Chinese Taipei aiming for its best-ever result in a U-23 Baseball World Cup

HERMOSILLO, Mexico -- Chinese Taipei, the winner of the first and only U-21 Baseball World Cup in 2014, is aiming for its best-ever result in a U-23 Baseball World Cup.

The III WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup, scheduled to open Thursday in Mexico, will be the first Baseball World Cup to be staged since 2019, following delays and cancellations due to COVID-19. The U-23 World cup will also be the first international baseball tournament to adopt the seven-inning rule.

“We have to be aggressive since it’s a seven-inning game,” said Chinese Taipei manger Szu-Hsien Wu and two-time Olympian (1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona) in his playing days.

Wu pointed out the impact on playing the 7-inning game: “We need to be more flexible on how we use our pitchers, and we also need to be really aggressive on our game plans. We need to score quickly.”

The latest Chinese Taipei team is composed by players from local amateur league teams, colleges, CPBL teams and US minor league teams. Among the eleven pitchers selected to make the cut, three are from the US minor leagues: Hao-Chun CHENG (Dodgers Rookie), Chih-Ting WANG (Royals A-) and Chi-Lin HSU (Phillies A-).

Chung-Ao CHUANG-CHEN from the National Taiwan Sports University is arguably the best arm on the team. He recently threw a 9-inning complete game with 15 strikeouts while allowing just one run. CHUANG-CHEN did not think the 7-inning rule would make big difference on his starting role: “I just need to make sure (the opponent) doesn't score on us...I think it’s going to be tougher on the bullpen.”

CHUANG-CHEN and sidearm Yu-Hung CHEN (Topco Falcons), Yu-Min LIN (Kainan University) and CHENG (Dodgers A-) will form the four-man starting rotation as the other seven pitchers will be ready to standby at the bullpen. Manager WU said he will not rule out the possibility to run a bullpen game if necessary.

On the offensive side, Chinese Taipei is expected to rely heavily on the bats of a pair of minor league players. Sheng-Ping CHEN (Diamondbacks A-) has appeared in more than 80 games in current minor league season and has produced 6 homeruns and 13 doubles. Tsung-Che CHENG (Pirates Rookie) also displayed consistency at the plate, with .311 batting average and .942 OPS in 38 games played this season.

Chinese Taipei, grouped with Dominican Republic, Cuba, Czech Republic, Germany and host Mexico, will open the tournament against Germany. The top three teams from the group will advance to the next round, while the world championship game to be held on 2 October.