Another One Bites the Dust.....& A Rising Junior Prospect.....

*The Blue Jays have reportedly released Po-Hsuan Keng, adding to the now growing list of Taiwanese players who never made it to the Show (Kevin Huang, TJ Yeh, Chih-Hsiang Wen).

*

Wei-Chen Wang

Apple Daily is reporting that the NY Yankees and several other ML clubs are interested in 2008 junior NT member Wei-Chen Wang. The 16 year old is a HS junior (class of 2009 - DOB: 7/3/1991) at traditional powerhouse Ku-Pao. He's got good blood-lines (father is ex-CPBL star Guang-Hui Wang) and he plays at at premium defensive position - SS.
Here's Wang's scouting report:
Good size - 5'11" Plus runner Bats lefty, Throws righty Decent bat control - swing needs work Lacks power - still growing, weighs only ~ 157 pounds Average range Below average arm
Wang will receive plenty of international scouting exposure when he plays for the junior NT in Canada later this month.

Po-Hsuan Keng Scouting Report...

In ranking the top 50 Blue Jays prospects for 2007 per Scout.com, Chi-Hung Cheng was ranked #21 - downgraded due to the likelihood of losing one year of development while recovering from a torn labrum.
Po-Hsuan Keng was ranked #37. Here's his in-depth report, courtesy of Scout.com:

The Toronto Blue Jays signed Po-Hsuan Keng as an international free agent in September of 2004, for approximately $225,000. Keng was superb this past season with the Lansing Lugnuts, and put himself on the prospect radar.

This was the second season in professional baseball for Keng. After the 22 year old was signed from Taiwan in 2004, he bypassed rookie ball and short-season baseball. The Jays decided to begin Keng at Class A Lansing and he spent the season moving between the rotation and the bullpen. It was a disappointing season for the righthander who went 5-5 with a 5.08 ERA in 79 2/3 innings.

After a season of acclimating himself to pro baseball and the American lifestyle, Keng repeated Lansing - this time strictly as a reliever. Keng bounced back with an outstanding season going 1-4 with a 2.33 ERA in 69 2/3 innings, before receiving a promotion to High A Dunedin to finish off the season.

"He's a ground ball pitcher, who can pitch effectively against both right-handed and left-handed batters," noted one scout. "He profiles very well as a reliever if he can gain command on his breaking pitches."

Keng improved slightly on his command, but needs to develop more consistent mechanics if he wants to maximize his success in pro ball.

Repertoire: Fastball, slider, sinker

Fastball: Keng is not overpowering on the mound. His fastball was clocked between 88-91 mph this season, and it does not top out more than 91. He does a good job in keeping his fastball at batters knees, but has not yet mastered full command of it. He's still working on locating it consistently on the corners.

Secondary Pitches: Keng is basically a two-pitch pitcher, with a slider/sinker as his other pitches. Most scouts call is a slider, while others call it a sinker/splitter. Keng has not yet figured out how to command this pitch consistently, which yields high walk totals.

Projection: The reason the right-hander was put in the starting rotation in 2005 was to give him a chance to throw more innings and work on his entire repertoire. Keng is a reliever, and will not succeed as a starting pitcher.

2007 Outlook: Keng will begin the 2007 season with the Dunedin Blue Jays.

ETA: Scouts are split about his future. Some believe he will need a combined 3 seasons to pass Double A, while others think he can reach Double A by 2007 and Triple A by 2008. How he performs this coming season will go a long way to mapping out his future.

Come-From-Behind Win!

Mr. Clutch - Lin Driving in the GWRBI

The Best Fans in the World!

Gold Around Their Necks!

As Tsong mentioned in the comments section, the Taiwanese NT had their hands full with the Japanese NT. It took a 2 run rally in the bottom of the 9th inning to eek out a 8-7 win. Hong-Chih Kuo did not pitch for Taiwan. Starting in place of Kuo was Yomiuri Giants rookie Chien-Ming Chiang. Chiang was erratic in his 1.1 innings, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits. He also had 3 costly walks to go along with 1 WP and 2 K's.
So down 3-0 after 2 innings, Taiwan would score 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning: after C.H. Hsieh doubled, C.L. Hu would drive him in with a single. Hu would advance on an error and score the final run of the inning on a single by Yung-Chi Chen. Japan would tack on 2 more runs in the top of the 6th and 7th innings off of relievers Po-Hsuan Keng and Wei-Lun Pan to make the score 5-2. That set up the big inning in the bottom of the 7th for Taiwan. 3 consecutive singles loaded the bases for Chien-Ming Chang. A WP would allow the lead runner to score and the 2 other base runners to advance 90 feet. C.M. Chang would then drive in both base runners with a single to tie up the game at 5 all. After Yung-Chi Chen singled to advance Chang to 3rd base, C.F. Chen would hit a sac-fly to score Taiwan's 4th run of the inning to put Taiwan up 6-5.
In the top of the 8th, Sung-Wei Tseng came in to relieve Wei-Lun Pan. After inheriting a runner on base, Tseng would then later allow a HR to plate both runners and put Japan up 7-6. Taiwan would fail to score in the bottom of the 8th.
In the top of the 9th, Japan would threaten to score again off Tseng. With runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, Yung-Chi Chen would throw out a runner at the plate for a fielder's choice getting the 2nd out of the inning. Tseng would then allow his 2nd walk of the inning to load the bases before getting the final out of the inning on a lineout.
The bottom of the 9th would set up Chih-Sheng Lin's game-winning heroics. After C.M. Chang walked, Chin-Feng Chen finally got his first hit of the game as he doubled, advancing Chang to 3rd base. Next up, Lin would single driving in both Chang and Chen, giving Taiwan it's 3rd gold medal of the Asian Games!
Again, although it wasn't pretty, Taiwan's offense was clutch when it mattered. The pitching performance was disappointing, but I take my hat off to the Japanese team for a great showing and performance.

Recap
Box Score
PlayByPlay

WIN VS. CUBA!

GW Clutch HR!

Facing elimination from the Intercontinental Cup, the Taiwanese NT dug deep and managed to defeat the Cuban NT 4-3 despite being outhit 10-4. With Cuba up 2-o in the bottom of the 3rd inning, Taiwan would go on to score 4 times in the 3rd inning. Taiwan would score after Chung-Shou Yang and Chien-Ming Chang reached base to start the inning. Chih-Yao Chan drove in Taiwan's first run with a single. A balk by the Cuban pitcher would score Taiwan's second run. Finally, with Chan on base, Tai-Shan Chang came through with a huge hit - a 2-run bomb that would put Taiwan up 4-2. Cuba would score another run in the 6th, but the relief work of Sung-Wei Tseng and Po-Hsuan Keng was phenomenal as they limited the Cubans to 1 run on 4 hits over the last 6.1 innings. Starter Cheng-Lung Lo pitched 2.2 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits.
With the victory - combined with Australia's loss, Taiwan advances to the semifinals as the #4 seed. Taiwan will face Cuba again in the second semifinal on Saturday. The other 2 top seeds are #2 Japan and #3 the Netherlands. So far, it's been a great run for the NT - beating the Cuban NT is no small feat. This same Cuban team lost to Japan in the WBC finals and is loaded with star talent - including stud Yulieski Gourriel.
*Edited/Updated


Other News:
Chien-Ming Wang threw out the first pitch today prior to Taiwan's match versus Cuba. Wang was also the runner-up to Johan Santana in the AL Cy Young race. Despite a fabulous second season by Wang, Johan Santana deservedly won his second Cy Young award. Santana led the AL in almost all vital pitching categories. Congrats to Santana and Wang on tremendous seasons!

NT 6-4 Loss to Australia....

3B Chang (foreground) and IF Yang in action

The NT lost their 3rd warm up game today to the Australian NT. Starting pitcher Chen-Chang Lee, the 19 year old amateur player who beat Cuba earlier this summer, lasted 3 innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits. Lee was clocked at 92 mph on his fastball. His replacement, fellow amateur pitcher Ko-Chien Lin came in and pitched 2 innings, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits. Relievers Yueh-Ping Lin (clocked at a high of 94 mph) and Po-Hsuan Keng managed to stop the bleeding and blank Australia the rest of the way. As for the NT's offense, it was pretty non-existent except for amateur IF Yi-Chuan Lin's 3 run blast in the 4th inning. Lin would also crack a double in the 7th inning, steal 3rd base and score on catcher Chih-Kang Kao's rbi single. The NT only managed 6 hits for the entire game.
The NT's final warm up match will be tomorrow versus the Cuban NT, who narrowly beat the Italian NT 3-2 today. Amateur Cheng-Lung Lo is scheduled to start tomorrow's match for the NT.
The Intercontinental Cup will then kick off on November 9th, with Taiwan's shedule listed below:
1)11/9 vs Italy
2)11/10 vs Japan
3)11/11 vs Australia
4)11/12 vs Korea
5)11/14 vs the Netherlands
6)11/15 vs Cuba
7)11/16 vs the Philippines
On the 18th, the semifinals will match up the top 4 teams with the championship/consolation game to be played on the 19th of November.

Other News
The New York Daily News writes about Daisuke Matsuzaka, the highly sought after NPB superstar pitcher from Japan. Matsuzaka is an admirer of fellow 26 year old Chien-Ming Wang and wants to be like him. The two could very well be teammates next year as the Yanks figure to be one of the favorites in their pursuit of the NPB's brightest star. *edited*

More on the recent CPBL postseason awards.