# Cardinals Announce Signing of Taiwanese Pitcher Chen-Wei Lin

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/cardinals-announce-signing-of-taiwanese-pitcher-chen-wei-lin/
- Published: 2023-07-05T12:03:30-05:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

### **_CARDINALS ANNOUNCE HISTORICAL PLAYER SIGNING;_** **_PITCHER CHEN-WEI LIN IS TEAM’S FIRST PLAYER SIGNED OUT OF TAIWAN_**

[⌊Cardinals⌉⌊Cardinals⌉[

**ST. LOUIS, MO., July 3, 2023 **– The St. Louis Cardinals announced a historical
international player signing today when the team signed amateur right-handed pitcher**_
[Chen-Wei Lin](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=lin---006che&utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.nyrdcast.com&utm_campaign=2023-07-05_br)_**,
the franchise’s first player ever signed out of Taiwan. (first name is pronounced
Zhen-Way).

Lin, 21, is from Tainan City, Taiwan and played college baseball at Chinese Culture
University in Taipei, Taiwan before debuting in the United States collegiate summer
leagues last year.

“We are excited to welcome Chen-Wei Lin to the St. Louis Cardinals organization 
as the first player the team has ever signed out of Taiwan,” said Cardinals’ President
of Baseball Operations **_John Mozeliak_**. “The Cardinals are continually scouting
all regions of the globe for talented individuals that can help make our organization
better. Chen-Wei is someone we feel has intriguing potential with the ability to
develop into a future big leaguer.”

Lin, who stands an impressive 6 feet, 7 inches, will soon report to the Cardinals
Jupiter, Fla. complex to begin his professional career.

“Chen-Wei possesses an explosive fastball to go along with his projectable physical
attributes and impressive athleticism,” stated Cardinals’ Special Assistant to the
G.M./Player Procurement **_Matt Slater. _**“He is also the type of individual whose
overall makeup showed well in our evaluations.”

Lin pitched in the MLB Draft League this year, making four starts for the Frederick(
Md.) Keys in the collegiate summer league, posting a 3.24 ERA over 16.2 innings 
pitched. He pitched in nine games for the Kenosha (Wisc.) Kingfish last summer in
the Northwoods collegiate league at the age of 20.

Lin represented Taiwan at the U-23 Baseball World Cup in both 2022 and 2021, and
he participated as an invited college player with the 2023 Taiwanese WBC team in
their preparation camp.

Chen-Wei is the nephew of **_Hong-Chih Kuo_** who pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers
for seven seasons from 2005-11, compiling a 3.73 ERA in 218 career appearances after
signing as an international free agent with them in 1999.

Chen-Wei is represented by **_Alan Chang_** of Flight International in coordination
with the MVP Sports group.

**— STL —**

---

While there is no official word on his bonus, it’s being reported that he’ll received
$500,000. Lin has been used as both a start and reliever in the Northwoods League;
he did both last season, while has exclusively a starter.

He’s got a 4-seam (97 MPH) and 2-seam fastball (91 MPH), along with a slider (80
MPH) according to CPBL Stats Twitter; he’s also added a little bit to the 4-seam,
now touching 99 MPH. This tweet shows the 3 pitches:

> 20-year-old university RHP 林振瑋 (Lin Chen-Wei) in action today: 157kph (97.6mph)
> fastball, 128kph slider, 147kph 2-seamer. [pic.twitter.com/k6KBsAFoFl](https://t.co/k6KBsAFoFl)
> — CPBL STATS (Taiwan Dark Lemon) 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) [January 2, 2022](https://x.com/GOCPBL/status/1477612794363006988?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

They’ve also said he’s got a loopy curve that sits below 70 MPH and a changeup and
splitter. No reports on his tunneling.

If there is one concern, it’s about his command; he’s issued 34 walks and 8 HBPs
in 32.1 innings. It’s something that can be corrected. His strikeout numbers are
a little low for that velocity, but again that’s something that will come with time.
He’s got a lot of potential and has taken steps to improve in the Northwoods League
between last season and now. He could also add velocity as his body fills out.

It’s a solid signing; the Cardinals have struggled to produce MLB quality starters
from the system and adding guys like Lin increase the chances that a someone could
break through. Like all amateur signings, it’s risky because the odds are against
these guys putting everything together; Lin is more like a college player at this
point, both physically and competition-wise, so he’s got a leg up on a lot of the
international signings (who are still teenagers when they sign).

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