List of Major League Baseball players from Taiwan explained

This is a list of players from Taiwan in Major League Baseball. There have been 17 players total from Taiwan. Those players, especially star pitcher Chien-Ming Wang, became household names of Taiwanese people and induced huge followings for their games during MLB seasons. In November 2011, the inaugural MLB Taiwan All-Star Series was played in five games at three ballparks across Taiwan during the postseason. Wang and Fu-Te Ni were called up by the Chinese Taipei national baseball team against the MLB All-Star team.[1] All Taiwanese players who have appeared in Major League Baseball began their professional baseball careers in the United States by signing with teams as an international free agent. The first Taiwanese baseball player to be selected and signed via the Major League Baseball draft process was Lyle Lin, who was drafted in the fourteenth round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft, and signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.[2] [3]

Active players

Included in this table are players who are on, or have been on, an active MLB roster during the current MLB season (or, during the offseason, players who were on an active MLB roster during the most recently completed MLB season). Players are ordered by the date of MLB debut.

Former players

Listed below are previous players in MLB, ordered by the date of their final MLB appearance.

NameMLB debutMLB final gameGamesPositionMLB team(s)Current league/statusTeamclass=unsortable scope="col"Ref.
19 Los Angeles Dodgers (2002–2005) Retired
(Manager)
[5]
58 Detroit Tigers (2009–2010) Retired [6]
118 Los Angeles Dodgers (2007–2010)
New York Mets (2011)
[7]
218 Los Angeles Dodgers (2005–2011) Retired [8]
9 Boston Red Sox (2012) [9]
19 Houston Astros (2013) [10]
47 Cleveland Indians (2013–2015) [11]
57 Colorado Rockies (2003–2005)
Los Angeles Dodgers (2007, 2015–2016)
Retired [12]
174 New York Yankees (2005–2009)
Washington Nationals (2011–2012)
Toronto Blue Jays (2013)
Kansas City Royals (2016)
Retired
(Pitching Coach)
[13]
3 Chicago Cubs (2017–2018) [14]
11 Tampa Bay Rays (2017–2018) [15]
4 Texas Rangers (2019) [16]
47 Milwaukee Brewers (2014, 2017)
Oakland Athletics (2019)
Pittsburgh Pirates (2019)
[17]
219 Baltimore Orioles (2012 - 2015)
Miami Marlins (2016–2019)
[18]
102 Boston Red Sox (2017–2020)
Minnesota Twins (2021)
[19]
235 Cleveland Guardians (2019–2022)
Pittsburgh Pirates (2022)
Tampa Bay Rays (2022)
Boston Red Sox (2022–2023)
[20]

All-Star Game selections

Bold indicates the player was selected to the starting roster

Postseason appearances

PlayerSeasonsPositionsWCDSCSWorld SeriesRefs
Series
won
Games
played
Series
won
Games
played
Series
won
Games
played
Series
won
Games
played
align=left style="white-space:nowrap;" 2012 Baltimore Orioles
2014 Baltimore Orioles
P1
1

L

1
[22]
[23] [24]
align=left style="white-space:nowrap;" 2006 Los Angeles Dodgers
2008 Los Angeles Dodgers
2009 Los Angeles Dodgers
P1

1

L
L

3
4
[25]
[26]
[27] [28]
align=left style="white-space:nowrap;" 2005 New York Yankees
2006 New York Yankees
2007 New York Yankees
P1
1
2
[29]
[30]
[31]

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: MLB Network to show Taiwan series . Nats Insider. 2011-10-26. 2019-02-13.
  2. News: Yeh . Joseph . Lin joins D-Backs, becomes 1st Taiwanese to sign via MLB draft . 23 June 2019 . Central News Agency . 23 June 2019.
  3. News: Metcalfe . Jeff . ASU baseball finishes with five drafted players, same as 2018 . June 24, 2019 . Arizona Republic . June 5, 2019. Republished as: News: ASU baseball's Lyle Lin, Carter Aldrete selected in 2019 MLB draft . June 24, 2019 . MSN . June 5, 2019.
  4. Web site: Kai-Wei Teng Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More . 2024-04-01 . Baseball-Reference.com . en.
  5. Web site: Chin-Feng Chen. baseball-reference.com. 2008-08-02.
  6. Web site: Fu-Te Ni. baseball-reference.com. 2008-08-02.
  7. Web site: Chin-Lung Hu. baseball-reference.com. 2008-08-02.
  8. Web site: Hong-Chih Kuo. baseball-reference.com. 2008-08-02.
  9. Web site: Che-Hsuan Lin. baseball-reference.com. 2012-04-15.
  10. Web site: Chia-Jen Lo. baseball-reference.com. 2013-08-01.
  11. Web site: C.C. Lee. baseball-reference.com. 2013-07-16.
  12. Web site: Chin-hui Tsao. baseball-reference.com. 2008-08-02.
  13. Web site: Chien-Ming Wang. baseball-reference.com. 2008-08-02.
  14. Web site: Jen-Ho Tseng. baseball-Reference.com. June 18, 2019.
  15. Web site: Chih-Wei Hu . baseball-reference.com. June 18, 2019.
  16. Web site: Wei-Chieh Huang. baseball-reference.com. April 13, 2021.
  17. Web site: Wei-Chung Wang. baseball-reference.com. April 13, 2021.
  18. Web site: Wei-Yin Chen. baseball-reference.com. April 13, 2021.
  19. Web site: Tzu-Wei Lin. baseball-reference.com. November 18, 2022.
  20. Web site: Yu Chang. baseball-reference.com. September 15, 2023.
  21. Web site: Dodgers' Hong-Chih Kuo in All-Star Game; Injured Jason Heyward Out . July 13, 2010 . May 7, 2022 . . Bernacchio, Adam.
  22. Web site: 2012 AL Division Series 1 . Baseball-Reference.com . 2022-05-08.
  23. Web site: 2014 AL Division Series 2 . Baseball-Reference.com . 2022-05-08.
  24. Web site: 2014 AL Championship Series . Baseball-Reference.com . 2022-05-08.
  25. Web site: 2006 NL Division Series 1 . Baseball-Reference.com . 2022-05-08.
  26. Web site: 2008 NL Championship Series . Baseball-Reference.com . 2022-05-08.
  27. Web site: 2009 NL Division Series 1 . Baseball-Reference.com . 2022-05-08.
  28. Web site: 2009 NL Championship Series . Baseball-Reference.com . 2022-05-08.
  29. Web site: 2005 AL Division Series 2 . Baseball-Reference.com . 2022-05-08.
  30. Web site: 2006 AL Division Series 1 . Baseball-Reference.com . 2022-05-08.
  31. Web site: 2007 AL Division Series 2 . Baseball-Reference.com . 2022-05-08.