myworldofbaseball

The Taiwan slugger Wang Po-Jung signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters for three years and $4 million. There are also additional incentives to the contract that have not been disclosed. He becomes the first player from the CPBL to sign via the posting system. Though major league teams could have participated in the posting process they did not because of no formalized process in place with Taiwan for the acquisition of players. No information has been provided on the posting fee paid to the La Miga Monkeys, though it has been projected to be near $1 million.

The NPB has a limit of four foreign players on their major league roster, with no more than three of them being a pitcher or position player. Wang will count on that four player limit, meaning the Fighters think enough of him to use up a roster spot for his services over major league players.

Wang hit .414 and .407 in his first two full seasons in the CPBL, slugging 29 and 31 homeruns. His third season last year could be considered a disappointment as he hit only .351 with 17 homeruns. His slugging percentage dropped more than 100 points. He won the CPBL rookie of the year in 2016 and was voted MVP in 2016 and 2017. During his rookie year of 2016 he became the first CPBL player to record 200 hits during a season.

There are not as many countries that participant in woman’s baseball. Japan is the most dominant, currently carrying a 30 game world cup winning streak. Canada, the number two rated team came the closest to beating Japan in the World Cup, losing 2-1 in a Super Round game. Taiwan jumped three spots after finishing second in last year’s World Cup. Most of the top United States players are encouraged to play softball because of a lack of baseball programs for women. They dropped a notch after failing to medal the last two years. Below are the top 14 countries for woman’s baseball:

1. Japan - 2000 points
2. Canada - 1300
3. Taiwan - 1297
4. United States - 1094
5. Venezuela - 989
6. Australia - 904
7. Cuba - 537
8. Korea - 500
9. Dominican Republic - 433
10. Hong Kong - 363
11. Netherlands - 311
12. Puerto Rico - 267
13. India - 104
14. Pakistan - 67

They played in the Softbank Hawks stadium, the two time champions of the NPB. The Japan All Star team is preparing to play major leaguers later on in the week. They did not look like All Stars getting roasted by the Taiwanese, who jumped out to a early 6-0 lead and then survived a ninth inning rally by Japan to hang on 6-5.

Lan Yin-Lun smacked a three run homerun in the fifth for Taiwan to cap off a five run inning and an early 5-0 lead. Chen Chun-Hsui smoked a solo shot in the eighth to make it 6-0.

Japan rallied in the ninth, scoring five runs and placing two runners on base when Taiwan closer Cheng Kai-Wen struck out the final batter to preserve he win. The major leaguers will now play the Japan All stars tomorrow.

The LaMiga Monkeys won their last two games to take the Taiwan Series championship four games to two. The Monkeys routed the Lions in game four 10-2, scoring four in the sixth to break a 2-2 tie to give the Hawks the lead.

In game five the Monkeys again routed the Lions with a 10-3 drubbing. They earned a free win for winning both halves of their pennant race. For the Monkeys it is their fifth championship since 2012. The only two years they have not won the championship was in 2013 when the Uni Lions were crowned champions and 2016 when the now defunct EDA Rhinos won the championship.

Chen Chun-Hsiu was voted the series MVP. Chen hit .500 for the series, getting a key hit in the Monkeys three run fourth inning. Lin Hong-Yu slugged a solo homerun in the second to tie the game 1-1 and slapped an RBI single in the fourth to give the Monkeys the lead.

The Monkeys scored six runs in the seventh to turn a tight 4-3 game into a 10-3 rout. Chu Yu-Hsien, who had a sacrifice fly in the three run third, capped the seventh inning with a three run homer. Kuo Yung-Wei started the inning with a solo shot.

The Monkeys clearly have the better roster, but that did not stop the Lions from generating an offense to take the second game 10-4. Both teams scored early with the Monkeys starting the top of the first with three and the Lions responding with four of their own in the bottom frame. The Monkeys Wang Po-Jung homered in a three run first.

Kuo Fu-Lin and Su Chih-Chieh homered for the Lions.

Below are the names of the players who made the All Tournament Team in the Under 23 World Cup.

Catcher - Orlando Pina (Mexico) .320, 2, 8
First Base - Hisanori Yasuda (japan) .393, 1, 8 MVP
Second Base - Brailan Perez (Colombia) .462, 0, 5 with two triples and 4 stolen bases
Third Base - Dervin Pomare (Colombia) .522, 1, 10 with a 1.368 OPS
Shortstop - Jorna Rodriguez (Venezuela) .333, 0, 3
Outfield - Norberto Obeso (Mexico) .500, 0, 5 with 5 doubles, 1.363 OPS
Outfield - Carlos Vidal (Colombia) .387, 1, 7
Outfield - Bojarski Ulrich (Australia) .379, 4, 11 with 1.297 OPS
Designated Hitter - Leandro Cedeno (Venezuela).306, 2, 10
Starting Pitcher - Francisco Haro (Mexico) 2-0, 1.93 with 18 whiffs in 14 innings
Best Relief Pitcher - Kakeru Narita (Japan) 1-1, 1.17 with 1 save

Other Players Worth Note

Australia

Jack Barrie - .391, 3, 8
Mitchell Warke-Edwards - .500, 2, 6 with 1.200 slugging and 1.783 OPS

Colombia

Juan Zabala - .417, 1, 7
Juan Escorcia - 0.90 ERA with 14 whiffs in 10 IP
Reiver SanMartin - 1-0, 0.82, .179 opponent average

Czech Republic

Martin Muzik - .250, 2, 7

Dominican Republic

Claudio Galva - 0.00 ERA, 11 whiffs in 9 innings, .097 opponent average
Raffi Vizcaino - 0.00 ERA, .105 opponent average

Japan

Kairi Shimada - .344, 1, 1 with 12 runs scored with 5 stolen bases
Yasuhito Uchida - .233, 3, 8
Hiroki Kondo - 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 17 whiffs in 15 innings, .189 opponent average
Kosuke Sakaguchi - 1-0, 0.77, 16 whiffs in 11.2 innings, .179 opponent average
Soichiro Yamazaki - 1-0, 0.00, .194 opponent average

Korea

Chan-Hyung Kim - .286, 3, 9
Min-Hyeok Kim - .367, 2, 7
Dong-Hui Han - .324, 2, 7 with 12 runs scored
Jin-Won Ye - .410, 0, 4
Sung-Young Choi - 2-1, 2.31, 13 whiffs in 11.2 innings, .171 opponent average
Sang-Hyun Jeon - 2-0, 1.80, .206 opponent average

Mexico

Roberto Valenzuela - .263, 3, 9 with 3 stolen bases

Netherlands

Sherton Apostel - .375, 2, 9
Francinel Martina - .367, 1, 7

Puerto Rico

Isan Diaz - .214, 4, 5 with 8 runs scored
Jonathan Bermudez - 0.00 ERA, 10 whiffs in 7 innings pitched, .048 opponent average
Sidney Duprey - 1-1, 1.04, 11 whiffs in 8.2 innings
Luis Sanchez - 1.17, 1 save, .125 opponent average

South Africa

Tyler Smith - .433, 0, 4

Taiwan

Wei-Han Hong - .367, 0, 1, .472 OBA
Liang-Chih Chen - 0.60, .196 opponent average

Venezuela

Anthony Concepcion - .346, 1, 6
Carlos Machado - .429, 0, 5
Jesus Lujano - .400, 0, 5
Yonny Hernandez - .200, 0, 2 with 6 stolen bases
Nivaldo Rodriguez - 0.00 ERA, .077 opponent average

The Uni Lions won the second game of their Taiwan Series, beating the LaMigo Monkeys 4-2. They still trail the series two games to one because the Monkeys got a free game for winning both halves of their standings.

LaMigo struck first when Chu Yu-Hsien roped an RBI double off Josh Roenicke in the fourth inning. Lan Yin-Lun hit a solo shot in the fifth to extend the LaMigo lead to 2-0.

When the Monkeys went to their pen, pulling Michael Nix after six shutout innings, Su Chih-Chieh went deep in the seventh to give the Lions their first run of the game. Mai Chia-Yi gave the Lions the lead with a two run single in the eighth. The Lions tacked on an insurance run in the ninth.

The LaMigo Monkeys scored 10 runs in the second inning to fuel their 15-6 win over the Uni Lions in the opener of the Taiwan Series. The Monkeys collected 20 hits, four of them homeruns. Wang Po-Jung, who the Monkeys have indicated will be posted after the season hit one of the four homeruns. Because the Monkeys were winners of both halves they came into this series with a 1-0 lead over the Uni-Lions. With the win their lead is now extended to 2-0.

The two foreign starters did not last long for these games. Ryan Verdugo pitched just 1.1 innings before being pulled in the 10 run second inning. Bruce Kern lasted a little longer, working four innings but giving up three runs.

Liu Shih-Hao slugged a grand slam in the 10 run second. Lan Yin-Lun followed the grand slam with a solo homerun to make it back to back.

There were a little over 15,000 in attendance at the game yesterday.

Japan will enter the finals undefeated after disposing of the Dominican Republic. They will face second place Mexico, who lost two games in the championship game. Korea will play Venezuela for the bronze.

Korea 3 Mexico 2

Mexico had nothing to play for since they had qualified for the finals. Korea needed this win to get to the bronze medal game. Saul Castellanos had shutout Korea for the first five innings. Mexico scored two in the third to jump out to an early 2-0 lead.

Korea’s bats woke up in the sixth. Kim Min-Hyeok started the inning with a double. A single and one out walk loaded the bases. Hwang Kyeong-Tae drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly, the other runners also advancing. Pinch hitter Choe Tae-Seong slapped a crucial two run single to give Korea a 3-2 lead.

Mexico had two runners thrown out at the bases in the bottom of the sixth, one on a caught stealing and the other on a single where the runner was gunned down trying to advance to third. Mexico stranded runners on first and third with one out in the seventh. They had the tying run at second with one out in the ninth but Yi Jung-Yong struck out the last two hitters to preserve the win. Despite all those wasted opportunities, Mexico still advances to the championship game.

Venezuela 4 Taiwan 3

Venezuela also needed a rally to beat Taiwan and advance to the bronze medal game. Taiwan had jumped to an early 3-0 lead with three runs in the third. Venezuela got 5.1 shutout innings from Yosmer Solórzano that allowed them to come back. Carlos Machado got a clutch two run pinch hit single in the seventh to tie the game. Yoel Romero banged an RBI double in the eighth to give Venezuela a 4-3 lead.

Luis Garcia was called on to finish up the eighth and close out the ninth to secure the Venezuelan victory.

Japan 4 Dominican Republic 0

Japan got seven innings of shutout ball from Kosuke Sakaguchi to lead Japan to the shutout victory. The bullpen worked the remaining two but preserved the shutout. Kenji Nishimaki collected three hits, driving in two runs to lead the offense. Kento Harasawa also added three hits with a RBI and a run scored.

They still have another day to play but Mexico and Japan will appear in the Gold Medal Round. Mexico beat Venezuela earlier in pool play so even if they lose tomorrow they will be tied with Venezuela for second place. The tie breaker is head to head so Mexico advances.

Japan 6 Venezuela 3

Venezuela had to win this game to have any hope of appearing in the final. Both teams scored early. Leandro Cedeno hit a three run shot in the first to give Venezuela an early 3-0 lead. Japan battled back for two more with Kento Harasawa ripping a two run single to make it 3-2.

Atsuki Taneichi shut out the Venezuelan bats for the next seven innings. Harasawa doubled in the third to tie the game at 3-3. It was virtually ended in the bottom of the eighth when Kengo Horiuchi mashed a three run homerun, his first of the tournament to give Japan a 6-3 lead. Kakeru Narita relieved Taneichi and retired the Venezuelans in order in the ninth to clinch Japan’s appearance in the finals.

Mexico 3 Dominican Republic 1

The Dominicans scored first after an error by the right fielder allowed Dariel Gomez to score. Gomez had gotten on base via an error. Wilber Perez pitched three shutout innings for the Dominicans but was a little wild, walking four batters.

Orlando Pina hit a two run single for Mexico in the sixth to stake them to a 2-1 lead. Francisco Haro went nine innings to get the win. He only allowed three hits, striking out nine. Mexico scored an insurance run in the seventh on a strikeout/wild pitch and an error by the catcher that allowed the third run to score.

Korea 5 Taiwan 2

It was a game for Asian pride. Korea won. Kim Min-Hyeok blasted a two run homer in the first and Kim Chan-Hyung slugged a two run homer in the third to give Korea an early 5-0 lead.

For Taiwan Chang Wen-Hsien got his first three hits of the tournament going 3 for 4 and driving in both runs. He hit a solo shot in the fourth and drove in the second run in the eighth with a single. Another single put they tying run to the plate but Taiwan could not take advantage. Two walks in the ninth again put the tying run to the plate but a ground out double play ended the game.