Sunday Notes: Wei-En Lin and Jo Hsi Hsu Will Be Taiwan’s WBC Pitchers to Watch

World Baseball Classic managers were made available to the media during the Winter Meetings, and I took that opportunity to ask Chinese Taipei’s Hao-Jiu Tseng about some of the best arms in Taiwan. I had specific pitchers in mind, but opted to begin with an open-ended question rather than cite any names. The response I got was likewise non-specific.

“I hope all pitchers from our team can be known by all baseball fans,” Tseng told me via an interpreter. “There are so many young pitchers. Most of them are still playing at the minor league level, but this tournament can help them improve their skills and experience, and someday grow into great players at a top level.”

The first pitcher he mentioned when I followed up was Wei-En Lin, a 20-year-old left-hander in the Athletics system who was featured here at FanGraphs back in August. The second was the hurler I was most interested in hearing about
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“Jo Hsi Hsu pitches in the [Chinese Professional Baseball League], ”Tseng said of the recently-turned-25-year-old right-hander, who had a 2.05 ERA and 120 strikeouts, with just 78 hits allowed, over 114 innings for the Wei Chuan Dragons. “He is a posted player this offseason. Right now he is eligible to negotiate with foreign clubs. He possibly will transfer his contract to Japan or America. He is the ace of the CPBL.

“He’s had injuries since he graduated from the high school level and became a professional player in Taiwan,” Tseng added. “He was patient and put in so much effort for recovery. Now he is pitching very well and can throw up to 98 mph.”

The Taoyuan City native will reportedly be attacking batters with his high-octane heater in NPB next year. Since I spoke to Tseng, Hsu agreed (per JapanBall) to a three-year deal with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

Lin emerged as one of the top pitching prospects in the Athletics system in 2025, fanning 117 batters and allowing just 70 hits over 87 innings across three levels as a nineteen-year-old. How do he and Hsu compare?

“Lin is really young, but he is fearless and can be a really good pitcher,” replied Tseng. “Hsu has more experience, because he has played in the CPBL for [four] years. When you are young, there is so much to learn. So, it is very hard to compare these two players, but they both have good stuff. They will be very important for us in this tournament. We are looking forward to having more fans around the world become familiar with these two pitchers.”

The 2026 WBC gets underway on March 5 with Chinese Taipei facing Australia in Tokyo.

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Ty Cobb went 10 for 20 against George Winter.

Bobby Bonds went 8 for 13 against Chris Short.

Boots Day went 8 for 16 against Steve Blass.

Alvin Dark went 15 for 33 against Hal Jeffcoat.

Gene Freese went 8 for 18 against Don Gross.

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Cincinnati Reds batters combined for 167 home runs and a .391 slugging percentage this past season, besting only nine other teams in both categories. With that in mind, I asked Brad Meador if the NL Central club needs more power in the lineup.

“Yeah, I think so,” replied the Reds’ general manager. “That’s something we’ve talked a lot about: How do you go about getting it? Our draft philosophy is hitter first — we believe that if you’re a good hitter, the power will come — and Sal Stewart is an example of that. We have guys in our big-league lineup that we feel have more than they’ve shown. If they continue to put together better at-bats and make more solid contact, the power is going to come. That being said, we are looking to add more damage to our lineup.”

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Derek Shelton is now managing in Minnesota after being at the helm in Pittsburgh for four full seasons and parts of two others. He was asked at the Winter Meetings what he learned about developing young hitters during his time with the Pirates.

“I learned that Triple-A does not prepare you for the big leagues,” said Shelton. “I think that’s the biggest thing. It’s why we’re seeing, as an industry, so many young players come to the big leagues and struggle. They just don’t hit. The pitching is just too good here… The distance between the talent in Triple-A and the big leagues is probably the greatest it’s ever been.”

How then is it helpful for a hitter to go back to Triple-A and face the same level of pitching as before? Unless he is being completely overmatched, might there be just as much value in staying the course and allowing him to acclimate to major-league arms?

“Sometimes it just helps them mentally,” replied Shelton. “You get your teeth kicked in enough times, sometimes you need a reset; you need a refresh. There are [also] mechanical adjustments you can make. I mean, depending on the organization and where they’re at, they have to make that decision. Does this individual stay in the big leagues and try to figure it out, or do you send him down and give him a little bit of confidence?”

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A quiz:

From 1980-1999, only four players led the American League in stolen bases. Rickey Henderson (12 times) and Kenny Lofton (five) dominated that 20-year stretch, while Harold Reynolds accounted for one of the remaining three theft titles. Which speedster topped the junior circuit in the other two seasons? (A hint: he did so with different teams, played seven of his 10 big-league seasons in the NL, and was part of a 10-player trade that included Brad Ausmus.)

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NEWS NOTES

Sung Mun Song has reportedly agreed to sign with the San Diego Padres. The 29-year-old third baseman slashed .315/.387/.536 with 26 home runs for the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes this year. In 2024, he slashed .340/.409/.518 with 19 home runs.

The Cincinnati Reds announced the members of their 2026 Hall of Fame class this week. The foursome comprises Lou Piniella, Brandon Phillips, Aaron Harang, and Reggie Sanders.

Greg Thayer, a right-hander who appeared in 20 games for the Minnesota Twins in 1978, died on December 12 at age 76. A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa who played both baseball and football at St. Cloud State University, Thayer tossed 45 innings to the tune of a 3.80 ERA and a 1-1 won-lost record.

Mike Campbell, a Seattle native who pitched for the Mariners from 1987-1989, and later for the Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, and Chicago Cubs, died on Monday at age 61. Drafted seventh overall by his hometown team out of the University of Hawaii in 1985 — the Pittsburgh Pirates had taken Barry Bonds sixth overall — Campbell would later be part of the 1989 trade that brought Randy Johnson to Seattle from Montreal. All told, Campbell went 12-19 with a 5.86 ERA over 233-and-a-third career innings.

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The answer to the quiz is Brian Hunter, who led the AL in 1997 when he pilfered 74 bases for the Detroit Tigers, and again in 1999 when he swiped 44 with the Seattle Mariners.

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I posted the following on Bluesky earlier this week, and it bears repeating here:

Bobby Abreu had a 10-year stretch (1998-2007) where he slashed .302/.411/.505 with 218 home runs, 289 steals, a 137 wRC+, and 52.3 WAR. During that time, he somehow made just two All-Star teams and never finished higher than 14th in MVP voting.

That Abreu received so little recognition throughout those peak seasons is not only confounding, it has almost certainly impacted his Hall of Fame chances. Through little fault of his own, Abreu is being viewed by a large swath of the electorate as a player who wasn’t nearly as good as the numbers show — which was very much the case when he played. His 2000 season especially stands out. That year, Abreu slashed .316/.416/.554 with 42 doubles, 10 triples, 25 home runs, 28 steals, a 143 wRC+, and 6.9 WAR… and didn’t get so much as a down-ballot MVP vote.

Add in the totality of his career — he played 18 seasons in all — and Abreu merits more respect than he has thus far garnered from voters. In the six ballots he has previously appeared on, the under-appreciated outfielder has topped out at 19.5% of support. He will almost certainly exceed that number this time around — the ballot is less stacked — but by how much? And what about his forthcoming years of eligibility?

Signs point to Abreu remaining on the outside looking in. They should point to Cooperstown.

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FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Yokohama DeNA BayStars second baseman Shugo Maki — one of NPB’s top hitters over the past five seasons — has reportedly expressed hopes of one day playing in MLB. The 27-year-old slugger was also quoted recently as saying that 22-year-old Chunichi Dragons left-hander Yumeto Kanemaru was the toughest pitcher he faced this year. Maki called the rookie’s fastball “intimidating.”

Jacob Berry is 20-for-60 and has left the yard twice for the Puerto Rican Winter League’s Leones de Ponce. A first-round pick in 2022 out of LSU, the 24-year-old third baseman/outfielder in the Miami Marlins organization had eight home runs and a 104 wRC+ with Triple-A Jacksonville this season.

Yohendrick Pinango is slashing .325/.398/.650 with six home runs in 95 plate appearances for the Venezuelan Winter League’s Cardenales de Lara. A 23-year-old outfielder whom the Toronto Blue Jays acquired from the Chicago Cubs in the July 2024 Nate Pearson trade, Pinango put a 122 wRC+ and slugged 15 home runs between Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo.

Mel Rojas Jr. is slashing .232/.353/.327 in 201 plate appearances for the Dominican Winter League’s Tigres del Licey. The 35-year-old former Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves prospect has played 18 professional seasons and hit 178 of his 278 home runs with the KBO’s KT Wiz. Rojas has also played in Japan and Mexico.

Landen Bourassa has fanned 35 batters and issued just a pair of free passes while allowing nine earned runs over 35 innings for the Australian Baseball League’s Sydney Blue Sox. The 29-year-old right-hander from Lethbridge, Alberta pitched for the independent American Association’s Winnipeg Goldeyes this summer.

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A random obscure former player snapshot:

Matt Winters had a lengthy career, although it included just 42 big-league games. Suiting up for the Kansas City Royals in 1989, the left-handed-hitting outfielder went 25-for-107 with a pair of solo home runs. He was originally in the Yankees system. Winters was drafted 24th overall in 1978 with a pick New York received as compensation for the Boston Red Sox signing Mike Torrez as a free agent (Rex Hudler was the Yankees’ other first-rounder that year).

His MLB tenure, which came at age 29 in his 12th professional season, was followed by five homer-happy campaigns with Japan’s Nippon Ham Fighters. A Buffalo native who attended high school in nearby Williamsville, NY (the hometown of highly-regarded Miami Marlins prospect Joe Mack), Winters left the yard 160 times over that 1990-1994 span. All told, he totaled 1,715 hits and 352 homers as a pro. Post-playing career, he coached stateside in the minors and also scouted for the Fighters.

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Two sets of quotes were left on the cutting-room floor when I recently wrote about Kyle Finnegan returning to Detroit via free agency. One pertained to his slider, which he’d begun throwing more toward the end of his Nationals tenure, then mostly shelved after being traded to the Tigers at the deadline.

“The slider has always been kind of a work in progress for me,” Finnegan told me. “I’ve bounced around with it at times. I used to throw more of a cutter-ish slider, then I tried to jump on the sweeper bandwagon, but that didn’t really play too well with the the way I throw the ball. It wasn’t consistent enough, so I went back to more of the gyro. The movement profile on it has actually been pretty good. It’s been anywhere from zero to negative-four in both directions, horizontal and vertical, so it’s kind of in that death-ball range. Even so, the splitter is a far better pitch for me.”

The other pertained to his willingness to embrace change.

“You’ve got to embrace the adapter-guy mentality in this game,” said Finnegan. “Players are constantly making adjustments. It’s something you have control of, diving into a change if it will benefit you. It’s never a bad thing to at least understand it. So, for me it’s about trying to gain an understanding of my pitches, at the same time knowing that I have to just go out there and compete once the lights come on.”

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

MLB caught Emmanuel Clase breaking in-game cell phone rules prior to knowledge of the betting scheme he’s embroiled in’s coming to light. Evan Drellich and Zack Meisel teamed up for the story at The Athletic.

At CBS Sports, Mike Axisa wrote about the Yankees losing a top international prospect to the Mets following a scouting shakeup.

At Bless You Boys, Brandon Day wrote about how a breakout season turned Troy Melton into the Detroit Tigers’ brightest young hope for the starting rotation.

Brew Crew Ball’s Adam Zimmer dug deep into the profile of Angel Zerpa, Milwaukee’s newest trade acquisition.

This is several years old, but well worth revisiting at SABR’s Baseball Card Blog. Mark Armour told the story of the 1967-1968 player boycott of Topps.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

The 1999 Cleveland Indians had six players with 500 or more plate appearances and an OBP of .397 or higher: Roberto Alomar, David Justice, Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, and Omar Vizquel. All but Justice scored over 100 runs.

The most runs a pitcher has allowed in a single season with all of them being earned is 118, by Seattle’s Joel Pineiro in 2005. The most runs a pitcher has allowed over his entire career with all of them being earned is 115, by Logan Kensing, who toed the rubber for five teams across the 2004-2016 seasons. (Hat tip to Sports-Reference’s Katie Sharp.)

Tom Brunansky had 306 doubles, 271 home runs, a .434 slugging percentage, and 69 stolen bases. George “the Boomer” Scott had 306 doubles, 271 home runs, a .435 slugging percentage, and 69 stolen bases.

The Red Sox signed Tom Gordon to a free agent contract on today’s date in 1995. A short-of-stature right-hander with a hammer curveball, “Flash” went on to log an AL-best 46 saves for Boston in 1998. The following year, Stephen King published a novel titled The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

The Mets signed R.A. Dickey as a free agent on today’s date in 2009. The knuckleballer captured the NL Cy Young Award with New York in 2012 after going 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA.

Players born on today’s date include Brian Schlitter, a right-hander who appeared in 78 games for the Chicago Cubs from 2010-2015, and in six games for the Oakland Athletics in 2019. The Oak Park, Illinois native won three of nine decisions, had a 5.20 ERA, and swatted a single in his lone at-bat.

Also born on today’s date was Jack Daniels, an outfielder from Chester, Pennsylvania who had 41 hits and a 57 wRC+ while playing in 106 games for the Boston Braves in 1952. Daniels hammered a pair of home runs, both against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Lefty Leifield was one of Pittsburgh’s best pitchers during the deadball era, going 103-80 with a 119 ERA+ from 1906-1911. Prior to becoming a Pirate, Leifield logged 26 wins for the Western League’s Des Moines Underwriters in 1905.