Hoping to revive a major league career that seems tenuous at best, Taiwanese right-hander Wang Chien-ming had his best outing on Monday since beginning rehab in the minor leagues earlier this month.
Wang pitched 6-1/3 scoreless innings in the Double-A Harrisburg Senators’ 5-1 win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, allowing only two hits and walking none in his third rehab game.
Wang, who was put on the disabled list by the Washington Nationals on July 4 due to hip soreness, threw 52 strikes out of 75 pitches and retired 12 batters on ground-outs thanks to his trademark sinker.
Photo: Cheng Yu-chia, Taipei Times
“Wang had excellent sink on his best pitch,” Senators pitching coach Paul Menhart told Mid-Atlantic Sports Network’s Byron Kerr. “He was consistently hitting 90 to 93mph [145 to 150kph]. Wang had a great change-up all night. It was an impressive outing.”
In two previous minor league outings, Wang gave up three runs in four innings pitched in each game.
The 31-year-old, who was dropped from the Nationals’ starting rotation after being ineffective earlier this season, is hoping to regain his place once ace Stephen Strasburg is shut down later this year to protect his arm.
In seven games for the Nationals from May 25 to June 30, Wang yielded 37 hits over 23.2 innings and posted an ERA of 7.61.
The Nationals felt Wang’s delivery was impaired by a hip ailment and put him on the disabled list to see if he could regain his form through another rehabilitation stint in the minors.
Wang spent the start of the season in the minors to work through a hamstring injury he suffered in spring training.
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