Olympic Rosters: Taiwan
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Taiwan has announced its roster. I don't see Taiwan as being seriously in the race; they're definitely behind Cuba, Japan, the USA and South Korea and probably Canada as well. The Netherlands has beaten them several times as well, so Taiwan might finish 7th. OTOH, they have the potential to beat any team in the tournament.
Unlike Canada and the Netherlands, there are few ex-NPB guys here with Chih-Chia Chang and Wei-Yin Chen. No Chung-Shou Yang, Ming-Chieh Hsu or some of the others who have been on the national team and in NPB in the past. Hanshin's Wei-Chu Lin is out with injury.
C: Nothing to get excited about. Chun-Chang Yeh ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Chun-Chang_Yeh[/url]), Feng-Min Chen (http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Feng-Min Chen) and Chih-Kang Kuo ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Chih-Kang_Kao[/url]) are all experienced guys who have never done much in international competition.
1B: Cheng-Min Peng ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Cheng-Min_Peng[/url]) is a very good contact threat and will probably hit in the heart of the order.
2B: Yen-Wen Kuo ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Yen-Wen_Kuo[/url]) and Chih-Hsien Chiang ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Chih-Hsien_Chiang[/url]) are young prospects in the low minors, Kuo in the Reds chain and Chiang in the Red Sox chain. Neither is a great prospect.
SS: Chih-Sheng Lin ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Chih-Sheng_Lin[/url]) is a pretty good player who ran into trouble this year for his attack on an umpire. He's been reinstated and should provide at least competent offense and defense.
3B: Tai-Shan Chang ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Tai-Shan_Chang[/url]) is one of the club's top offensive threats. He has played in many international events.
There's also a Chih-Wei Shih on the infield but I don't much about him.
OF: Chin-Feng Chen ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Chin-Feng_Chen[/url]) is clearly the team's top offensive star. He tore up the US minors and is doing the same in the CPBL after US teams never gave him much of a shot in the majors. Che-Hsuan Lin ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Che-Hsuan_Lin[/url]) is a top prospect who was just MVP of the Futures Game. Kuo-Hui Lo ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Kuo-Hui_Lo[/url]) had a promising season in A ball last year but has struggled this season. Chieh-Ming Chang ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Chieh-Ming_Chang[/url]) is a long-time member of the national team but I'm not sure why as his stats don't impress me. Wu-Hsiung Pan is a good contact threat. A big loss is the injury of Wei-Chu Lin ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Wei-Chu_Lin[/url]).
I'm unsure who would DH. Maybe C-F Chen with an infield of Lin, Lo and either Chang or Pan.
SP: Lo's uncle Chin-Hui Tsao ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/tsaoch01.shtml[/url]) is their second ex-MLBer but he has only seen limited action this year and who knows what he will do. Chih-Chia Chang ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Chih-Chia_Chang[/url]) was once of Taiwan's brightest prospects but injuries while he played in Japan have hurt him; he hasn't done much for years. Wei-Lun Pan ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Wei-Lun_Pan[/url]) is arguably the best pitcher in the CPBL. He was excellent in the 2004 Olympics. Chien-Fu Yang ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Chien-Fu_Yang[/url]) has been inconsistent but was excellent in the 2008 Olympic qualifier.
RP: Fu-Te Ni ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Fu-Te_Ni[/url]) has been okay in some recent international events. Wei-Yin Chen ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Wei-Yin_Chen[/url]) has been a disappointment in Japan. Chen-Chang Lee, Kai-Wen Chen ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Kai-Wen_Cheng[/url]) and Chia-Jen Lo ([url]http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Chia-Jen_Lo[/url]) are amateur hurlers; Chen and Lo are hard throwers (both in the mid-90s). Wen-Hsiung Hsu (http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Wen-Hsiung Hsu) is their other pitcher.