As the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers inch closer for Taipei, Taiwan, and Tucson, Arizona, the Chinese National Baseball team has been preparing for the upcoming tournament. They will play in the 2025 California Winter League, where free-agent players will play before signing contracts to head to Spring Training. The league spans for about a month.
Last winter in 2024, China had a team participate, as they were called, “MLB Development Center China.” In 17 games played last winter, they went 5-12, ending their season with a 3-7 record in their last ten games. Cunhan Song would lead the team with a .421 batting average, while Pengwei Jing led the team in RBIs with five, which included a home run. Wenjie Lin would also have the other home run for China’s team, as he added two doubles in 11 hits, driving in four RBIs.
Ziqiang Lin would make four starts in six appearances, pitching to a 1-2 record, posting a 3.63 ERA, with 21 strikeouts in 17.1 innings. Lin would also get some at-bats during the season, as he went 12-31, hitting .387 with an RBI. Ruixin Wei would lead their development team in saves with two, pitching in seven games with a 2.76 ERA, striking out 11 batters in 12.2 innings.
On January 3, the California Winter League announced that the World Baseball Classic team will participate in the full season before departing for Arizona for the WBC Qualifiers. After a successful winter in 2024, the league is thrilled to continue working with the Chinese Baseball Association. The Tucson Qualification Pool will begin play on March 2 until March 6. China will face Germany, Colombia, and Brazil as it looks to return to the World Baseball Classic for 2026.
