With the promotion of Hu Chih-wei on Wednesday, five Taiwanese players are playing in the MLB at the same time, setting a new record for the most Taiwanese to be playing in the world’s top-tier baseball league in a season.
The previous record was four.
The 23-year-old right-hander Hu was promoted by the Tampa Bay Rays and last pitched in the majors on June 11. Hu was scheduled to report to the team yesterday.
Hu has a 1.13 ERA with one loss in four games he pitched in the big leagues this season.
Hu will soon be joining three other Taiwanese pitchers in the majors — Chen Wei-yin of the Miami Marlins, who returned to the team’s bullpen following an injury; Wang Wei-chung of the Milwaukee Brewers; and the recently promoted Tseng Jen-ho of the Chicago Cubs.
The fifth Taiwanese player in the MLB is Lin Tzu-wei of the Boston Red Sox, the only Taiwanese fielder in the majors this season.
Since the legendary No. 4 batter Chen Chin-feng made his MLB debut in 2002, a total of 14 Taiwanese have so far appeared in the US pro league, 10 of whom have been pitchers.
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