High-school infielder Cheng Tsung-che has signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates that includes a signing bonus of US$380,000.
Cheng, who attends Pu Men Senior High School in Kaohsiung, is the first player from the school to pursue his baseball dream abroad and the 10th Taiwanese player to sign with the Pirates organization.
Accompanied by his parents, the 17-year-old signed the contract after completing a physical.
Photo: Flight International via CNA
Cheng thanked his parents, the team and its scouts, and his management company, along with coaches and friends.
“Thank you for helping me to become who I am now. I won’t stop working hard in the future,” he said, expressing his hope of reaching the Major Leagues one day and promoting Taiwan to fans around the world.
Cheng, who has been praised for his speed and defensive skills, has mostly played shortstop in high school.
He has been named Best Shortstop at the junior amateur level in Taiwan, received the Best Batter Award at last year’s Nike All-Taiwan Baseball Camp and was named to the best nine-man team as shortstop at the Fubon under-18 Future Star Game.
Cheng was also selected for Taiwan’s national team, playing in this year’s World Baseball Softball Confederation under-18 Baseball World Cup. He is to train with the team in Matsuyama, Japan, from July 25 to Aug. 1.
“After coming back to Taiwan, I will return to the team as quickly as possible to win the World Cup with my teammates,” Cheng said of the tournament, which is to be held in South Korea from Aug. 30 to Sept. 8.
“It is a dream come true to play professional baseball in the United States,” Cheng added. “I look forward to competing and learning with players from all over the world.”
Cheng will be hoping to make more of a mark in the Major Leagues than other Taiwanese signed by the Pirates, as only Wang Wei-chung made it up from the minors, and he did it with a different team.
“The Pirates have shown the most initiative during the signing process,” Cheng said. “They told me the organization would do their best to develop me as a player.”
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western
Manchester City have confirmed defender Josko Gvardiol suffered a broken leg in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium. Gvardiol was one of two City centerbacks who went off injured in the second half, along with Ruben Dias, before Enzo Fernandez scored a stoppage-time equalizer for the visitors. The draw left second-placed City six points behind English Premier League leaders Arsenal. City, announcing Gvardiol sustained a tibial fracture to his right leg, added in a statement issued on Monday: “The defender will have surgery later this week and assessment remains ongoing to ascertain the full extent of the
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
RSS