Chinese Taipei 2017 World Baseball Classic Roster Projection

by Brandon DuBreuil and Josh Inglis

It's safe to say that Chinese Taipei won't be sending its best squad to South Korea for the pool stage of the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Due to political fighting, the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) has boycotted the World Baseball Classic. Luckily, three of the four teams have made their players available for the national squad, with the Lamigo Monkeys being the lone holdout, meaning top sluggers Wang Po-Jung, Lin Hung-Yu, and Chen Chun-Hsiu won't be at the tournament.

Add to that the withdrawal of MLB ace Chen Wei-Yin, the withdrawal of several key Minor League Baseball players and the injury uncertainty of NPB standout Yang Dai-Kang, the Taiwanese national team will have its work cut out for it in a difficult group.

In order to advance through the group stage, Taiwan is going to have to win at least one game versus the Netherlands or host South Korea and knock off a very underrated Israeli national team. Needless to say, a repeat performance of 2013, in which the team won its pool with a 2-1 record and advanced to Round 2, seems unlikely. 

The Taiwanese national team will be comprised mainly of CPBL offensive stars like Lin Chih-Sheng, Lin Che-Hsuan, Kao Kuo-Hui, Chiang Chih-Hsien and Hu Chin-Lung. These guys will need to put up a lot of runs to help support an average pitching staff that will be facing some serious MLB-experienced competition.

While the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA) has been mum on who it will select to represent Taiwan, CPBL English believes Chinese Taipei's preliminary 28-man roster (due in mid-January) will be made up of the following players. 

Catchers

Name	League	AB	H	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Fang, Ke-Wei	CPBL	180	43	26	8	25	0	0.239	0.324	0.422
Lin, Kun-Sheng	CPBL	218	58	23	1	27	6	0.266	0.306	0.358
Cheng, Da-Hong	CPBL	251	68	40	0	35	4	0.271	0.342	0.331
Jhang, Jin-De	AA-AAA	208	60	22	1	23	1	0.288	0.330	0.370

Roster Locks: Jhang Jin-De. He's by far the best option of the four behind the dish and should end up starting all three round-robin games.

On the bubble: Fang, Lin and Cheng. The management team will have to choose as to who they want as reserve catchers.


Infielders

Name	League	AB	H	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Lin, Chih-Sheng	CPBL	401	135	100	34	107	8	0.337	0.420	0.648
Chiang, Chih-Hsien	CPBL	351	141	85	30	104	2	0.402	0.455	0.738
Lin, Yi-Chuan	CPBL	417	146	67	17	81	1	0.350	0.416	0.530
Su, Chih-Chieh	CPBL	159	53	33	9	33	0	0.333	0.398	0.566
Wang, Sheng-Wei	CPBL	377	113	76	5	53	3	0.300	0.365	0.419
Lin, Chih-Hsiang	CPBL	435	139	83	10	75	5	0.320	0.376	0.469
Chen, Yung-Chi	CPBL	394	129	78	20	95	11	0.327	0.385	0.528
Yan, Sheng-Hsien	AWBL	31	13	7	0	1	0	0.419	0.514	0.419
Wu, Po-Yi	U23	30	16	5	1	6	2	0.533	0.576	0.733

Roster Locks: Lin Chih-Sheng, Chiang Chih-Hsien and Lin Yi-Chuan all bring great bats to the team and will most likely be the middle of the batting order. Veteran Wang Sheng-Wei makes it cause of a lack of shortstops and would probably hit in the nine-hole.

On the bubble: The CTBA will carry some youth on this year's WBC squad. Su Chih-Chieh was the first overall pick in last year's CPBL draft, while Yan Sheng-Hsien put up big numbers in the Asia Winter Baseball League and Wu Po-Yi did the same at the WBSC Under-23 tournament.

Outfielders

Name	League	AB	H	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Kao, Kuo-Hui	CPBL	392	112	88	34	104	6	0.318	0.391	0.615
Lin, Che-Hsuan	CPBL	400	138	77	23	79	12	0.345	0.434	0.570
Hu, Chin-Lung	CPBL	327	122	73	10	55	10	0.362	0.403	0.502
Chang, Chih-Hao	CPBL	292	94	73	17	70	7	0.322	0.375	0.603
Chang, Cheng-Wei	CPBL	436	149	108	4	48	5	0.342	0.408	0.424
Yang, Dai-Kang	NPB	495	145	66	14	61	5	0.293	0.359	0.430

Roster Locks: Yang Dai-Kang, assuming he's healthy enough, will be the starting center fielder. Lin Che-Hsuan is the best defensive outfielder in the CPBL, while Kao Kuo-Hui and Hu Chin-Lung will provide offense.

On the bubble: Cousins Chang Chih-Hao and Chang Cheng-Wei are likely fighting for a roster spot.


Pitchers

Name	League	IP	GS	W-L	ERA	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
Chiang, Shao-Ching	A	152.1	27	8-12	3.96	1.15	8.80	0.80	1.50	5.40
Chen, Kuan-Yu	NPB	24.2	4	1-1	4.01	1.42	9.10	1.10	3.60	8.40
Kuo, Chun-Lin	NPB	22.1	3	0-3	8.46	1.70	11.30	0.80	4.00	8.10
Chen, Ping-Hsueh	A	32.1	0	2-2	4.73	1.61	9.20	0.80	5.30	9.20
Wang, Chien-Ming	MLB	53.1	0	6-0	4.22	1.46	10.10	1.00	3.00	5.10
Ni, Fu-Te	CPBL	96.2	10	6-6	4.84	1.39	10.48	1.59	2.06	6.45
Pan, Wei-Lun	CPBL	52.1	8	5-2	5.33	1.51	13.12	0.69	0.52	3.97
Huang, Sheng-Hsiung	CPBL	44	0	1-4	4.91	1.55	9.41	1.23	4.50	6.34
Wang, Ching-Ming	CPBL	49	0	2-3	3.49	1.51	11.38	0.73	2.20	7.16
Wang, Yu-Pu	CPBL	13.1	0	0-1	6.08	2.18	15.22	1.37	4.81	7.56
Chen, Hung-Wen	CPBL	61	0	9-2	4.87	1.36	9.89	1.76	2.82	10.23
Lin, Tzu-Wei	CPBL	50	8	4-6	5.87	1.64	11.88	2.34	7.92	10.44
Sung, Chia-Hao	NPB-	62.2	15	6-3	2.44	1.17	9.12	0.58	1.45	6.08
Liao, Yi-Chung	U23	14.2	2	2-0	1.23	0.85	6.34	0.63	1.27	10.78
Hsu, Kai-Hsiang	U23	10	1	1-0	0.00	0.90	6.30	0.00	1.80	13.50
Shih, Tzu-Chien	AWL	16.1	3	1-0	2.75	1.29	8.39	1.12	3.35	5.03

Roster Locks: There is a notable lack of top-tier talent for the CTBA to choose from as several minor leaguers, and of course Miami SP Chen Wei-Yin, will not be available to the team. 
Choosing three starters for the pool stage is extremely difficult at this point, but the team will likely rely on NPB hurlers Kuo Chun-Lin, Chen Kuan-Yu and Sung Chia-Hao to anchor the staff.  

The bullpen will probably be led by former Detroit Tiger Ni Fu-Te, who may find himself as the team's closer. The majority of the CPBL pitchers who end up making the roster will likely be relievers.

On the bubble: Pan Wei-Lun doesn't have swing-and-miss stuff, but his ability to limit free passes might be enough to crack the squad in a long-relief role or possibly as the No. 3 starter. Expect to see a couple young faces as well. Hsu and Liao led the way at the Under-23 Baseball World Cup, while Shih looked solid in the winter league. 


Feel free to comment below or find us on Twitter (@brandondubreuil, @inglis_josh4) to let us know if we missed anyone or who you think might make the final roster!