Tidbits and Notes.......

NPB Draft:
Well, I missed the 2007 NPB HS draft (great site on baseball in Japan) which happened about a week ago. Heng-Hsiao Kuo's name was conspicuously absent from that list - perhaps lending credence to the rumor that Kuo was hurt this past year (experiencing a loss in velocity). If Kuo is hurt, you can chalk up yet another top pitching Taiwanese HS/junior high prospect that has fallen victim to the injury bug while in Japan. In recent years, only top hitting Taiwanese HS prospects (WC Lin, CS Yang, PY Lee) have succeeded in making it to the NPB or were drafted by the NPB. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that Yi-Hao Lin has better luck with his health in Japan.

MLB's Newest Signees:

pics of CH Chen - from Bros Sports

pics of YW Kuo - from Bros Sports

Bros Sports - the sports agency representing Tzu-Kai Chiu, is apparently also representing Che-Hsuan Lin and two of the most recent MLB signees Yen-Wen Kuo and Chun-Hsiu Chen. It looks like both kids are in fall instructional league right now. Check the highlighted links for some more great pics.

Lin Returns.....

NPB:

Wei-Chu Lin made his return back to the parent club today. He was 0-3 as the Tigers lost to the Dragons 4-1. Box

MISC:
Per Taiwan news reports:

*Reds signee Yen-Wen Kuo received a reported ~ $120,000 signing bonus.

*Chun-Hsiu Chen received ~ $300,000 from the Cleveland Indians.

With regards to where these kids fall on the talent spectrum of Taiwanese prospects, refer to this previous post. Missing from that list are:
1)Che-Hsuan Lin (Red Sox) - $400K.
2)Hong-Wen Chen (Cubs) - $200K
3)Chih-Hsiang Wen (Cubs) - $2,500



MLB:
The Dodgers and Rockies are scoreless in the bottom of the 2nd. Follow Hu's AB's here.

CPBL:
Bears 3 - Cobras 2: Andrew Lorraine won his third game of the season and game MVP honors. AL allowed 2 runs on 6 hits over 7 IP - he also had 2 K's and 3 walks. CFC was 2-3 with a triple and a RBI, while teammate Kit Pellow drove in the other 2 runs (he was 1-4 with a double). For the Cobras, CH Hsieh was 0-2 with 2 walks. Cobras 1b Chuan-Chia Wang was 2-4 with a RBI.

Read more here about Nic Ungs's (recently acquired by the Elephants after being waived by the Florida Marlins) experience in Taiwan.

Indians sign Chun-Hsiu Chen....

The Cleveland Indians inked their second Taiwanese player in two years. Chun-Hsiu Chen is an 18 year old power hitting catching prospect - he is probably the best power prospect to sign out of Taiwan since Chin-Feng Chen. Chen stands 6'1" tall and weighs ~ 190 pounds. Read more about Chen here and see a video of him at the plate here. The youngster will join Sung-Wei Tseng, who had a nice first season in High A ball, in the organization. Chen is the 3rd member of the 2006 junior NT to sign with a ML club - after WW Lin and CH Lin.

Chen received a ~ $300K signing bonus from the Indians. *Added 9/27/07*

Monday Briefs...

Amateur:

photo from Liberty Times


KW CHENG
photo from Apple Daily

Chinese Culture University won the just completed collegiate tourney (Mei-Hua Flag Tourney) today, winning 8-1 in the championship game. The star of the game was CCU's SP Kai-Wen Cheng who allowed 1 run on 3 hits over 7 IP - he also had 6 K's. Cheng is a former youth and junior NT standout, who won the 2000 Bronco Division Pony League World Series and basically single-handedly defeated the Cuban junior NT and shut down the US junior NT last year. The CCU team was loaded with talent as the roster also included: RHP Chia-Jen Lo (who throws in the low 90's), sidearmer RHP Chen-Hua Lin, & recent HS graduate C Chia-Chu Chen.

Other stars in the tourney included IF/C Chun-Hsiu Chen who hit the most HR's and had the most RBI's in the tourney and LHP Hung-Cheng Lai who was 2-0 in the tourney with a sparkling 0.00 ERA.*Updated*

Chun-Hsiu Chen In the News...

Per Taiwanese news reports, Chun-Hsiu Chen is currently in the US working out for ML ball clubs. Chen, who recently graduated from high school, was the top offensive prospect/power hitter in his graduating class (that includes Che-Hsuan Lin). Chen, currently 18 (DOB: 11/1/1988) is solidly put together - standing 6'1" and weighing in at 190 pounds.

In high school, Chen received more press as a pitcher - and rightfully so, since he was one of the better pitchers on the island. Chen was a member of the 2006 junior NT and despite an 0-2 record/4.66 ERA in Cuba - he did manage to shut down the US junior NT (whose batting lineup included 2007 MLB 1st round picks: M.Moustakas #2, J.Vitters #3, & M.Dominguez #12) in an exhibition game last September - throwing 5 innings allowing 1 unearned run on 4 hits to go along with 5 K's and 2 walks. However, what left most observers scratching their heads was the fact that Chen's bat was underutilized at the World Junior Baseball Championships. In limited AB's - used mostly at 1B/DH, Chen actually led the junior NT with a .417 BA while slugging .500.


Chen's best tool is his power potential (he has good bat speed)- he also has the ability to hit for average. Currently, C.H. Chen's power is better at this stage in his career as compared to former Dodger slugger Chin-Feng Chen as an 18 year old. Chen also has a strong arm - as a pitcher he clocked 88-89 mph consistently on his fastball with flashes of 91-92. Here's a look at Chen's batting stroke in HS: Having primarily pitched in HS out of necessity because of the fact that he was the team's ace (he has also played 1B/3B/C), Chen is currently brushing up on his catching skills - he has experience playing that position as a youth. Chen's soft hands, plus arm, and quick release will serve him well in that position.

HS Tourney....

Here's an update on the national HS baseball tourney going on in Taiwan. Some of the top senior performers at the tourney include:

Ying-Shan Wang (RHP)

Clocked at a high of 86 mph

Chih-Lung Huang (RHP)
Clocked at a tourney-high 92 mph/member of the '06 junior NT

Chun-Hsiu Chen (RHP)
clocked at a high of 88 mph/member of the '06 junior NT

Che-Hsuan Lin (OF) - pictured on left
one of the top positional players in Taiwan/member of the '06 junior NT

Juniors Shut Out Panama....

Amateur
The Taiwanese junior NT defeated the Panamanian team 9-0 on Tuesday. The starting pitcher for Taiwan, Chun-Lin Chen was dominant as he pitched a complete game shutout - giving up only 5 hits while striking out 14 hitters with no walks. The floodgates opened wide as the offense for Taiwan came alive - getting 13 hits, with SS Yen-Wen Kuo and 1B Chun-Hsiu Chen leading the way with 4 hits apiece and 2 RBI's each. Box/Link

Japan/NPB Draft
Seibu lost 6-2 to the Marines as M.C. Hsu made a relief appearance for the Lions. Hsu pitched 2 scoreless innings, giving up 1 hit to go along with 2 walks and 1 K. Box

The 2006 high school NPB draft took place yesterday. Japanesebaseball.com has the results of the draft in English. A Taiwanese kid was selected in the 4th round by the Softbank Hawks. Ping-Yen Lee, an 18 year old (DOB 4/21/1988) infielder, follows in the footsteps of Wei-Chu Lin and Chung-Shou Yang as Taiwanese kids who played HS baseball in Japan and were later drafted by an NPB team. Lee, who stands around 5'9" and weighs 180 pounds, can play both SS and 3B defensively.
In an interesting side note, the Seibu Lions drafted a Chinese pitcher - Dai-Yi Hsu in the 3rd round. JapanBaseballDaily.com has a nice write up on Hsu.

Breaking News....Taiwan Beats the USA!!!

In Cuba, Taiwan's junior NT pulled the early upset of the tourney by beating team USA 4-1 today in the World Junior Baseball Championships! Both teams managed 8 hits, but 4 errors cost team USA as all 4 runs scored against starter Blake Beavan and reliever Tim Alderson were unearned. For Taiwan, Kai-Wen Cheng earned the victory as he came on in the 5th inning, relieving starter Chun-Hsiu Chen. Chen pitched well, lasting 4.1 innings, giving up 2 hits and 1 run, to go along with 2 walks and 1 K. Cheng then blanked team USA the rest of the way, giving up 6 hits. As for Taiwan's hitters: SS Yen-Wen Kuo was 2-4 with a double and a RBI, 3B Wei-Chih Chen was 2-4 with 2 runs scored, and pinch hitter Chen-Yu Hung was clutch as he was 2-2 with a RBI. This is Taiwan's first win against the USA junior NT since the 2002 World Junior Baseball Championships! Taiwan plays Italy tomorrow. What a great way to start off the tourney!!!!!

2006 Junior NT Roster Announced...

Pitcher Kai-Wen Cheng

Here are the 18 young men selected to represent Taiwan in September at the 22nd "AAA" Junior World Baseball Championships in Cuba.

Pitchers:
1)Yu-Hsun Chen
2)Kai-Wen Cheng - on the 2004 and 2005 junior NT
3)Chih-Lung Huang
4)Chun-Lin Chen - on the 2005 junior NT/voted top RHP at 2005 Asian Junior Championships
5)Chen-Yu Hong
6)Chun-Hsiu Chen
7)Hung-Cheng Lai - on 2005 junior NT

Catchers:
1)Chia-Chu Chen
2)Chun-Chieh Wang

Infielders:
1)Chien-Ming Su
2)Shih-Wei Chen
3)Yan-Wen Kuo
4)Wei-Chih Chen
5)Po-Ting Hsiao - on the 2005 youth NT

Outfielders:
1)Yu-Hsin Chu
2)Shu-Huan Wang
3)Che-Hsuan Lin
4)Wang-Wei Lin - on the 2004 and 2005 junior NT