Strong foreign pitching will continue to be a major factor in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League this year.
Teams that have one or two consistent foreign starters will have a much better chance at winning this year, especially with a shortened season (100 games over 26 weeks, instead of the usual 30 weeks) that schedules four games per week for every team, instead of the previous three-game set.
In terms of best projected starting rotation this year, there's no clear favorite since the Sinon Bulls did not resign the league's all-time winningest pitcher in Osvaldo Martinez, whose 108 career victories are second to none, or Lenin Picota of Panama, a 16-game winner last year.
This leaves us with the President Lions, who brought in lefty Eric Cyr from Canada to take some of the heat off ace starter Pan "Du Du" Wei-luen and second-year starter Lin Yueh-ping.
While the Lions appear to enjoy a slight advantage in their starting pitching over the rest of the league, their real strength seems to be an infield that features second baseman Yang Seng and first baseman Kao Guo-ching.
Newly arrived shortstop Luis Ugueto of Venezuela and second-year third baseman Chen Jia-wei should back up the Lions starters extremely well.
A lack of speed in the outfield may cause some problems for the Lions, along with in poor hitting, two areas of concern for first-year Japanese manager Ohashi.
La New Bears
Returning starter Chris Wright of the US will get plenty of help with the addition of Dominican righty Gustavo Martinez and a healthy Wu Si-yo, the once promising left-hander who was hampered by an injury last season.
Team defense will be the biggest area of concern for second-year manager Hong Yi-chung, whose young squad is missing veteran leadership.
Absence of a good defense will not matter much for the Bears as they will look to outscore their opponents with longball threats and crowd-pleasers Chen Chin-fong, Lin Chih-sheng, Pan Chung-wei and Huang Long-yi -- all of whom are capable of double-digit home run seasons.
Chinatrust Whales
A deep-and-versatile pitching staff may carry the Chinatrust Whales out of the cellar this year, with ace closer Dario Veras leading a group that can either start, work mid-inning relief, or make an occasional late-game appearance as a closer.
The defense, anchored by All-Star shortstop Cheng Chang-ming and veteran speedster Chi Jung-lin patrolling the outfield will help manager Lu Lai-fa focus his efforts on improving the Whales offense, which ranked last in team batting and total runs scored last year.
Brother Elephants
The return of their former ace Yofu Tetsu will not solve the Brother Elephants' pitching woes as the most popular team in the league kicks off without the services of veteran right-handers Jonathan Hurst and Bronswell Patrick, who were both waived after last season.
Uncertainty with the two other foreign pitchers, Brian Rodaway and Blas Cedeno, could mean that local starters Chuang Hong-liang and Liu Jung-nan will likely get the nod at least once a week.
The Elephants will have to look to their outstanding defense to secure some wins.
Hitting, especially with runners in scoring position, will likely determine if the Elephants will remain competitive as their top guns, such as Chen "Golden Warrior" Chih-yuan and Peng "Chia Chia" Cheng-min, return from serious injuries.
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