The Chinese Professional Baseball League season has nearly completed three-fourths of its first half, and with the first-half champion clinching a postseason berth, the race for the top spot remains critical.
The Wei Chuan Dragons have been the surprise team of the season and currently hold a commanding lead in the first-half standings. At 31-15, they have won 13 of their last 15 games and have allowed one run or fewer in eight of those victories.
The Dragons continue to be carried by a historic pitching staff. Their 2.11 ERA is on pace to break the CPBL single-season record. While the offense averages just 3.9 runs per game, the pitching staff has recorded a league-leading 10 shutouts. All six members of the team’s starting rotation own ERAs of 3.83 or lower, led by Marcelo Martínez at 0.74 and John Gant at 1.07.
Gant, a former MLB pitcher, has been nothing short of spectacular in his first season in Taiwan. He has struck out 53 batters in 50 1/3 innings while posting a league-best 1.07 ERA among qualified pitchers. In his most recent start against the Rakuten Monkeys, he showed why he is among the leading MVP candidates. Gant threw seven innings, struck out eight and allowed just one hit in a dominant outing.
The MVP race currently appears to be a two-man battle, and Yu Chang continues to prove why he belongs firmly in the conversation. Healthy for much of the season, Chang has separated himself from the rest of the league’s hitters. He owns a 1.026 OPS and is the only qualified hitter above .951. He leads the league with a .448 on-base percentage, with no other qualified hitter within 40 points. He is tied for second with seven home runs and tied for third with 23 walks.
The Fubon Guardians have relied heavily on Chang’s production as they attempt to overcome one of the league’s weaker pitching staffs. Aside from Chang, only Kuo-Chen Fan has an OPS above .800 on the roster, posting an .827 mark with six home runs. Together, Chang and Fan have combined for 13 home runs, while the remainder of the team has hit just eight. They have formed the most productive power-hitting duo in the CPBL this season.
Against the league-leading Dragons last Wednesday, Chang delivered one of his best performances of the season. He went 3-for-4 with a home run against Jen-Ho Tseng, who had allowed just one earned run entering the game. With the Guardians sitting at 23-20 and in third place, Chang has a legitimate opportunity to capture his first CPBL MVP award if he can maintain his current pace through the second half.
The biggest disappointment of the season has undoubtedly been the CTBC Brothers. The premier franchise of the CPBL’s 21st-century era has already been eliminated from first-half title contention with 15 games remaining.