Two Taiwanese pitchers have agreed to terms to join the Auckland Tuatara for the 2022-23 Australian Baseball League (ABL) season, according to a statement issued by the club Tuesday.
The two right-handers, 24-year-old Lin Huei-sheng (林暉盛) and 23-year-old Weng Wei-chun (翁瑋均), are expected to be key arms for the Tuatara when the season kicks off next month, the club said.
Lin was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in August after having pitched at the Rookie League and Class A levels since 2019. He struck out 140 in 126.2 innings during his minor league career.
Weng currently plays for the Rakuten Monkeys in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) but only appeared in seven games in 2021 and has only made it into two games this year because of injury, according to CPBL statistics.
When he has pitched, however, he has been effective, maintaining a sub 3.00 ERA during the two seasons.
Auckland Tuatara chief executive Regan Wood was cited in the statement as saying both players are quality arms and still early in their careers.
“We are excited about what both players can offer us this season and think they will be very successful in the ABL,” Wood said. “It is great to be creating relationships with the leading clubs in Asia.”
The two pitchers are the second and third Taiwanese to join the club this month after the ABL announced on their website on Oct. 18 that former MLB shortstop Lin Tzu-wei (林子偉) had signed with the club.
The 28-year-old Lin played for the Boston Red Sox from 2017 to 2020 and then played one game for the Minnesota Twins in 2021.
The Auckland team was founded in 2018 as the first ever professional baseball franchise in New Zealand’s history.
It is the only team from New Zealand to compete in the ABL, and one of two expansion teams that entered the league in the 2018-19 season, the other being Geelong-Korea.
The Tuatara open their 2022-23 ABL season with an away game at the Brisbane Bandits on Nov. 10.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel