The host nation for Pool A is Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), a country not well-known around the baseball world but one that has produced some talent over the years. Chinese Taipei’s roster may not carry the MLB talent that nations like Italy, Cuba, and the Netherlands will in March. But, there are some former Major League players that could play pivotal roles in the tournament.
Related: A Look at Team Panama in the 2023 World Baseball Classic
Pitchers
- Kuan-Wei Chen
- Kuan-Yu Chen
- Shih-Peng Chen
- Yu-Hsun Chen
- Shao-Ching Chiang
- Chih-Wei Hu
- Tzu-Peng Huang
- Chen-Cheng Lee
- Yen-Chang Lee
- Yen-Ching Lu
- Chia-Hao Sung
- Kai-Wei Teng
- Jen-Ho Tseng
- Jyun-Yue Tseng
- Wei-Chung Wang
Most of the pitchers from Team Chinese Taipei currently pitch in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, but there are some names that should be familiar to North American baseball fans. Right-hander Chih-Wei Hu threw 23 innings over two seasons (2017-18) with the Rays. Hu struck out 21 batters over 23 innings, and recorded a 3.52 ERA during that time. Then, there’s Wei-Chung Wang. Wang spent parts of four seasons in the Majors, but didn’t have much success. The 30-year-old owns a career ERA of 6.52 in the Majors.
Giants pitching prospect Kai-Weng Teng, who spent 2022 in Richmond (AA), will also be a part of the Taiwan national team. Weng went 6-12 with a 5.22 ERA & 5.6 BB/9 over 136.1 innings. Despite the rough ERA, he did strike out 169 batters.
Position Players
- Yu Chang (INF)
- Chen-Wei Chen (OF)
- Chieh-Hsien Chen (OF)
- Chin Cheng (OF)
- Tsung-Che Cheng (INF)
- Kun-Yu Chiang (INF)
- Kuo-Chen Fan (INF)
- Kungkuan Giljegiljaw (C)
- Yu-Chieh Kao (C)
- Tien-Hsin Kuo (OF)
- Dai-An Lin (C)
- Li Lin (INF)
- Tzu-Wei Lin (INF)
- Po-Jung Wang (OF)
- Wei-Chen Wang (INF)
- Nien-Ting Wu (INF)
Much like with the pitching staff, there are a couple of former MLBers that were named to the Chinese Taipei national team. Former Red Sox infield prospect Tzu-Wei Lin recorded 218 plate appearances in parts of five MLB season. Lin hit .223/.298/.316 in that time. Arguably the most notable name on Chinese Taipei is Yu Chang, who most recently played in the MLB last season with the Red Sox, Rays, Pirates, and the Guardians. Chang hit .208 with four home runs and 10 extra base hits over 69 games.
Chinese Taipei may be the host country for Pool A, but the country does have a steep hill the climb in March.
