Fubon Guardians veteran Lin Che-hsuan, the eighth Taiwanese player to reach the MLB, is to retire at the end of the current CPBL season, the franchise announced yesterday.
Now 36, Lin has been plagued by injuries over the past two seasons, playing only 55 games last year and eight games this year.
As of yesterday, he had batted .280 and recorded 771 hits in 799 games over 11 CPBL seasons.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
The Fubon Guardians said that a press conference would be held for Lin on Monday.
Known for his speed and fielding skills, Lin signed with the Boston Red Sox on a US$400,000 deal after graduating from high school in June 2007.
The outfielder made his MLB debut on April 14, 2012, when Jacoby Ellsbury went on the injured list. He batted .250 with three hits in nine games. That turned out to be his only MLB season.
Lin signed minor league contracts with the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers before joining the CPBL’s EDA Rhinos as the first overall pick in the 2015 mid-season draft.
He led the EDA Rhinos to the CPBL championship and was named Taiwan Series MVP in 2016, the franchise’s final season in Kaohsiung before it moved to New Taipei City and became the Fubon Guardians.
His CPBL highlights came from 2016 to 2019, during which he was named an All-Star and won the Golden Glove Award each year.
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