2016 Taiwan Series Preview

The 2016 Taiwan Series starts Saturday as the Chinatrust Brothers (中信兄弟) and EDA Rhinos (義大犀牛) face off in a best-of-seven series to determine this season’s CPBL champion. Here’s what you need to know.

Schedule

Game	Date	Time	Visitor	Home	Location
1	October 22	5:05 PM	Rhinos	Brothers	Taichung
2	October 23	5:05 PM	Rhinos	Brothers	Taichung
3	October 25	6:35 PM	Brothers	Rhinos	Taoyuan
4	October 26	6:35 PM	Brothers	Rhinos	Taoyuan
5	October 27	6:35 PM	Brothers	Rhinos	Taoyuan
6	October 29	5:05 PM	Rhinos	Brothers	Taichung
7	October 30	5:05 PM	Rhinos	Brothers	Taichung

The Brothers will only use Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium for their home games as Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City is under construction.

The Rhinos, who have been playing without a home stadium since August because of construction at Chengcing Lake Baseball Stadium in Kaohsiung, will rent Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium from the Lamigo Monkeys for their home games.

History

The Chinatrust Brothers, previously the Brother Elephants, are a founding member of the CPBL and often referred to as the New York Yankees of Taiwan. The franchise has won seven CPBL titles in the league’s 26 seasons, with their most recent championship coming in 2010.

The EDA Rhinos came into existence in 2013 after the E-Da Corporation purchased the Sinon Bulls and moved them from Taichung to Kaohsiung. The Rhinos have never won a CPBL title, though they were runners-up in 2013. (Note: This is the last season for the EDA Rhinos as the club has been sold to Fubon Financial.)

2016 Records

First Half

	G	W-T-L	PCT
Brothers	60	35-2-23	0.603
Rhinos	60	27-0-33	0.450

Second Half

	G	W-T-L	PCT
Brothers	60	33-0-27	0.550
Rhinos	60	34-1-25	0.576

Overall

	G	W-T-L	PCT
Brothers	120	68-2-50	0.576
Rhinos	120	61-1-58	0.513

The Brothers advanced to the finals by dominating the first 60 games of the season, winning the first-half pennant by seven games over the second-place Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions. The Rhinos actually finished the first-half in dead last.

The Oliver Photo

The Rhinos bounced back in the second half of the season, however, and used a hot September in which they went 15-5 to clinch the second-half pennant. The Brothers finished in second place for the second-half season, earning them home-field advantage for the Taiwan Series with the better overall record.

The Oliver Photo

Hitting

The Brothers have a clear offensive advantage over the Rhinos.

First Half

	G	AB	R	RBI	H	HR	TB	SO	BB	SB	OBP	SLG
Brothers	60	2253	483	466	749	92	1193	360	242	23	0.402	0.530
Rhinos	60	2113	340	313	611	62	928	421	191	48	0.354	0.439

Second Half

	G	AB	R	RBI	H	HR	TB	SO	BB	SB	OBP	SLG
Brothers	60	2202	426	397	711	77	1085	386	226	22	0.392	0.493
Rhinos	60	2198	393	362	661	69	1014	422	180	52	0.361	0.461

Overall

	G	AB	R	RBI	H	HR	TB	SO	BB	SB	OBP	SLG
Brothers	120	4455	909	863	1460	169	2278	746	468	45	0.397	0.511
Rhinos	120	4311	733	675	1272	131	1942	843	371	100	0.358	0.450

The Brothers boast the most prolific offense the league has ever seen. This group has more home runs, hits and runs scored than any other team in league history. It's true that the team was better in the first half than in the second, but key injuries might have played a factor and the team will be well rested coming into the series opener.

The lineup has some serious pop from two through eight and is loaded with contact and gap hitters. The team averaged a home run in every 26.4 at-bats and averaged 7.6 runs over their 120 games. Manager Wu Fu Lien (吳復連) might go with something like this for Game 1:

1. RF 6 Chang Cheng Wei (張正偉)
2. CF 7 Chang Chih Hao (張志豪)
3. LF 16 Chou Ssu Chi (周思齊)
4. 2B 32 Lin Chih Sheng (林智勝)
5. 3B 11 Chiang Chih Hsien (蔣智賢)
6. 1B/DH 74 Hsu Chi Hung (許基宏)
7. DH/1B 23 Peng Cheng Min (彭政閔)
8. C 77 Cheng Da Hong (鄭達鴻)
9. SS 14 Wang Sheng Wei (王勝偉)

The most dangerous part of the lineup is undoubtedly the four and five hitters. Lin Chih Sheng followed up his 2015 MVP season by tying for the league lead in home runs with 34 and finishing second in RBI with 107. Chiang Chih Hsien, in his first full CPBL season since returning from the Baltimore Orioles minor league system, finished second in average at .402, third in home runs with 30, and fourth in RBI with 104.

Lin Chih Sheng / The Oliver Photo

The Rhinos used many different lineups throughout the season, but manager Yeh Chun Chung (總教練) rolled out this starting nine consistently down the stretch:

1. LF 15 Hu Chin Lung (胡金龍)
2. DH 66 Chang Chien Ming (張建銘)
3. CF 1 Lin Che Hsuan (林哲瑄)
4. 1B 9 Lin Yi Chuan (林益全)
5. RF 28 Kao Kuo Hui (高國輝)
6. 2B 64 Lin Wei Ting (林威廷)
7. SS 24 Chen Kai Lun (陳凱倫)
8. C 2 Fang Ke Wei (方克偉)
9. 3B 22 Lee Tsung Hsien (李宗賢)

The Rhinos most dangerous hitter is clearly Kao Kuo Hui. He tied for the league lead in home runs with 34 and added 104 RBI. Lin Yi Chuan will be tasked with getting on base for Kao, something he did a lot of throughout the season with a .350 batting average. Another bat to watch is leadoff man Hu Chin Lung. He’s the only hitter in the series with MLB experience and can be one of the toughest outs in the league when healthy.

Kao Kuo Hui / The Oliver Photo

Pitching

Where the Brothers have the edge in hitting, the Rhinos have been better on the mound.

First Half

	G	BF	NP	H	HR	BB	SO	WP	BK	R	ER	WHIP	ERA
Brothers	60	2558	9638	729	64	202	444	34	0	448	384	1.72	6.40
Rhinos	60	2396	9094	623	86	209	383	27	3	362	325	1.57	5.51

Second Half

	G	BF	NP	H	HR	BB	SO	WP	BK	R	ER	WHIP	ERA
Brothers	60	2405	9004	670	76	185	423	34	2	391	341	1.63	5.84
Rhinos	60	2429	9280	604	73	218	429	20	1	346	311	1.51	5.15

Overall

	G	BF	NP	H	HR	BB	SO	WP	BK	R	ER	WHIP	ERA
Brothers	120	4963	18642	1399	140	387	867	68	2	839	725	1.68	6.12
Rhinos	120	4825	18374	1227	159	427	812	47	4	708	636	1.54	5.33

Starting Pitching

The Brothers haven’t announced their rotation yet, but here are the four starters to expect:

1. 46 Nate Long (耐森)
2. 5 Bryan Woodall (伍鐸)
3. 53 Nick Additon (艾迪頓)
4. 95 Cheng Chi Hung (鄭錡鴻)

Long has been with the team the longest after signing in late April and making his debut in late May. He finished the season 11-3 with a 4.62 ERA and is 8-0 in his last 10 starts. Woodall re-signed with Brothers in late May after pitching for the team in 2015. He went 6-2 in 14 starts with a 3.93 ERA. Additon was a late-season addition and had a 3-1 record in six starts.

Nate Long / The Oliver Photo

The Rhinos haven’t announced their full rotation but they have said that Mike Loree will start Game 1.

1. 39 Mike Loree (羅力)
2. 44 Scott Richmond (力猛)
3. 4 Jared Lansford (藍斯佛)
4. 19 Tsai Min Ching (蔡明晋) / 38 Huang Yi Chi (黃亦志)

If the Rhinos win the Taiwan Series, it’ll likely be because Loree, Richmond and Lansford shut down the Brothers bats. Loree followed up his triple crown season in 2015 by leading the league in wins (13), ERA (3.98) and innings pitched (190). He also finished second in strikeouts with 159. Richmond finished his first CPBL season with a fourth-best ERA of 4.78 and the fifth-most strikeouts (117). Lansford didn’t have the best start to the season but he has been hot in the second half and was named the CPBL pitcher of the month for October. He hasn’t lost a decision since June 4.

Jared Lansford / The Oliver Photo

Bullpen

Terrible for most of the season, the Brothers bullpen hit its stride down the stretch. Manager Wu might have made his best move of the season when he decided to move starting pitcher Cheng Kai Wen (鄭凱文) from the rotation to the pen. Cheng has flourished in a relief role and hasn’t allowed a run in his last 11 appearances. He’s a guy who can go multiple innings and the Brothers will certainly lean on him heavily to help protect leads. Other names to look for late in games include Kuan Ta Yuan (官大元), who hasn’t allowed a run in his last 9.2 innings, and closer Chen Hung Wen (陳鴻文), who led the league in saves with 15.

Cheng Kai Wen / The Oliver Photo

In a perfect world, the Rhinos starters will go seven innings before turning the ball over to Lai Hung Cheng (賴鴻誠) in the eighth and Ni Fu Te (倪福德) in the ninth. Lai led the CPBL with 18 holds and had a 4.22 ERA in 59.2 innings. Ni, the former Detroit Tigers pitcher, had eight saves after being converted from a starter to a reliever at midseason.

While both teams have guys who can protect a lead, things could get ugly if forced to use middle relievers. Neither team has depth in the bullpen and a lot of runs could be scored if a team has to pull its starter early in a game.

Defense

The CPBL isn’t exactly known for its stout defensive play and that’s clearly shown by the numbers.

First Half

	G	TC	PO	A	E	DP	PK	TP	PB	CS	SB	FPCT
Brothers	60	2358	1620	661	77	181	2	3	9	12	28	0.967
Rhinos	60	2264	1593	615	56	219	1	0	3	12	32	0.975

Second Half

	G	TC	PO	A	E	DP	PK	TP	PB	CS	SB	FPCT
Brothers	60	2275	1577	641	57	166	0	0	5	24	38	0.975
Rhinos	60	2270	1629	587	54	189	1	0	4	14	27	0.976

Overall

	G	TC	PO	A	E	DP	PK	TP	PB	CS	SB	FPCT
Brothers	120	4633	3197	1302	134	347	2	3	14	36	66	0.971
Rhinos	120	4534	3222	1202	110	408	2	0	7	26	59	0.976

The Rhinos were the top team in the CPBL defensively for the season, but even they weren’t great. To put the numbers into perspective, their .976 fielding percentage is lower than any MLB team’s fielding percentage in 2016. Errors will certainly come into play in the Taiwan Series.

The Rhinos are, however, clearly better in the field than the Brothers. They boast the top defensive center fielder in the game in No.1  Lin Che Hsuan. He has the ability to change games with his ridiculous range and cannon of an arm. They also have two studs up the middle in shortstop No. 24 Chen Kai Lun and second baseman No. 64 Lin Wei Ting, which is reflected in the team’s league-leading 408 double plays.

Lin Che Hsuan / The Oliver Photo

The Brothers are led defensively by veteran shortstop Wang Sheng Wei who shares the middle of the infield with reigning MVP Lin Chih Sheng. Lin, a former shortstop himself, still has range but had some defensive miscues down the stretch and was even moved over to first base for a few games in September.

The Brothers have some choices to make in their outfield. The likely case would be Chou Ssu Chi in left, Chang Chih Hao in center and Chang Cheng Wei in right. This group is average defensively and doesn't have any big arms in the group, but these are three of the team’s five best hitters and give the Brothers their most dangerous offensive lineup.

Why the Brothers Will Win

The Brothers will win if they can find an answer to the Rhinos three-headed pitching beast that is Loree, Richmond and Lansford. If the men in yellow can get to the Rhinos bullpen in the sixth or seventh innings, they have a better chance at running up the score. The x-factor for the Brothers is closer Chen Hung Wen and whether he can do his job. The righty has been extremely inconsistent all year and had nine wins—meaning he gave up leads and relied on his offense to win the game in the next half-inning—and eight blown saves.

Why the Rhinos Will Win

The Rhinos will win if they can keep the score low, cash in on their chances with runners in scoring position, and play great defense. The Brothers line up is a gauntlet of power and the Rhinos will need their starters to go deep into games to avoid the Brothers beating up on their bullpen. The x-factor for the Rhinos is manager Yeh Chun Cheng and how he uses his three stud pitchers. We’ve seen him do some creative things throughout the season like using starter Scott Richmond out of the bullpen. He’ll have some tough decisions to make throughout the series on how to best use his three imports.

Josh Inglis contributed to this article.