The winner of World Baseball Network’s International Player of the Week is CTBC Brothers outfielder Szu-chi Chou in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.
Chou, 42, played his final game on September 22 at the Taipei Dome in Taiwan before a sold-out crowd of 40,000 people against the Wei Chuan Dragons. He went 1-for-3 with a walk to end his career.
He had 23 at-bats in his final season with an RBI and two stolen bases. He won the 2012 CPBL MVP of the Year by blasting 21 home runs and driving in 91 runs in 433 at-bats with a batting line of .365/.462/.587 that season.
The left-handed Chou helped the CTBC Brothers win back-to-back Taiwan Series championships in 2021 and 2022 against the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions and Rakuten Monkeys respectively. Both series ended in four-game sweeps in the best-of-seven series.
He played in the World Baseball Classic for Chinese Taipei in 2013. They went 2-1 in Pool B which was held at the Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan. They were eliminated in the second round of the WBC in Pool One with losses to Japan (4-3), and Cuba (14-0) at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
He had an OPS of .600 in the WBC and combined to walk nine times in the WBC qualifier and competition. He was dubbed “Asia’s King of Plate Discipline” for his performance.
He made his CPBL debut with the Macoto Cobras in 2005 and spent four seasons with them. After the 2008 season, the team folded due to a gambling scandal. Chou was drafted in the third round of the redistribution draft by the Brother Elephants.
In 2014, the team name was changed to the Chinatrust Brothers following the sale of the club during the 2013 offseason. The name was changed again in 2020 to the CTBC brothers.
Chou played 20 seasons in the CPBL and his career numbers are 144 home runs, 948 RBI, 100 stolen bases, and a slash line of .307/.375/.453 in 5,884 at-bats.
KBO Notes – Kia Tigers designated hitter Do-yeong Kim hit his 38th home run against Samsung Lions starting pitcher Seung-min Lee in a 5-3 win on September 23 at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, South Korea. Kim, 20, went 3-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk on September 23.
His 38 home runs rank second in the KBO and he leads the league with an OPS of 1.074. He has 64 RBI and a slash line of .348/.421/.653 in 528 at-bats this season.
Photo: Szu-Chi Chou of CTBC Brothers hitting at the top of the second inning during the CPBL game between Fubon Guardians and CTBC Brothers at the at the Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium on May 31, 2020 in New Taipei City, Taiwan. (Photo by Gene Wang/Getty Images)
