given a warning that if he is a no-show again, he'll be fined 30K NT. Tsao listed "cousin--Kelvin Lee" on his contact info to which Tsao explained that K. Lee is not his cousin but his agent instead.

*Chin-Lung Hu was recalled by the Dodgers. Hu was hitting .317 with 4 HR's and 25 RBI in AAA despite missing 2 months recovering from a broken left thumb.

Minor League Run Down (as of 9/5):
AAA
-The last of the 7 figure signing bonus recipients - RHP Ching-Lung Lo is now in AAA.
-RHP Hung-Wen Chen has found sledding in AAA pretty tough (3-3, 6.04 ERA). He was an AA All-Star earlier this season.
-Since being sent down earlier in the season, lefty Fu-Te Ni has also struggled in AAA (7.94 ERA).

AA
-IF Yung-Chi Chen is hitting .205 on the year at the AA level between two organizations.
-OF Chih-Hsien Chiang's season is over due to a sore wrist, but he hit .260 with 11 HR's and 65 RBI in AA ball. Check out his progression over the past few months (April .117 BA, May .212 BA, June .272 BA, July .320 BA, August .322 BA). Heralded teammate OF Che-Hsuan Lin was hitting .275 with 2 HR's and 26 SB in AA. He also had an impressive 72 BB/63 SO ratio.
-RHP Chen-Chang Lee has had an impressive season in AA - with a >1:1 K/IP ratio (82/72.2) and a 3.22 ERA. Lee will be playing in the AFL this fall.
-RHP Chia-Jen Lo has missed most of the season with a partial tear of his UCL, but he started the year in AA ball.

A+
-After starting the year in AA ball, OF Kuo-Hui Lo was demoted to A+ ball and has actually fared worse, hitting only .224 with 0 HR's (.233/ 4 HR's - season total).
-In contrast, C Chun-Hsiu Chen was promoted to A+ ball and has been tearing the cover off of the ball - .321, 6 HR's, .976 OPS at Kinston (.316, 12 HR's, 69 RBI - season total).

A
-Reliever Sheng-An Kuo is third in the SAL (A ball) with 20 saves.   He was a midseason All-Star.
-OF Wang-Wei Lin hit .231 with 1 HR and 11 SB's in A ball.
-RHP Tzu-Kai Chiu is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in A ball (2-0, 1.69 ERA - season total).

A-ss
-C Chia-Chu Chen had his problems at the plate this year in A-ss ball (.171 BA, 1 HR, 6 RBI).
-Earlier this season, 22 year old OF Chao-Ting Tang was demoted from A+ ball to the NYPL (A-ss) and has still been unable to find his stroke - .197 BA, 0 HR's (.200 BA, 0 HR's - season total).
-IF Pin-Chieh Chen was rewarded with a promotion to A-ss ball after a nice debut in the AZL (R). (.295 BA, 0 HR's, 10 SB - season total)

R
-19 year old RHP Yao-Wen Chang continued to struggle in his 3rd year of pro ball with Pulaski (R) -10.07 ERA, batters hit .360 off of him.
-C Meng-Hsiu Tsai made his US minor league debut this year in the GCL (R), but was hitless in 4 AB's.
-After starting the season in A-ss, RHP Yao-Lin Wang has had a nice first season in the AZL (R) - 2.12 ERA, 19 K's/17 IP - (1-3, 4.06 ERA, 29 K's, 31 IP - season total).
-The Pirates trio of Ping-Hung Chi, Chih-Wei Hsu, and Sheng-Cin Hong found life difficult in their US debut at the R level.
OF Chi hit .138 with 23 K's in 58 AB. IF Hsu hit .154 with 16 K's in 39 AB. RHP Hong allowed 4 HR's in 13.1 IP and had an ERA of 14.18.
-RHP Tzu-An Wang was 0-2 with a 7.32 ERA (19 K's/19.2 IP) in his US debut in R ball.
-In his first year stateside, IF Fu-Lin Kuo hit .243 with 4 HR's and 23 RBI in the GCL (R).
-RHP Po-Cheng Chi was 1-0 with a 5.02 ERA in his US debut in the AZL (R) -
although command was an issue: 5 K's, 17 BB's, 14.1 IP
-Last but not least, IF Zhi-Fang Pan - the most recent signee to make his debut in the US, had an excellent first season at the plate - .331 BA in 157 AB in the AZL (R).

*NT developments - Three Up, Three Down - OF Kuo-Hui Lo, IF Yung-Chi Chen, and P Ming-Chieh Hsu have been cleared by their organizations to participate with the NT.   Top lefties - Wei-Yin Chen and Fu-Te Ni, as well as Chen-Chang Lee will not be available for NT services.   Replacing them on the 45 man preliminary roster are amateur players: LHP Hung-Cheng Lai, RHP Chen-Hua Lin, and BayStars RHP Yi-Cheng Wang.

The Intercontinental Cup kicks off in October (23-31) and will be hosted by Taiwan.
The NT will then play in the 2010 Asian Games, taking place in Guangzhou, China - November 13-19.

*CPBL Update - Lions SP Ching-Ming Wang - CPBL ROY? Wang was the Lions top pick in the '08 CPBL draft. Wang's 9 wins are good for 3rd in the league, while his 3.74 ERA (13th) and 75 K's (9th) also are among league leaders. His main competition may come from Bears slugger - Hung-Yu Lin (.311, 8 HR's, 60 RBI).

Other league leaders:
BA: Yi-Chuan Lin (.350), Chia Chia (.347), Chih-Sheng Lin (.311), Hung-Yu Lin (.311), Chao-Hsing Cheng (.310), Tarzan (.307)
HR: Chih-Sheng Lin (17), Tarzan (15), Cheng-Yu Chung (9), Yi-Chuan Lin (8), Hung-Yu Lin (8), Tai-Chi Kuo (8)   (Chia Chia and CFC both have 7)
RBI: Tarzan (69), Chih-Sheng Lin (67), Hung-Yu Lin (60), Cheng-Yu Chung (60), Chia Chia (58) (Yi-Chuan Lin has 49)
SB: Da-Hung Cheng (23), Fu-Hao Liu (23), Chia Chia (19), Sheng-Wei Wang (19), Yen-Feng Chen (16)
Wins: Carlos Castillo (11), Orlando Roman (11), Chien-Fu Yang (10), Chris Mason (10), Jim Magrane (10)
ERA: Carlos Castillo (2.10), Ken Ray (2.31), Chien-Fu Yang (2.42), Ying-Chieh Lin (2.43), Chris Mason (2.51)
K's: Orlando Roman (123), Ken Ray (118), Jim Magrane (106), Ying-Chieh Lin (93), Shoda Itsuki (91)
Saves: Ryan Cullen (27), Takatsu Shingo (23), Yueh-Ping Lin (14), Po-Hsuen Keng (9), Ming-Chieh Hsu (7)

Lin and Yankees Go Their Separate Ways...

2010-08-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

According to news reports in Taiwan, the Yankees have determined that their contract with Tzu-Wei Lin was invalid.   Supposedly, his father had signed off on the contract, but TW Lin's signature was nowhere to be found. Yankees Sr. VP of Baseball Operations Mark Newman confirmed that the deal was never finalized.

This leaves Lin with the opportunity to continue his HS career, avoid potential problems with his HS and amateur governing baseball bodies, and also perhaps seek greener pastures in the near future (when he graduates from HS).   The rumored $600 K offer from the Twins and ~$500 K offers from the Braves and Pirates greatly exceeded the $350 K (+ $64K for school) offer from the Yankees.

The drama has also casted a shadow on Lin's reps - Octagon (for helping Lin to consider signing a contract before his HS graduation and also for taking an inferior financial offer from the Yankees).

*Deja Vu - The boys from Kaohsiung won their consolation game at the LLWS on Sunday after a crushing defeat in extra innings the day before to Japan.   Similar to 2007 during LLWS play, Japan rallied from behind to tie things up in their last AB and then win in extra innings.   Hat tip to Japan on winning the LLWS.

*The minor league season is coming to a close.   Overall, the season has been a disappointment (injuries to CJ Lo and CL Hu, the dreadful debuts of several minor league farmhands - particularly with the Pirates, and poor performances from minor league veterans) save a few bright spots (CH Chen, CH Lin, CC Lee, CH Chiang, etc.).   First year players - ZF Pan (.331 BA) and PC Chen (.292 BA, 10 SB) did manage to hold their own offensively.
Over in Japan, TH Lee has been impressive at the plate as well (.303 BA, 9 HR) while Yi-Hao Lin (3 W's, 2.93 ERA) has begun to fulfill some of the promise he once exhibited as a 15 year old.

Enjoying the Ride......2010 Asian Youth Champs

2010-08-27T00:26:00.000-07:00

The Youth NT won the 2010 Asian "AA" Youth Championships by defeating Japan 3-0 in the championship game.   Starting pitcher Hua-Ching Lin picked up the W and tourney MVP honors after shutting down Japan for 7 innings, allowing only 1 hit while K'ing 4. IF Hao-Chen Chen earned the BA title in the tourney.

*Their Little League brethren will also face Japan in the International Championship Game of the LLWS on Saturday at 10 AM Pacific on ABC.

*Pending further investigation, Tzu-Wei Lin may not be able to participate in any more HS games if his contract with the NYY is valid.    Also his HS team (Kao-Yuan HS) and coach would be barred from tourneys for a one year period. NYY local scout Ken Su was to meet with  Kao-Yuan HS baseball program director Cheng-Hsien Yu to help clarify the situation.

*The CPBL is considering adding a 5th team to the league from across the Strait.   If it happens, wow!

Brief Update on TW Lin...

2010-08-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

The latest reports in Taiwan on Tzu-Wei Lin are stating that Lin wants to void the contract he signed with the NYY. The CTBA also wants the contract voided. It is yet to be determined what the NYY will do.

The Smoking Gun.....Tzu-Wei Lin Signs with Yankees

2010-08-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

First off, I apologize for the long layoff - a much needed vacation helped to rejuice my batteries. For those with young children, I highly recommend Carnival Cruise Lines - they have an excellent program for kids.

Ok, on to some recent news:

1)Kevin Goldstein has broken the news that 16 year old Tzu-Wei Lin has signed with the Yankees for $350 K. The news comes as a surprise for two reasons: 1) the kid signed before his HS graduation 2) he could've received a lot more coin signing with another team (rumored to have received multiple better offers - with offers rumored to be as high as $600 K from one particular MLB club)
However, one can speculate that Lin's reps - Octagon and their close ties to NYY local scout Ken Su probably had something to do with Lin's signing with the Yankees.

2)The youth NT is 2-0 at the Asian "AA" Championships.

3)A 45-man preliminary roster was announced for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup and Asian Games. Hong-Chih Kuo headlines a large contingent of overseas players that include:
-HC Kuo (Dodgers)
-FT Ni (Tigers)
-HW Chen (Cubs)
-CJ Lo (Astros)
-CC Lee (Indians)
-CL Lo (Rockies)
-WY Chen (Dragons)
-YH Yang (Hawks)
-CL Huang (Giants)
-YH Lin (Giants)
-MC Hsu (Lions)
-YC Hsiao (Tigers)
-CH Chen (Indians)
-CL Hu (Dodgers)
-YC Chen (Pirates)
-TH Lee (Hawks)
-CH Lin (Red Sox)
-KH Lo (Mariners)
-WC Lin (Tigers)
-TK Yang (Fighters)

4)Congrats to Chung-Ching Jr. LL from Taipei City on winning the Junior League Baseball World Series. It looks like there's another Tzu-Wei Lin to keep an eye out for.

5)At the LLWS, Taiwan is currently 2-0. (18-0 W vs. KSA - Box/Recap) (23-0 W vs. CANADA - Box/Recap)

6)CH Chen continues to stroke the ball well at A+ ball - homering again tonight. Che-Hsuan Lin was selected the best defensive OF in the Eastern League by BA.

PONY Score Updates....

2010-08-08T15:31:00.001-07:00

*Palomino WS: Taiwan lost its opening game to Lynnhaven, VA 7-1 on Friday. The team then beat Puerto Rico 10-4 on Saturday, keyed by Meng-Chieh Kan's grand slam home run. The team was eliminated from the tourney in a 13-11 rematch loss to Lynnhaven, VA today.

*Bronco WS: Taiwan is 2-0 so far in pool play, defeating Chambersburg, PA 9-2 Friday and Mexico 8-1 Saturday.

*3B Wei-Chih Chen made the 2010 WUBC All-Star Team.

6th at the WUBC....

2010-08-06T06:28:00.000-07:00

*The collegiate NT finished 6th at the 2010 WUBC after losing 15-14 to Canada.   Box / Stats

*The Bronco World Series kicks off today for Taiwan.    Roster
8/6 - vs. Chambersburg, PA
8/7 - vs. Kino, Sonora, Mexico
8/9 - vs. Monterey, CA
8/10 - vs. Tamiami/Leon Medical Centers, FL
- Top 2 from each bracket play in the semis on Wed. 8/11

*The Palomino World Series also starts today for Taiwan. Representing Taiwan (the team is from Taichung and not Taipei as indicated on the PONY website)  is another squad from Shi-Yuan/Gao-Nong HS.
8/6 - vs. Lynnhaven, VA (double elimination format - lose 2 and you're out of the tourney, except for the championship game)
The two other teams in Taiwan's bracket are: Colton, CA & Gurabo, P.R.

*The 2010 Asian "AA" Youth Championships are around the corner.   The tourney will take place in Bangkok, Thailand. The youth NT's schedule is as follows:
8/22 - vs. Hong Kong
8/23 - vs. Indonesia
8/24 - vs. Thailand
8/25 - the semis take place with the top two seeds in each pool playing each other (#1A vs. #2B and vice versa) Taiwan was fortunate that Japan and South Korea are in pool A together alongside China and Sri Lanka; however this also means that the team most likely will have to face both Japan and South Korea (in the semis and finals) in order to win the tourney.

*The LLWS doesn't start until 8/20. Taiwan's first game is on 8/21 against Saudi Arabia - the MEA champs.
Regarding the Junior League World Series, Taiwan will face Guatemala in its opening game on Sunday August 15th.

*Coolin' Down: Red-hot reliever Chen-Chang Lee has been quietly putting together a nice season in AA ball. Lee was recently placed on the DL with an oblique strain.

*Yi-Hao Lin is now on the Giants' regular roster and has a new contract.

*The star of the world junior championship squad, Tzu-Wei Lin has a bright future ahead of him.   At 16, he's a world champ, the WJC tourney MVP/most outstanding defensive player/tourney All-star 3B, and owned the highest BA in the tourney. He's apparently being represented by heavyweight - Octagon (rumor has it that he signed with them - with the assistance of the Yankees' Ken Su, during his last HS tourney).

*Taipei County has established a baseball program at Ying-Ke Vocational HS. The head coach will be former 1B/LHP Chuan-Chia Wang.   This is important news as Ying-Ke becomes only the 3rd HS baseball program (including Ku-Pao and Sioufong (Hsiu-Feng) HS) in Taipei County - which is the most populated locality in Taiwan.

*See how Wei-Ta Su and Jung-Hao Hsieh are faring in Alaska.

2010 World Jr. Champs!!!!

2010-08-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

It's been over 25 years since the island won its last and only world junior title.
Congrats to the 20 young men on an unforgettable showing in Thunder Bay!

Junior NT Keeps On Rollin'...

2010-07-31T13:22:00.000-07:00

*Call it the luck of the draw, but the junior NT finds itself in position to make a run at a medal. Taiwan defeated Venezuela 9-0 on Wednesday to complete pool play.
By finishing 2nd in its pool and because of Cuba's upset loss to the Netherlands on that Wed., Taiwan found itself matched up against the #3 seed in the other pool - the Netherlands. Behind Chun-Lin Kuo's CG,18 K! performance and IF Tzu-Wei Lin's clutch 3-run bomb, the NT rallied to defeat (4-2) an up-and-coming program in the junior Dutch team.
Taiwan will now play the Canadian junior NT (in their backyard) today at 4:00 PM Pacific in one semifinal.
The game is scheduled to be shown online.

*The collegiate NT dropped its first game on Friday to Canada 3-2 at the WUBC. The team will face the US tomorrow.

*The Dodgers released RHP Sung-Wei Tseng.

Youngsters Looking Good for the Junior NT....

2010-07-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

*The junior NT defeated Italy 13-4 yesterday. Box The team (3-1) will look to wrap up second place in pool play today with a game against Venezuela. (The team has already defeated both Italy and Australia - both teams are 2-2, who play each other today)

Racking up 3 more hits in yesterday's game for the junior NT was hot-hitting IF Che (Tzu) -Wei Lin. Lin is the youngest fielder on the team (turned 16 in February). Lin is currently among the tourney leaders in BA (.563), hits (9), runs scored (8), doubles (3), & total bases (14).

Aside from a tremendous bat (hits lefty), the 5'8" speedster is an impressive defensive player with a strong arm (throws righty) as well.

Lin played on last year's youth NT (2009) and led the team with a .519 BA. Representing Kao-Yuan HS, he was also the top hitter (.466) in this year's Yu-Shan Cup.

Lin

Also performing well for the junior NT is RHP Ping-Hsueh Chen. Chen is currently the youngest player on the team (just turned 16 earlier this month). Playing for HS powerhouse Ku-Pao, Chen has already racked up an impressive resume. Like Lin, Chen was also on the 2009 youth NT, however unlike Lin, Chen is already pretty mature physically and stands in at 6'0" while weighing ~ 185 lbs. He currently leads the team with 10 K's (including 3 K's against team USA in 1 inning of work) in 2 game appearances. He's been clocked at at high of 91 mph.

Chen

*The collegiate NT lost its last warmup game (6-3) to team USA and top pitching prospect Gerrit Cole on Tuesday. Box/Recap
Team USA head coach Bill Kinneberg has already commented that this year's Taiwanese collegiate NT is better than the 2007 edition that also competed in the WUBC.
Team USA played Taipei County today and is currently winning 9-1.
The collegiate NT has announced its final roster for the upcoming World University Baseball Championships.

Junior NT blanked by the US......

2010-07-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

*The junior NT was shutout by the US junior NT 10-0 in 7. Phillip Pfeifer (a top class of 2011 prospect) threw a 2-hit shutout against the junior NT lineup.
Box/Recap
The team is now 2-1, a day after winning a wild one against Australia (13-11).
Box/Recap

*The collegiate NT is 2-0 in its exhibition matches against the US.
The team won 3-1 (Box/Recap) on Sunday and 1-0 (Box/Recap) today. Wen-Yang Liao continues his impressive pitching performance (4 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 6 K's against the US).

*CPBL All-Star game recap

First Win for Junior NT...

2010-07-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

*First off, congrats to J. Lin. Good luck on your endeavours in the NBA. Hopefully some day (soon), we'll see a Taiwanese American play in the Major Leagues.

*The junior NT defeated France in its opening game 11-1.
Box
Recap

*As already reported, the Bronco reps rallied to defeat South Korea and move on to the World Series in the Monterey, CA.
-The top pitcher award and home run king went to Shih-Peng Chen
-Chun-Hao Hsieh had the most RBI (13)
-Tourney MVP honors went to Hsin-Chun Lee

*Here's the rosters for the upcoming US/Taiwanese NT friendly series in Taiwan (7/25-7/28). You can follow the games (to be played in Xinchuang Stadium) here.

More Amateur Updates...

2010-07-21T06:14:00.000-07:00

*The junior NT wrapped up its exhibition tour, defeating the St. Cloud Area Select All-Stars last night 6-4. (Recap)
The starter, Chun-Lin Kuo threw 5 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits while K'ing 5. Reliever Wei-Chung Wang picked up the W, but only after he allowed 4 runs in his 3 1/3 innings of work. Cheng-Han Tsai picked up the save. The team is now on its way to Thunder Bay, Canada to kick off the World Junior Baseball Championships, which begin this Friday.   The team's first game is against France on Saturday.
-Read more about the junior NT

*Pony Baseball:
BRONCO - Taiwan defeated the Philippines 30-0 (in 5 innings) to set up a showdown against South Korea tomorrow. South Korea defeated Japan 13-3 in the other semi. The offense rolled up 26 hits while the pitching staff held the Filipino hitters to 1 hit.   Team ace Shih-Peng Chen is expected to start the game tomorrow.
PONY - Taiwan lost to Japan in the championship game, falling short by a 1-0 score.   Huai-Lin Tang started the game, a day after pitching in the team's victory against the Philippines. Tang was clocked at a high of 84 mph. Teammate Che-Wei Lin was elected the tourney's top hitter.

Amateur Updates...

2010-07-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

*The junior NT defeated a Twin Cities HS All-Star squad 3-1 on Sunday. The team managed 3 runs on 8 hits offensively while the pitching managed to hold the Twin Cities Select squad to 1 run on 5 hits. Cheng-Han Tsai started and allowed 1 run on 3 hits over 3 IP, while K'ing 4 and walking 3. Shi-Ying Peng relieved Tsai and threw 3 scoreless innings, allowing 1 hit, while K'ing 1. Chia-Wei Huang closed out the game (pitching the last 3 innings) and was credited with the W (0 H, 2 K's). He was clocked at a high of 88 mph.*edited

The junior NT also picked up a W against the Canadian junior NT yesterday in a 4-0 win. The offense racked up 9 hits, while the hurlers shutout their opponent on 4 hits. OF Tse-Wei Ko led the way offensively with 3 hits in 4 AB's. The pitching staff racked up 16 K's (Ping-Hsueh Chen started - 3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 6 K's, 2 BB's/ recent Twins signee Hung-Yi Chen relieved PH Chen - 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 5 K's, credited with the W/ Kuo-Hua Lo closed out the game - 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 5 K's).
Recap
Recap
The junior NT played the St. Cloud All-Stars today.

*Regarding Bronco (Pony) baseball in the Asia-Pacific regional, Taiwan shutout its remaining 2 opponents in the pool to set up a semifinal against the Philippines. South Korea and Japan are playing in the other semi. On Monday, the team crushed Indonesia 34-0. The offense rolled up 28 hits including home runs by Chun-Hao Hsieh and two-way star Shih-Peng Chen. Taiwan defeated Vietnam 17-0 today.
Recap

Opening Win in Bronco Baseball....

2010-07-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

*Taiwan defeated Japan 5-0 in the opening game of the Asia-Pacific regional tourney in the Bronco division of Pony baseball. Shih-Peng Chen (pictured above) started and threw a CG shutout, giving up 4 hits while K'ing 5 over 7 innings. The lefty was clocked at a high of 73 mph.

*The collegiate NT finished 2-6 in the Netherlands. IF Po-Ting Hsiao led all hitters with a .500 BA and a .571 OBP. He was second in slugging (.583). P Wen-Yang Liao had the most K's in the tourney (14) and was 5th in ERA (1.12).
Team's final stats.

*The junior NT's warmup match with the USA was rained out yesterday. The team was scheduled to play the Twin Cities High School All-Stars today and will play the Canadian junior NT tomorrow.

Movin' On to the Good 'Ol US of A.........

2010-07-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

Taiwan is sending two reps to the US in the LL baseball organization. Fu-Hsing LL from Kaohsiung City won the Asia-Pacific regional tourney, blanking its 5 opponents 46-0, and will receive plenty of TV time in Williamsport. Chung-Ching Jr. LL from Taipei City won the Asia-Pacific regional tourney in JL baseball. Chung-Ching will head to Taylor, MI after beating its opponents by an 86-6 margin.

In the Pony baseball organization, three teams will try to duplicate their LL brethrens' feats. In the Bronco division, the team's toughest opponent in its pool is its opening game against Japan on the 18th. Team ace Shih-Peng Chen is expected to start against Japan. South Korea is in the other pool.

Shih-Peng Chen (L) pictured with Head Coach

Link to the Bronco team's pics

Ups and Downs.....

2010-07-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

*MILB:
HW Chen was moved up to AAA (he was a Southern League - AA All-Star).
KH Lo was demoted to high A ball.
YL Wang was demoted to R ball.
Nice read on CT Tang.

*One-time top pitching prospect RHP Chia-Ming Huang had TJ surgery. Prior to his surgery, the kid was on the radar for quite a few ML clubs.

*LLB:
Taiwan defeated South Korea 3-0 to conclude pool play. The team will now face the winner of the Philippines-Hong Kong matchup for the right to head to Williamsport.

Junior League Baseball (ages 13-15):
Chung-Ching Junior LL will play the Philippines tomorrow for the right to head to Taylor, MI.

7/13 Updates....

2010-07-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

*Kuo pitched in the All-Star Game, throwing 2/3 of an inning. The NL won 3-1.
Play-by-Play/Box

*Taiwan will host the first ever IBAF sponsored world LL tourney next year.

*The collegiate NT won its first game in Holland, defeating Japan 3-1. Box
Taiwan is 3-0, setting up a showdown with undefeated South Korea tomorrow in the A-P LLWS regionals.

*Some bad news: Tigers minor leaguer Hua-Wei Lo had TJ surgery.

Congrats to Kuo!

2010-07-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

On being Taiwan's first ML All-Star rep!

Brief Updates...

2010-07-11T06:28:00.000-07:00

*The CNMI LL reps journey is over before it even began. Taiwan's first scheduled opponent in the LL A-P regionals were stuck in Manila and I'm assuming they're out of the tourney.
Taiwan is scheduled to play Thailand today.

*The collegiate NT is 0-2 over in the Netherlands:
3-1 loss to the US team
1-0 loss to the home team

*The XM All-Star Futures Game takes place today in Anaheim, CA. Watch and follow Chun-Hsiu Chen at 3 PM Pacific on ESPN2.

*Here's a list of the velocities recorded by Taiwanese MLB/MILB pitchers this year :
>LHP H. Kuo top 98, avg 93-96
>RHP C. Lee top 98, avg 91-93
>RHP CJ Lo top 97, avg 91-94
>RHP Y. Chang top 94, avg 88-92
>RHP H. Chen top 93, avg 87-91
>RHP Y. Wang top 93, avg 87-92
>RHP S. Kuo top 93, avg 88-91
>RHP CL Lo top 92, avg 87-90
>RHP T. Wang top 92, avg 86-89
>RHP S. Hung top 91, avg 86-89
>LHP H. Lo top 91, avg 87-90
>LHP F. Ni top 90, avg 85-88
>RHP P. Chi top 89, avg 85-87
>LHP T. Chiu top 88, avg 84-87
>RHP S. Tseng top 88, avg 82-86
>RHP Huang injured, s/p surgery
>RHP Wang injured, s/p surgery

Some Bad Breaks...

2010-07-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

Some not so new news.....
*Chin-Lung Hu is out 6-8 weeks with a broken thumb.

*Fu-Te Ni was demoted.

And something you may not have heard yet.....
*Rumor has it that RHP Min-Tzu Chen was signed by the Mariners for $350K but he did not pass his physical.

Tourney Updates....

2010-07-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

*Regarding the 2010 World Junior Championships in July/August: the schedule has been set.   Taiwan is grouped with Australia, France, Italy, USA, and Venezuela. (The TEAM)
7/24 - vs. France
7/25 - vs. Australia
7/26 - vs. USA
7/27 - vs. Italy
7/28 - vs. Venezuela

*The Asia-Pacific regionals for Little League baseball will go on in Indonesia July 10th-15th.
Taiwan is grouped with Indonesia, Guam, CNMI, Thailand, and South Korea. (The TEAM)
7/10 - vs. CNMI
7/11 - vs. Thailand
7/12 - vs. Indonesia
7/13 - vs. Guam
7/14 - vs. South Korea
The championship game will take place on 7/15 with the winner of both groups facing off for the right to head to Williamsport.

*The Asia-Pacific zone for Bronco baseball (Pony) will take place July 18th - 22nd in Taipei, Taiwan.
Taiwan is grouped with Japan, Indonesia, and Vietnam.   Taiwan will have to finish in the top 2 of its pool to play in the semifinals on the 21st.  The championship game will take place on the 22nd. (The TEAM)

-The Asia-Pacific zone for Pony baseball will take place the 18th-23rd of July in the Philippines. (The TEAM)

-Taipei, Taiwan will host the Asia-Pacific zone for Palomino baseball 7/18-7/23. (The TEAM)

*The 2010 Haarlem Honkbal Tourney is right around the corner 7/9 - 7/18.   (The TEAM)
7/9 - vs. USA
7/10 - vs. Netherlands
7/12 - vs. Cuba
7/13 - vs. Venezuela
7/16 - vs. Japan

The team will then head home and play a 4 game set against team USA 7/25 - 7/28 in preparation for the WUBC.

They will then head to Japan for the WUBC 7/30 - 8/7. Taiwan is grouped with Canada, USA, and Sri Lanka.
7/30 - vs. Canada
8/1 - vs. USA
8/2 - vs. Sri Lanka

*Nan-Ying HS won the Golden Dragon Cup in the HS division, defeating Cheng-Kung HS 6-2 in the championship game. Chia-Hao Sung picked up the W in the championship game and led the tourney with 2 W's and a 1.125 ERA - he was the all-tourney selection as the top pitcher. Teammate Wei-Hao Chen was the tourney MVP.
Ku-Pao HS earned 3rd place by defeating Chang-Hua HS 11-1. Fielder Huang-Yi Lin of Chang-Hua HS led the tourney with a .478 BA.

Twins Sign RHP Hung-Yi Chen

2010-06-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

The Twins inked their second signee from Taiwan (OF Wang-Wei Lin was the first): Shi-Yuan HS RHP Hung-Yi Chen. The 2010 junior NT member is a HS teammate of recent Indians signee Chia-Ching Lin. He was the 2010 Yu-Shan Cup MVP.

Chen stands ~ 5'10" and weighs ~ 190 lbs. The 17 year old (9/25/92) righty tops out at 90 mph and throws a fastball/sinker/slider/forkball mix. He has a good delivery and is physically mature for his age.

His signing bonus is rumored to be in the ~$100 K range (comprehensive).

Indians Sign OF Chia-Ching Lin.....

2010-06-25T17:39:00.000-07:00

The Cleveland Indians signed Shi-Yuan OF Chia-Ching Lin. The 2010 junior NT member received ~ $150 K + additional money for tuition. (Vitals)
Lin is represented by Shi-Yuan coach Peng-Po Lee.
Here's the kid's wiki page in Chinese (with pic).

*Taichung City won the Sadaharu Oh Cup and will represent Taiwan in the Palomino Division of the PWS.
The kids are from Shi-Yuan and Gao-Nong HS. Roster (in Chinese)

*The Pirates signed IF Yung-Chi Chen.

*Hung-Wen Chen was named pitcher of the week (14th-20th) in the Southern League.

Congrats to Chen!

2010-06-25T17:21:00.000-07:00

Chun-Hsiu Chen was 1-2 in the MWL All-Star game, throwing out a would-be base stealer.

The young Indians slugger was recently named to the 2010 All-Star Futures Game International roster.

News Briefs....

2010-06-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

*News regarding Chun-Hsiu Chen at the MWL All-Star break.

WD Su

*Former heralded baseball players, Rong-Hao Hsieh (Jung-Hao Hsieh) and Wei-Da Su (Wei-Ta Su) - represented by Octagon, are now playing for the Anchorage Bucs in the ABL.

*Hu joins Kuo in LA.

Cheng-Han Tsai News..

2010-06-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

*Nan-Ying HS P Cheng-Han Tsai has signed an agent contract with Octagon. Tsai is a 6'2", 190 lb righty. He has a fastball that sits 84-86 (flashed an 88 mph fb in the national HS tourney in December of '09), throws a slow curveball and mixes in a changeup. He has good size and command but has slow arm action. A couple of teams seemed to have some interest in him (in the $50 to $100 K range). The kid will represent the country in Canada later this summer on the junior NT.

*The senior NT preliminary roster has been trimmed down to 30. Check this previous post for the 411. Players demarcated in blue are on the 30 man NT roster.

*A couple of amateur tourney updates:

-The Sadaharu Oh Cup (HS tourney) is going on right now.

-In the recently completed Golden Dragon Cup (for Little League aged kids), Tainan Municipal Chongsyue Elementary School won the championship. Famous school alumni include Chien-Ming Wang and Chin-Lung Hu. For the winning team, Chin Cheng (RHP/OF) led the tourney with a .705 BA while teammate Chi-Jung Liu (RHP/IF) was the tourney MVP.

-Taipei City (from Chongcing Junior HS) won the recently completed Association Cup. The team will represent Taiwan in the Pony Division of the PWS at the Asia-Pacific Regionals. Reppin' Taipei City, RHP Wei-Cheng Liao earned the top pitcher award 1 W, 0.00 ERA). Teammate Che-Wei Lin was the tourney MVP.

Tsao Update...

2010-06-09T00:08:00.000-07:00

*Former ML pitcher Chin-Hui Tsao has been spotted in the US.   He's been working out in the presence of a few ML clubs. Currently banned from the CPBL for his role in fixing games (see this PDF file from the Taipei - Banchiao court statement regarding Tsao's involvement in the scandal - in Chinese), Tsao was earlier rumored to be seeking employment in Mexico.   That rumor was refuted by his reps.

*We've got 2 All-Star reps in the minor leagues this year: 1)C/DH Chun-Hsiu Chen is a MWL All-Star    2)RHP Sheng-An Kuo was selected to the SAL All-Star roster

This year's Futures All-Star game roster as usual, will be selected by Baseball America.  Make your voice heard and contact the publication to get Chun-Hsiu Chen on the international roster.

*There's some bad news regarding injured players: Braves RHP Wei-Chen Huang had elbow surgery.
Taiwan PE College RHP Min-Tzu Chen has an ulnar collateral ligament tear.

*NPB: Chih-Lung Huang may start on the 9th for the Giants.

The 2010 Junior NT.....

2010-06-07T21:29:00.000-07:00

Here are the young men heading to Canada later this summer:
* - denotes lefty
(see previous post for Taichung City & Linked player vitals)

Pitchers:
1)Chun-Lin Kuo (Taichung City) - 2010 Yu-Shan Cup All-Star (P)
2)Hung-Yi Chen (Taichung City)
3)Wei-Chung Wang (Kaohsiung County)*
4)Shi-Ying Peng (Taoyuan County)* - (17)7/2/92 - 175 cm/68 kg
5)Ping-Hsueh Chen (Taipei County - Banchiao) - (15)7/8/94 - 183 cm/84 kg - '09 Youth NT
6)Cheng-Han Tsai (Tainan City) - (18)3/13/92 - 188 cm/80 kg - '04 LL NT/'08 Youth NT/'09 Junior NT
7)Kuo-Hua Lo (Kaohsiung City)
8)Chia-Wei Huang (Taitung County) - (18)4/9/92 - 183 cm/80 kg

Catchers:
1)Ting-Yen Lin (Taichung City)
2)Chun-Wei Kuo (Kaohsiung County) - (17)7/18/92 - 175 cm/70 kg - 2010 Yu-Shan Cup All-Star (C)

Infielders:
1)Yao-Chieh Pan (Taichung City) - 2010 Yu-Shan Cup All-Star (1B)
2)Chun-Kai Liao (Taichung City) - 2010 Yu-Shan Cup All-Star (3B)
3)Ching-Fu Lin (Taichung City)
4)Che-Wei Lin (Kaohsiung County)* - (16)2/15/94 - 172 cm/65 kg - '09 Youth NT - Top BA (.466) in Yu-Shan Cup
5)Chi-Hsien Lin (Kaohsiung County) - (17)6/23/92 - 176 cm/75 kg - 2010 Yu-Shan Cup All-Star (SS)
6)Hung-Sheng Yang (Taipei County - Banchiao) - (16)9/19/93 - 173 cm/81 kg

Outfielders:
1)Chia-Ching Lin (Taichung City)
2)Yao-Tsung Ou (Taichung City) - 2010 Yu-Shan Cup All-Star (OF)
3)Tse-Wei Ko (Taoyuan County)* - (17)9/26/92 - 170 cm/63 kg - 2010 Yu-Shan Cup All-Star (OF)
4)Chi-Yu Tsai (Chiayi County) - (18)2/21/92 - 177 cm/65 kg - younger brother of Hsin-Hong Tsai

Taichung City Wins Yu-Shan Cup....

2010-06-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

Taichung City defeated Kaohsiung County 5-2 in the championship game of the Yu-Shan Cup.   The team will form the backbone for the junior NT that will represent the country at the 2010 World Junior Championships.
The team roster is composed primarily of players from Shi-Yuan HS and Gao-Nong HS, headlined by young slugger Chin-De Chang (cleanup hitter, was 2-3 with an RBI in the championship game).   Tourney MVP Hung-Yi Chen started and won the championship game (6 IP, 2 R/1 ER, 3 H, 0 K's, 4 BB's).
Taoyuan County defeated Taipei County - Banchiao 6-2 in the 3rd place game.

Taichung City Team Roster:* denotes lefty
1)RHP Che-Wei Kao 195 cm/90 kg 16 (Gao-Nong)
2)RHP Chih-Wei Hu 184 cm/85 kg 16 (Shi-Yuan) - '09 Youth NT/'09 Pony League WS
3)OF Yao-Chieh Pan 180 cm/78 kg 17 (Gao-Nong)
4)IF Ching-Fu Lin 172 cm/74 kg 17 (Shi-Yuan) - '08 Youth NT
5)IF Chin-De Chang 180 cm/88 kg 17 (Gao-Nong)* - '06 Little League NT
6)IF Chun-Kai Liao 176 cm/76 kg 18 (Shi-Yuan) - '08 Youth NT
7)RHP Chun-Han Lin 175 cm/75 kg 17 (Gao-Nong)
8)OF Yao-Tsung Ou 177 cm/70 kg 18 (Gao-Nong)
9)IF Kun-Yu Wen 178 cm/85 kg 17 (Shi-Yuan)* - '09 Youth NT
10)IF Nian-Che Chang-Liao 173 cm/70 kg 18 (Shi-Yuan) - '05 Pony League WS/ '08 Youth NT
11)OF Meng-Chieh Kan 172 cm/80 kg 17 (Shi-Yuan) - '05 Little League Rep/'07 Pony League WS/'08 Youth NT
12)C Ting-Yen Lin 173 cm/75 kg 17 (Shi-Yuan) - '05 Little League Rep/'07 Pony League WS/
13)OF Yu-Chien Lin 176 cm/72 kg 18 (Shi-Yuan)* - '05 Pony League WS/'08 Youth NT
14)RHP Chun-Lin Kuo 175 cm/72 kg   18 (Shi-Yuan) - '08 Youth NT
15)OF Chia-Ching Lin 180 cm/78 kg   18 (Shi-Yuan)* - '05 Pony League WS
16)RHP Ho-An Hsu 180 cm/75 kg 17 (Shi-Yuan)
17)RHP Hung-Yi Chen 180 cm/78 kg 17 (Shi-Yuan)
18)RHP Wei-Ti Weng 182 cm/85 kg 18 (Shi-Yuan) - '08 Youth NT

*MILB:Former Indians farmhand Sung-Wei Tseng has signed with the LA Dodgers. Tseng was playing earlier this year in the Golden Baseball League and was released prior to to signing with the Dodgers.   He's currently in XST with the Dodgers.

*NPB:LHP Yao-Hsun Yang hit 96 mph on the gun in his last outing.   He hit 94 mph in his appearance today.
The Hanshin Tigers are calling up OF Wei-Chu Lin to the parent club.

Prospect Update: Wei-Chung Wang

2010-06-04T21:19:00.000-07:00

Kaohsiung county LHP Wei-Chung Wang is attracting interest from MLB teams. The 6'1", 170 pound youngster has a smooth delivery with a clean arm action. Although his arm speed is just average, he is very projectable. Earlier this year, his fastball was in the low 80's but he has hit 88 mph quite a few times in the current Yu-Shan Cup; he has also flashed an above average changeup that he throws for a strike. Rumor has it that he is represented by Jerry Sung, and his asking price is $300,000. Octagon may be pursuing him too.

The 18 year old (4/25/92) is the younger brother of Cubs signee Yao-Lin Wang.

(Wang's #'s from his last outing 6/1/10: ND, 9 IP, 1 R, 9 H, 7 K's, 1 BB)

A's Release Chen.....

2010-06-03T22:24:00.000-07:00

*The Oakland A's released IF Yung-Chi Chen. The once-promising career of Chen was stalled by injuries.

*The Yomiuri Giants called up RHP Chih-Lung Huang to the parent club. RHP Yi-Hao Lin is also under consideration for a call up to the parent club.

*The MeiFu Giants won the Spring Collegiate Tourney over Taiwan Beer after winning 4-0 on the 1st of June.
-Pai-Hung Wu led the tourney with a .472 BA
-Chih-Pei Huang led the tourney with 2 HR and 20 RBI
-Kuan-Yu Chen led all pitchers with a 0.00 ERA

*Over in the Yu-Shan Cup, Kaohsiung City's star RHP Kuo-Hua Lo got knocked around in the team's 5-3 loss on Wednesday. He allowed 5 runs on 11 hits over 8 IP (6 K's, 1 BB).

2010 NT Training Roster.....

2010-05-31T22:25:00.000-07:00

A 50 man preliminary roster has been selected to represent the country later this summer at the Haarlem Baseball Week Tournament in Holland (7/9-7/18) and then the WUBC in Japan (7/30-8/7). The roster will be pared down to 30 on the 13th of June after several intrasquad scrimmages .
Here's the roster (P Hsiao and IF Kuo will not be eligible to play in the WUBC):

Pitchers:
1)Yi-Chieh (Jie) Hsiao (Hanshin Tigers)
2)Wen-Yang Liao
3)Chen-Hua Lin
4)Tsung-Hsuan Tseng
5)Hao-Chun Chiu
6)Yu-Ching Lin
7)Hung-Cheng Lai
8)Kuan-Yu Chen
9)Wen-Hao Cheng
10)Chun-Ju Liao
11)Kuan-Ju Chen
12)Kuan-Han Lin
13)Wen-Cheng Hsu
14)Po-Kai Lai
15)Ying-Shan Wang
16)Chi Chuan
17)Hao-Che Tu
18)Yu-Hsun Chen
19)Po-Yu Lin (ex-White Sox)
20)Chu-Chien Hsu
21)Chia-Chun Tang
22)Wei-Hsiang Lin
23)Cheng-Lung Lo

Catchers:
1)Chun-Chieh Wang
2)Kuan-Wei Yang
3)Sheng-Hsun Chou
4)Kun-Sheng Lin
5)Jui-Mu Chen
6)Cheng-Da Wu

Infielders:
1)Yen-Wen Kuo (ex-Reds) - pictured on left
2)Chi-Wai Teng
3)Wei-Che Chen
4)Yen-Chi Huang
5)Chi-Pei Huang
6)Wei-Ting Lin
7)Ting-Yu Tang
8)Tsung-Han Yu
9)Po-Ting Hsiao
10)Han Lin
11)Pai-Hung Wu
12) Chih-Hsiang Lin
13)Hsien-Yin Yang

Outfielders:
1)Chen-Yu Hong
2)Chia-Chu Lee
3)Chun-Liang Lin
4)Yi-Kun Huang
5)Wang-Qi-Wei Lin
6)Yin-Lun Lan
7)Chia-Jung Lee
8)Wei-Kan Lin

Bronco Reps Set.....

2010-05-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

Taichung City won the TOTO Cup, earning the right to represent Taiwan in the Bronco Division (12 and under) of the Asia-Pacific Tourney. The tourney will be held on home soil, in the city of Taipei from July 18th - 23rd.

Taichung City's Tsung Lin fired a 2 hitter in the championship game against Kaohsiung County (a 6-0 victory) to earn tourney MVP honors. His teammate Shih-Peng Chen had the highest BA (.571) and most wins (2 W/3.00 ERA) in the tourney.

Here's the team's roster (in Chinese).

Speaking of Little League/Pony (Bronco) Baseball, the IBAF is pushing for a little league level (12 and under) world championships next year. The timing of the event (conflicts with the current Little League and Pony organizations regional and championship tourneys) may make it difficult to put together a true national team for participating countries.

*Here's a nice read on C Chun-Hsiu Chen. He's having a breakout season this year.

*Bad news regarding P Chia-Jen Lo - he has a UCL tear (although not severe enough to require TJ surgery).

*The Yu-Shan Cup (HS tourney) has kicked off (began 5/24th). The winner will be crowned June 6th.

KY Chen

In the Spring Collegiate Tourney, LHP Kuan-Yu Chen (playing for Taiwan Beer) has been the story of the tourney - throwing 36 innings without allowing an earned run. Although he earned a ND yesterday (28th), he threw 6 shutout innings against the MeiFu Giants, allowing only 1 hit to go along with 3 K's and 4 BB's in his team's 1-0 win.

2010 Youth NT Announced.....

2010-05-19T21:24:00.000-07:00

Representing the country in the 2010 Asian Youth Championships are these young men:

Pitchers (6):
1)Lee-Wei Chiang (Taichung City) 7/10/94 182 cm/70 kg B:R/T:R
2)Che-Kuan Sung (Taitung County) 1/4/95 180 cm/75 kg B:L/T:L
3)Fang-Chun Yuan (Taoyuan County) 10/24/94 168 cm/65 kg B:R/T:R
4)Rong(Jung)-Hung Sen (Taoyuan County) 8/20/94 182 cm/75 kg B:R/T:R
5)Hua-Ching Lin (Kaohsiung County) 10/3/94 182 cm/72 kg B:R/T:R
6)Yu-Cheng Chang (Taitung County) 8/18/95 177 cm/70 kg B:R/T:R

Catchers (2):
1)Min-Hsun Chang (Kaohsiung County) 8/8/94 176 cm/72 kg B:R/T:R
2)Kui-Hung Kao (Taoyuan County) 1/1/95 168 cm/54 kg B:R/T:R

Infielders (6):
1)Cheng Pan (Kaohsiung County) 1/14/94 175 cm/72 kg B:L/T:R
2)Hao-Chen Chen (Kaohsiung County) 3/26/94 177 cm/68 kg B:R/T:R
3)Sheng-Hsien Yan (Kaohsiung County) 12/19/94 168 cm/63 kg B:L/T:R
4)Chia-Ming Tu (Tainan City) 2/3/96 177 cm/78 kg B:R/T:R
5)Chia-Yuan Tsao (Taipei County-Banchiao) 3/12/94 180 cm/70 kg B:L/T:R
6)Lee-Jen Chu (Taichung City) 3/13/94 173 cm/80 kg B:R/T:R

Outfielders (4):
1)Lee-An Pi (Kaohsiung County) 8/14/94 175 cm/70 kg B:R/T:R
2)Meng-Wei Tsai (Kaohsiung County) 5/2/94 170 cm/72 kg B:R/T:R
3)Yi-Hsuan Chen (Tainan City) 2/11/94 172 cm/66 kg B:R/T:R
4)Yu-Ming Tsao (Taoyuan County) 4/24/94 176 cm/65 kg B:R/T:R

Little League Reps Determined....

2010-05-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

Kaohsiung City won the recently completed Hsieh Kuo-Cheng Cup to earn the right to represent the country at the Asia-Pacific tourney of the LLWS.

Kaohsiung rallied for 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning to beat Taitung County 3-2 in the championship game today. Last year's defending champs from Taoyuan County (Kueishan) came in 6th.

From Kaohsiung, P/IF Wei-Chi Chen earned tourney MVP honors, while lil' IF Chen-Wei Chen (younger brother of Red Sox farmhand C Chia-Chu Chen) led the tourney by hiting at a .571 clip. WC Chen started and won a 1-hit shutout against Kaohsiung County on the 8th of May - he also started in the championship game. Teammate Shao-Fei Huang, IF/P is another name to keep an eye on for the team.

Shao-Fei Huang

Hsun-Hao Shih

Catcher Hsun-Hao Shih slammed a 3-run home run on the 10th against Taitung County (8-1 win for Kaohsiung City). Shih, who stands 5'3", weighs close to 200 pounds!

Pony Baseball Reps Set......

2010-05-02T23:12:00.000-07:00

*In the recently completed national youth tourney, Kaohsiung County earned bragging rights by winning the whole enchilada while reps from Tainan City came in second. Kaohsiung County (4-1 in the tourney) defeated Tainan City 12-3 on April 28th, avenging its only loss from one day earlier (a 7-1 setback on the 27th).

A few notable players on the Tainan City squad include former Bronco World Series ('08) stars Chia-Ming Tu and Kuan-Yi Lee (both of whom are now 14 years old). Tu led the tourney with a .560 batting average and also had the most RBI in the tourney with 11 (he also picked up 2 wins in the tourney). He was also charged with the loss in the championship game, but he had pitched and earned a W the day before against a tough Taichung City squad.

Wei-Chieh Wang

The tallest kid in the tourney has good baseball bloodlines. Wei-Chieh Wang, playing on the Taipei City squad that came in 4th in the tourney, already stands at 6'4" as a 14 year old. Wang is the cousin of prospect Wei-Chen Wang (and hence nephew of Kuang-Hui Wang) and the son of former pro ball player Kuang-Shih Wang.

Kaohsiung County will represent the country in the Pony division (13-14 year olds) of Pony baseball. Taiwan will look to defend the title it won last year.

Chih-Fang Pan Update...

2010-04-20T18:41:00.001-07:00

*IF Chih-Fang Pan is officially a member of the Oakland A's organization.
(His signing with the A's was rumored a few weeks back).

Here's a brief recap of what A's Coordinator of International Operations/Baseball Operations Analyst Dan Kantrovitz had to say about Pan (courtesy of OaklandClubhouse.com - subscription required):
-has the kind of speed to impact a game/top-of-the order type of guy with the potential for a high OBP
-his arm/glove project him defensively at SS

Here's the kid's Taiwanese Wiki (baseball) page with pics (Babel Fish).

*IF Fu-Lin Kuo has been impressive in ST camp (story from PinstripesPlus.com - subscription required). Kuo hopes to get stronger and start his minor league career in Staten Island (A - short season ball).

*Great compliment by teammate and fellow top Sox prospect Ryan Kalish on CH Lin: "Then you get to see his arm, which is unlike anything you've ever seen."

MT Chen Brief....

2010-04-15T22:35:00.001-07:00

A quick update: Prospect - RHP Min-Tzu Chen has been MIA in the current collegiate tourney secondary to inflammation in the elbow.

A's To Sign Pan?

2010-03-31T20:54:00.000-07:00

The Oakland A's are rumored to have reached an agreement with IF Chih-Fang Pan, a fundamentally sound, undersized second baseman (without power - he did hit the only HR in the 2008 HS wood bat tourney, albeit it was an inside-the-park job). The current Fubon Bull (graduate of Mei-Ho HS) stands around 5'11" and weighs ~ 163 pounds. The 19 year old's (DOB: 11/12/90 - B:L/T:R) signing bonus is likely around the $150 K mark. No other ML teams appeared to have bid on the IF. Pan would join Yung-Chi Chen in the A's farm system.

The Latest News...

2010-03-30T20:48:00.001-07:00

Alright, I apologize for the lack of posts lately, but things have been really busy in my personal life (this means more infrequent postings). While I can't make any promises, I'll try and post when there's some newsworthy information (particularly amateur signings/prospect news).

The Man in Tainan does an excellent job with covering CPBL news/games, so I'll leave you guys in good hands on his site.

Ok, on to some recent and not so recent news coverage:

-The Reds released IF Yen-Wen Kuo

-The Indians released RHP Sung-Wei Tseng

-CMW's brother-in-law got into a fist fight and told the other party about his relationship with CMW (not too smart if you ask me)

-RHP Min-Tzu Chen had an outing ~ 2 weeks ago. 3 Mariners scouts were there to see him, however he topped out at only 88 mph. His agent's asking price is rumored to be in the $300 - 500 K range!

-Red Sox Pac Rim Director Jon Deeble and the Cincinnati Reds' Paul Pierson (Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting) recently visited Taiwan

-CMW and HC Kuo both have had setbacks

-Bulls RHP Ko-Chien Lin (arguably last year's top rookie hurler in the CPBL) underwent elbow surgery

-Recent vid of Yi-Hao Lin looking good in a nigun game (K'ing the side and topping out at 145 kph):

-CJ Lo was reassigned to minor league camp

-FT Ni started in his last outing

-A Kuo-Hui Lo sighting and an update on Chen-Chang Lee

CMW - Back in Action....

2010-03-16T07:18:00.000-07:00

*CMW threw his first bullpen on Monday. The key phrase here is pain-free.

*Ku-Pao HS won the Taiwan Cup defeating Kao-Yuan 4-1 on Monday. Shi-Yuan HS earned third in the tourney.

*A select collegiate NT squad (under 26) will face an amateur Japanese baseball squad - the Ibaraki Golden Golds on March 20th. A few well of the more recognized names representing Taiwan include: Min-Tzu (Chih) Chen, Po-Ting Hsiao, Hung-Cheng Lai, and Wei-Chen Wang. The IGG will be in Taiwan from the 19th - 22nd of this month.

*For more scoop on CPBL news, check here.

Ricky Stone Update....

2010-03-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

*Here's an update on Ricky Stone. Good to hear that he's doing ok now.

*As you all know by now, the Dodgers and a CPBL Select squad split a two game series (middle game was rained out).
The CPBL won game one 5-2 while the Dodgers took game three 11-1. Hu hit well in the series, while Kuo was shelved with elbow soreness.
Game 1 Box
Game 3 Box
Regular season MLB games in Taiwan?

Game 1 Highlights:

Game 3 Highlights:

*WY Chen got lit up in his last ST start on Sunday.

*Che-Hsuan Lin was optioned to minor league camp.

*CJ Lo was hit hard in his last outing Saturday.

*FT Ni tossed one scoreless inning Sunday.

CPBL All-Star Roster Set....

2010-03-09T21:30:00.001-08:00

*In preparation for the upcoming series versus the Dodgers, the CPBL has set a 25 man roster to take on the ML squad. Check here for the roster. (C Feng-Min Chen will be replaced by teammate C Hung-Yu Lin)

HC Kuo could be the Dodgers starter for game 3. The 3 expected starters for the CPBL are Ying-Chieh Lin, Chien-Fu Yang, and Wei-Lun Pan.

*MLB ST:
3/8
Braves 12 - Tigers 4: FT Ni 1.2 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 1 K/BB
Red Sox 7 - Cardinals 6: CH Lin 1-1, GWRBI, BB (Recap)
Jays 4 - Astros 1: CJ Lo 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K, 2 BB's (Nice read on CJ Lo)
Giants 3 - Dodgers 2: CL Hu 0-1, CS

3/9
Red Sox 9 - Marlins 0: CH Lin 0-1
Rockies 12 - Dodgers 0: HC Kuo 1 IP, 0 R/H, 2 K's, 0 BB's

-CMW Update

3/8 Updates...

2010-03-08T08:16:00.000-08:00

*CPBL exhibition matches:

3/4:

Lions 10 - Elephants 2
Bears 4 - Bulls 2

3/5:
Bears 5 - Elephants 2
Bulls 5 - Lions 0

3/6:
Bulls 3 - Elephants 0
Lions 4 - Bears 1

3/8:
Elephants 5 - Bears 4
Bulls 2 - Lions 0

MLB ST:
3/4:
Red Sox 2 - Twins 1: CH Lin 0-1

3/5:
Twins 5 - Red Sox 0: CH Lin 0-2
Tigers 17 - Astros 7: FT Ni 1 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 2 K's, 0 BB's
Dodgers 8 - White Sox 3: CL Hu 1-2, SB

3/6:
White Sox 8 - Dodgers 4: CL Hu 0-2
D Rays 6 - Red Sox 4: CH Lin 0-1, 2 BB's

NPB exhibition matches:
3/5:
Hawks 4 - Bay Stars 4: YH Yang 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K, 0 BB's

3/6:
Buffaloes 3 - Dragons 1: WY Chen L, 5 IP, 3 R - 2 ER, 2 HR's, 6 H, 2 K's, 0 BB's
Hawks 3 - Giants 1: YH Yang W, 0.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K/BB

Other:
*Wei-Lun Pan will be one of the starting pitchers in the 3 exhibition games against the Dodgers. The other 2 CPBL starters are still undetermined. One time Rakuten Eagles lefty Ying-Chieh Lin is clamoring to start game 1 against the Dodgers. The only thing is that he is topping out at 86 mph (in his last exhibition match).

*Lions RHP Yi-Chen Chen (started against the Bears on 3/6) was clocked at a high of 93 mph in his appearance.

*Taiwan Cup (HS):
3/6: Nan-Ying 2 - Shan-Hua 1, Ping-Zhen 7 - Hsin-She 2

*Red Sox farmhand Chia-Chu Chen had surgery on his hand.

*Former star Elephants CF/manager I (Yi) - Tseng Lin admitted his guilt to his role in fixing matches.

3/3 News...

2010-03-03T20:35:00.000-08:00

*Che-Hsuan Lin had 2 hits and 2 RBI in today's game. Box

*FT Ni threw one scoreless inning yesterday, K'ing 2. Box

*CJ Lo is scheduled to pitch this Friday in the "B" game versus the Tigers.

*SB Hawk YH Yang threw a perfect inning against the Lions, K'ing the side in an exhibition game Wednesday.

*The Fighters beat the Tigers 6-3. WC Lin (T) was 0-4 while DK Yang (F) was 0-2.

Manny Coming to Formosa....

2010-03-02T21:10:00.001-08:00

*The Dodgers released their roster for those traveling to Taiwan. Manny and Loney were the 2 biggest names alongside the two native sons.

*Great read on Hong-Chih Kuo, in the LA Times

*Another nice read on Che-Hsuan Lin - related to Lin's defensive prowess is a nice read from SI regarding the importance of preventing runs.

*The Elephants' Orlando Roman hit 156 kph (~ 97 mph) in his outing against the Taiwan Coop Bank squad.

*Former Lotte Marine Chuang will serve as the head coach for the Jiangsu (China) baseball squad.

*RHP KH Chang is training with the Sinon Bulls.