As most local fans set their eyes on Washington Nationals pitcher Wang Chien-ming, the most successful Taiwanese baseball player in the US Major League to date, more than 20 Taiwanese players in the US minor leagues are trying to work their way up, hoping some day to make it to the big league.
Twelve of the 27 Taiwanese players in the minors, including former Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Hu Chin-lung — now demoted to the Albuquerque Isotopes in the Triple-A — opened their baseball season yesterday, the opening day of this year’s full-season minor leagues, while the other 15 are still participating in extended spring training and have not been assigned.
This year’s major league season opening day on April 5 was not so exciting for local fans because they did not have many players to cheer for. Left-handed reliever Ni Fu-te of the Detroit Tigers was the only Taiwanese player to make the 25-man roster on opening day, with Wang and Dodgers left-hander Kuo Hong-chih both still undergoing rehabilitation from injury.
The good news is that there are eight players in the Double-A teams — a record for Taiwanese players — who could earn callups to the Majors in the later part of the season if they perform well like Wang, who was called up to the big league in 2005 after six years in the New York Yankees farm system.
Among these major league hopefuls are Hu, who played sparingly with the Dodgers, and right-handed pitcher Lo Chia-jen of the Houston Astros, who made Double-A in his first season and accumulated three saves to go with a 2.10 earned run average.
Lo has been ranked as the second-best Asian prospect in the minors by Baseball Digest Daily (BDD), a Web site focusing on baseball coverage. The other three also made the top 10 list, including fifth-ranked Boston Red Sox outfielder Lin Che-hsuan, Cleveland Indians pitcher Lee Chen-chang at No. 6 and Seattle Mariners outfielder Lo Kuo-hui at No. 9
Other players in the Double-A are Oakland Athletics outfielder Chen Yung-chi, Colorado Rockies pitcher Lo Chin-lung, Boston Red Sox infielder Chiang Chih-hsien and Chicago White Sox pitcher Chen Hun-wen.
According to the BDD, the mid-level minors are crammed with Asian talent, which also includes players from Japan and South Korea.
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