On Thursday, Nippon Professional Baseball’s (NPB) Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks announced they’ve reached a contract agreement with 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Zhang Jun-Wei. The signing was first reported by the Pacific League club with a post on X.
“I am very honored to be able to join the Hawks, a strong team with a long history,” Zhang said in a statement released by the Hawks. “From now on, I will cherish each and every day and do my best to become an active member of the first team as soon as possible!”
Zhang threw 10.1 innings for Chinese Taipei in the 2023 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup, allowing just one earned run with 11 strikeouts. His best performance came in the Super Round in a 3-0 win against the United States, striking out seven in 6.1 shutout innings. Chinese Taipei fell short in the World Championship Final, losing 2-1 to Japan.
According to a scouting report written by west coast crosschecker Dan Fox from Prep Baseball in May, Zhang throws his fastball approximately 96 mph, working both sides of the plate with good command. Fox mentioned that Zhang was still hitting 96 mph in the seventh inning of his start in the East Coast League 18U Tournament.
Given Zhang’s young age, he will likely begin his NPB career with the Hawks’ Western League team. In 2024, the Hawks’ farm club finished the regular season 71-41-7 and lost the Farm Championship game 6-2 to the Yokohama DeNA BayStars’ Western League club.
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Photo Credit: Zhang Jun-Wei pitches.
