The St Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball (MLB) team on Monday signed Taiwanese amateur pitcher Lin Chen-wei (林振瑋), the first player the team has ever signed out of Taiwan.
The 21-year-old Tainan native played college baseball at Chinese Culture University before making his US debut in a collegiate summer league last year, the Cardinals said.
“Chen-wei possesses an explosive fastball to go along with his projectable physical attributes and impressive athleticism,” said Matt Slater, the Cardinals’ special assistant to the general manager.
Photo courtesy of Flight International Co.
“He is also the type of individual whose overall makeup showed well in our evaluations,” Slater said.
The 2.03m-tall Lin pitched in the MLB Draft League this year, making four starts for the Frederick Keys in Maryland and posting a 3.24 earned run average over 16.2 innings pitched, the Cardinals said.
The right-handed pitcher represented Taiwan at the U-23 Baseball World Cup in 2021 and last year, and joined Taiwan’s World Baseball Classic team as they prepared for this year’s event.
“Chen-wei is someone we feel has intriguing potential with the ability to develop into a future big-leaguer,” John Mozeliak, the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations, said in the statement.
“We are excited to welcome Chen-wei Lin to the St Louis Cardinals organization as the first player the team has ever signed out of Taiwan,” he added.
Lin is the nephew of Kuo Hong-chi (郭泓志), who pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2005 to 2011.
“I want to thank my family and people who have helped me along the way for their support,” Lin said in a statement released by his representative, Flight International.
“Especially my uncle. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity to take on this challenge. I will continue to work hard and make him proud,” he said.
Lin would soon report to the Cardinals’ training complex in Jupiter, Florida, the team said.
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