Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions’ outfielder Chen Chieh-hsien, who fractured his left index finger earlier during the World Baseball Classic (WBC), is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks.
The Uni-Lions confirmed in a news statement on Friday that Chen had a distal fracture in his left index finger. The diagnosis followed X-ray and CT scans conducted at the Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital earlier that day.
According to the club, the injury would require four to six weeks to heal. During this period, Chen must wear a protective splint but is permitted to engage in light, sport-specific training.
Photo: AP
The team plans to schedule a follow-up evaluation in two weeks to monitor bone healing before further assessing his rehabilitation timeline.
Chen was injured during Taiwan’s WBC Pool C opener against Australia.
He was hit by a 93.6mph (150.6kph) fastball in the top of the sixth inning with Taiwan trailing 0-2 and was immediately removed from the game.
The injury forced Chen to miss subsequent matchups against Japan and the Czech Republic.
He appeared as a pinch runner in the 10th inning of Taiwan’s final group stage game against South Korea on Sunday last week, scoring the winning run in a historic victory, Taiwan’s first-ever WBC win over its regional rival.
Chen is a six-time Chinese Professional Baseball League All-Star. He captained the national team to the 2024 WBSC Premier12 title, securing Taiwan’s first major international championship at that level.
Last year, Chen signed a 10-year, NT$200 million (US$6.27 million) contract with the Uni-Lions, the largest deal in CPBL history.
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