International baseball has premier leagues that people love to tune in to. These include Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, the Korean Baseball Organization in Korea, and others. However, what are some of the other international leagues that fly under the radar? Here is a look at a couple of the underrated international leagues.
Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP)
The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP) does not receive the praise or glamour of some of the bigger international leagues. However, competition within this league is intense.
Since the league’s founding in 1945, there have been ten different champions and seven of the eight current teams have won the championship in their team’s respective history.
The incentive to win the LVBP title also matters a lot to these teams. Winning the title earns them a trip to the Caribbean Series, and they can represent Venezuela.
In fact, during the 2024 Caribbean Series in Miami, Venezuela’s first winner since 2009 was Tiburones de la Guaira, who took home the crown.
With the league currently in playoffs, the LVBP has some underrated play that international baseball fans should check out.
Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL)
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) stands out with its talent. However, the rest of the world may not take in this talent nearly as much as the other powerhouse leagues in Asia.
Taiwan’s pitching is exceptional. During the 2024 season, five of the six teams in the CPBL had sub-4.00 ERAs.
This is thanks to some big-time pitchers, such as Ruei Yang Gu Lin, Marcelo Martinez, Nivaldo Rodriguez, and Mario Sanchez, who all had sub-2.50 ERAs this season and led the league in pitching.
There are some good hitters in this league as well. Li Lin and Chieh Hsien Chen were the two leaders in batting average in the CPBL in 2024. They were also big-time standouts on Chinese Taipei’s Premier12 championship team.
The CPBL is a talented league international baseball fans should check out. It may be overshadowed by bigger leagues on the same continent, but the level of play is right there on par with it.
