Taiwanese baseball was not at ‘full strength’. So it was an even more painful loss.스포츠토토
The Hangzhou Asian Games (AG) baseball team, led by coach Ryu Joong-il, lost 0-4 in the second game of the Group B match against Chinese Taipei on the 2nd. They won the match against Thailand 17-0 (5 cold games) on the 3rd, confirming their advancement to the super round with 2 wins and 1 loss, but the schedule was disrupted due to the blow to Taiwan. After the match against Taiwan, coach Ryu Joong-il pledged, “I will definitely avenge myself when we meet again (in the finals).” However, even if the ‘return match’ is successful, it is difficult to guarantee victory. That’s why Taiwan’s pitching and batting system is better than expected.
Taiwan ended the game against Korea with three pitchers. After starter Lin Yumin allowed 4 hits and no runs in 6 innings, Gu Lin Ruiyang (2 innings, 1 hit, no runs) and Liu Zhilong (1 inning, 1 hit, no runs) took charge of the remaining innings. Lin Yu-min is a minor league prospect who is expected to be a starter in the Korean game early on. He was the number one target for the national team to watch out for, as he was selected as the No. 1 pitcher (4th overall) in the 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks prospect rankings selected by MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball (MLB). Thanks to Lin Yu-min’s performance, Taiwan hid the mysterious ‘Pan Wen-hui card’ until the end.
Taiwan summoned four minor league pitchers (Lin Yu-min, Chen Po-yu, Pan Wen-hui, and Liu Zhilong) for this tournament. Among Taiwan’s ‘minor league four’, Pan Wen-hui is the only bullpen resource. He is a member of the top Single-A team under the Philadelphia Phillies, and recorded 27 games in Single-A this season with an ERA of 2.18. He has 12.6 strikeouts per 9 innings, and his on-base percentage allowed per inning (WHIP) is also excellent at 0.867.
According to CPBL STATS, which provides Taiwanese baseball news, Pan Wen-hui’s highest speed is 158 km/h (98.2 miles). MLB.com gave Fan Wenhui’s fastball the highest score of 65 on the ’20-80 scale’, which evaluates a prospect’s talent as high as 80 and as low as 20 (average 50). Taiwan, which finished the first game of the group stage against Thailand with two pitchers (Wu Sheng-ping and Wang Yan-cheng), did not send out Pan Wen-hui in the second game, expanding his use in the super round.
The baseball team defeated Thailand and advanced to the super round. They destroyed the Thai mound by pouring out 11 hits, including 3 home runs, but they must overcome a thorny path if they are to achieve a ‘return match’ with Taiwan in the finals. Since the super round must be played based on the results from the group stage, the national baseball team must defeat both Japan and China, the teams that advanced from Group A, while suffering one loss. After recording 2 wins and 1 loss, we have to watch the situation of other teams. If Japan defeats Taiwan, the three teams will be tied with 2 wins and 1 loss, so the team that advances to the finals will be determined according to the tied team calculation method. After resting for a day, the national baseball team will play the first game of the super round against Group A runner-up (Japan) on the afternoon of the 5th and the second game against Group A runner-up (China) on the afternoon of the 6th.