By Matthew Tallarini
World Baseball Network
Chinese Taipei is participating in its fifth World Baseball Classic, and former Uni-President Lions pitcher and Chinese Taipei manager Yueh-Ping Lin will have to come up with a strategic plan going up against Italy, Cuba, the Netherlands, and Panama to advance out of Pool A of the World Baseball Classic.
Chinese Taipei has only three wins in 13 games in the World Baseball Classic, and the highest medal the nation ever received was when they placed second in the 1992 Olympics, losing to Cuba in the gold medal game.
The island nation has, however, placed high in various age group tournaments established by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, pumping them to be the second-ranked nation in the world. Chinese Taipei will fill their roster with players from their Chinese Professional Baseball League, which plays there, along with minor league players from major league organizations and players in international leagues, including Nippon Professional Baseball and the Australia Baseball League.
Chinese Taipei’s last senior tournament was the WBSC’s 2019 Premier 12 tournament, which was held right before the Covid-19 pandemic in November, where they placed fifth, and did not participate in the 2020 Olympic Final Qualifiers due to Covid-19. Chinese Taipei also placed third at the U23 World Cup, beating Mexico in October, and placed second at the U18 World Cup, losing to the United States in September.
Infielder Yu Chang of the Boston Red Sox will be a key player to watch for with Chinese Taipei. Last year, Chang bounced around MLB from the Cleveland Guardians to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Red Sox, and in 190 plate appearances, he batted .208 with four home runs, recording 35 hits and 15 RBI. On February 17, Chang signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox for $870,000 with performance bonuses for the season. Chang’s impact should be a big help to Chinese Taipei’s offense during pool play.
Pool A will run from March 8-12 at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium. Chinese Taipei will play their first game of the World Baseball Classic on March 8 at 6 a.m. EST on Fox Sports 2 at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium.
Chinese Taipei World Baseball Classic Roster
Pitchers (Team)
Yen-Ching Lu (CTBC Brothers)
Wei-Chung Wang (Wei Chuan Dragons)
Chen Kuan-Yu (Rakuten Monkeys)
C. C. Lee (CTBC Brothers)
Kai-Wei Teng (San Francisco Giants)
Yu-Hsun Chen (Rakuten Monkeys)
Sung Chia-hao (Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles)
Chih-Wei Hu (Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions)
Kuan-Wei Chen (Wei Chuan Dragons)
Jyun-Yue Tseng (Fubon Guardians)
Tzu-Peng Huang (Rakuten Monkeys)
Shao-Ching Chiang (Fubon Guardians)
Shih-Peng Chen (Fubon Guardians)
Che-Yuan Wu (CTBC Brothers)
Catchers (Team)
Kungkuan Giljegiljaw (Wei Chuan Dragons)
Dai-An Lin (Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions)
Yu-Chieh Kao (CTBC Brothers)
Infielders (Team)
Cheng Tsung-che (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Tzu-Wei Lin (Auckland Tuatara)
Wei-Chen Wang (CTBC Brothers)
Yu Chang (Boston Red Sox)
Nien-Ting Wu (Saitama Seibu Lions)
Kuo-Chen Fan (Fubon Guardians)
Li Lin (Rakuten Monkeys)
Kun-Yu Chiang (CTBC Brothers)
Outfielders (Team)
Tien-Hsin Kuo (Wei Chuan Dragons)
Wang Po-Jung (Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters)
Chen-Wei Chen (Rakuten Monkeys)
Chieh-Hsien Chen (Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions)
Chin Cheng (Rakuten Monkeys)
Coaching Staff
Manager – Yueh-Ping Lin
Bench Coach – Chih-Kang Kao
Hitting Coach – Cheng-Min Peng
Pitching Coach – Ming-Chieh Hsu
First Base Coach – Chien-Ming Chang
Third Base Coach – Chiang-Ho Chen
Bullpen Coach – Chien-Ming Wang