As the Chinese Professional Baseball League reaches the middle of June, the Wei Chuan Dragons continue to cruise toward the first-half title. The Dragons hold a five-game lead over both the Fubon Guardians and TSG Hawks with the first half scheduled to conclude June 30.
With the first-half champion automatically clinching a postseason berth regardless of its performance in the second half, Wei Chuan is in excellent position to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2023.
The Dragons continue to be fueled by a historic pitching staff. Their 2.24 ERA is on pace to break the CPBL’s single-season record, and their top four starters all own ERAs of 2.15 or lower. Free-agent additions Cristopher Mercedes, John Gant and Marcelo Martínez have been nothing short of dominant.
Martínez leads the trio with a 0.62 ERA, while Gant has posted a 1.44 ERA and Mercedes a 1.59 mark. On Wednesday, Cristopher Mercedes threw yet another gem in 2026. In a matchup between the top 2 teams in the CPBL, Mercedes went 7 1/3 innings and allowed just 1 run and struck out 8 to get the win. The win gave the Dragons a 6 game lead atop the league.
The pitching staff continues to show how they have transformed Wei Chuan into the league’s most complete team and a heavy favorite to capture the first-half crown.
While the Guardians are unlikely to catch the Dragons in the standings, they have still enjoyed a breakout first half, thanks in large part to ace Tung-Ming Li.
After posting a 4.52 ERA in 2025, Li has put together the best season of his career. He owns a 1.63 ERA across 55 1/3 innings. Since allowing five earned runs on April 11, Li has recorded a 0.57 ERA and has become one of the league’s most dominant starters.
Over his last five starts, he has thrown 24 1/3 innings and allowed just one run. In his latest outing against the TSG Hawks on Sunday, Li tossed five innings of one-hit ball to earn the victory. The win made him the first pitcher in Guardians history to win eight consecutive starts during the season’s first half.
While the Dragons, Guardians and Hawks have emerged as surprise contenders, the biggest shock of the first half has been the struggles of the CTBC Brothers and Rakuten Monkeys.
The two clubs met in last year’s Taiwan Series, which the Monkeys won. This season, however, both teams have already been eliminated from first-half title contention and now face the difficult task of making up ground in the second half to reach the postseason.
The Brothers currently own a .313 winning percentage. If they maintain their current pace, they would finish with the worst winning percentage in franchise history.
Should both the Brothers and Monkeys miss the playoffs, it would mark the first time since 2011 that both Taiwan Series finalists failed to qualify for the postseason the following year.
The past two offseasons have seen several of the CPBL’s top pitchers move to Nippon Professional Baseball. Right-hander Ruei-Yang Gu Lin signed with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, while Jo-Hsi Hsu joined the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
This offseason, another prominent CPBL arm is one to watch to potentially move to Japan.
Fubon Guardians closer Jyun-Yue Tseng, widely regarded as the league’s top reliever, is enjoying another outstanding season. After not allowing a run while pitching for Chinese Taipei during the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Tseng has posted a 2.08 ERA with 13 saves and 31 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings.
His fastball has reached 98 mph and has consistently sat between 93-95 mph this season, occasionally touching 96. His splitter remains his signature pitch and one of the most effective offerings in the league.
Tseng was posted for Japanese clubs in 2023 but did not sign. With another dominant season on his résumé, the timing may finally be right for him to make the jump to NPB, where he would likely attract significant interest.
Off the field, CPBL President Chi-Chang Tsai announced that the league is currently testing an automated ball-strike challenge system, commonly known as ABS. If the testing phase proves successful, the league plans to implement the system in 2027.
The CPBL would become the second Asian professional league to adopt ABS technology and the first to utilize a challenge-based version of the system. The Korea Baseball Organization currently uses a full ABS system without challenges.
Standings
Wei Chuan Dragons: 34-18
Fubon Guardians: 27-23
TSG Hawks: 28-24-1
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions: 26-25-1
Rakuten Monkeys: 20-27-2
CTBC Brothers: 15-33-2
Photo: Guardians starter Tung-Ming Li on June 7th against the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions. (Courtesy of CPBL)
