The Taiwanese baseball team arrived in Kobe, Japan, yesterday afternoon after the team indicated who their starting pitchers might be for their first two games at the World Baseball Classic (WBC), with their pool games to be played at the Gocheok Sky Dome in South Korea next month.
Manager Kuo Tai-yuan conferred with coaches and outlined a plan to start pitchers at the tournament who play for Japanese clubs: lefty Chen Kuan-yu, who plays for the Chiba Lotte Marines, and righty Kuo Chun-lin, who is with the Saitama Seibu Lions in the Nippon Professional Baseball league.
Taiwan face stern tests against Israel on March 7 and the Netherlands the following day in Pool A. They need least one win to have any realistic chance of advancing to the next round.
Photo courtesy of Chinese Taipei Baseball Association
Kuo said he knows it will be tough going, as both opponents are packed with Major League Baseball players.
The decisive contest could be their March 9 game at the Seoul stadium against South Korea, with the hosts tough to beat at major tournaments anywhere, let alone in front of their home crowd.
Taiwan could use two other right-handed pitchers as starters, Chiang Shao-ching who is a prospect with the MLB’s Cleveland Indians, and Sung Chia-hao, who plays for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan.
The national squad are to stay in Kobe for six days of training and two warm-up games against Japanese amateur teams, with the coaches to assess the players.
The squad are to fly to Seoul on March 1, where they also have two warm-up games.
Kuo said he would be testing his starting pitchers, as the youngsters lack big-game experience.
The bullpen have more pro seasons under their belt, but they lack consistency and foreign scouts have got reports on them, including video footage that exposes their pitching patterns, Kuo said.
Kuo said the Kobe stop is for the squad to adjust to the cold weather in Japan and South Korea.
“Our players are used to Taiwan’s hot and humid conditions, so we have to go train in Kobe and play a few games to adjust to the cold,” he said. “We must get the players to maintain their feel for the ball in colder climates.”
Forecasts indicate that daytime temperatures in Kobe will be between 5oC and 10oC for the time they are there.
The World Baseball Classic is to open with South Korea playing Israel at the Gocheok facility on March 6.
Japan host Pool B, which has Cuba, Australia, and China battling for the top two spots and a place in the next round.
In Taichung last night, Cuba’s bullpen showed some weakness as the Chinatrust Brothers scored three late runs on three hits and two walks to prevail 3-1.
In the top half of the ninth inning, Tseng Tzu-hsien delivered the key hit to knock in two runs, while Wu Tung-jung got an RBI-single to add an insurance run.
Cuba had a chance to win it, getting two men on with only one out in the bottom of the ninth frame, but Brothers closer Lin Yu-ching got two pinch-hitters to fly out, ending the game.
Cuba on Wednesday were to play a team of potential representatives for Taiwan at the Universiade this year, but that match was canceled due to rain.
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