Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and Tainan native Kuo Hong-chih looks set to start the third of three exhibition games they will play in Taiwan after scheduled starter Charlie Haeger was injured in another exhibition match, a report posted on the Dodgers’ official Web site said on Tuesday.
If Kuo does start Sunday’s game in Kaohsiung, he would only pitch one inning, the report said.
Dodgers manager Joe Torre has said left-hander Eric Stults and right-hander Josh Towers would start for the Dodgers in the first two exhibition games, to be played at Tienmu Stadium in Taipei tomorrow and on Saturday.
Kuo, who emerged as the Dodgers’ top set-up man last year, pitched the fifth inning of his team’s exhibition game against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday and retired the side in order, striking out two.
It was Kuo’s first appearance in a spring training game this year.
A split squad that will include 13 players on the Major League roster, according to the report on Dodgers Web site, will battle an All-Star team from Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL).
Aside from Kuo, the other top draws are expected to be star Dominican slugger Manny Ramirez and Taiwanese infielder Hu Chin-lung.
By last night, the Dodgers had not revealed in which of the three games Ramirez will play.
Another focal point of the series will be to see how Chen Chin-feng of the CPBL’s La New Bears performs against his former team.
Chen in September 2002 became the first Taiwanese to play in the Major Leagues after being called up by the Dodgers. He appeared in 19 games from 2002 to 2005 for the big-league club before returning to Taiwan in 2006.
While the Dodgers are in Taiwan, Kuo and Hu will join coaches Tim Wallach and Jim Slaton in hosting a clinic for young baseball players at Tienmu Stadium before tomorrow’s game.
Torre will meet Taiwanese baseball promoters and experts in a seminar scheduled for Saturday to offer his recommendations on how Taiwan can develop the sport, particularly in light of the game-fixing problems that have plagued the CPBL.
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