2014/02/08

Bucs Signed Taiwanese LHP Yao-Hsun Yang

The United Daily News reported that the Pirates are "likely" to sign left-handed pitcher Yao-Hsun Yang.

Yang, who turned 31 on January, pitched 5 seasons in Japan for Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. He elected free agency after 2013 season because he hopes to play in the bigs.

The Taiwanese lefty had tryouts last month with big league clubs include the Pirates, Phillies, Rangers, Reds and Mariners. He was sitting between 91-93 MPH with his fastball during his workouts.

According to the report, Yang could be joining the Pirates on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. The deal is expected to become official next week.

[UPDATE: 2/13]
Wang Wanling of TSNA reported that Yang has arrived in the United States for physical.

Pirates Prospects has confirmed that the Pirates have reached an agreement with Yang on a minor league contract that includes an invitation to big league spring training.

The Pirates announce the signing of Yang.


Yao-Hsun Yang (陽耀勲)
Born: January 22, 1983
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Height: 5' 10" Weight: 192
Country: Taiwan
College: Chinese Culture University
Agent: SCOTT BORAS

A Daniel Schlereth-type pitcher.
Yang's fastball sits 90 MPH. He also throws curve, slider and splitter. (NPB Tracker has an awesome velocity chart)
Control of his pitches has been a big problem for Yang throughout his career. He tends to lose his pitches when runners are on bases. He missed most of 2013 with left arm injury and right thigh strain. His brother, Dai-Kang Yang is such a good athlete.




Year Age Tm Lg W L ERA G GS CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP WP WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
2006 23 Softbank JPPL 0 0 9.00 5 0 0 0 2.0 4 2 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 3.000 18.0 0.0 9.0 4.5 0.50
2008 25 Softbank JPPL 1 2 17.18 6 1 0 0 3.2 5 7 7 0 3 0 3 4 0 2.182 12.3 0.0 7.4 7.4 1.00
2009 26 Softbank JPPL 0 0 6.52 4 0 0 0 9.2 12 10 7 0 6 0 10 2 0 1.862 11.2 0.0 5.6 9.3 1.67
2010 27 Softbank JPPL 2 0 2.20 14 4 0 0 32.2 33 18 8 2 18 0 28 3 1 1.561 9.1 0.6 5.0 7.7 1.56
2012 29 Softbank JPPL 2 3 1.48 9 7 1 1 42.2 24 10 7 1 18 0 45 4 1 0.984 5.1 0.2 3.8 9.5 2.50
5 Seasons 5 5 3.08 38 12 1 1 90.2 78 47 31 3 47 0 87 13 2 1.379 7.7 0.3 4.7 8.6 1.85
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/8/2014.

2014/02/05

GIFs: Gregory Polanco in DWL vol. 2

It's been three months since I posted this.

Better late than never, right?


#SPEEDKILLS
Q: Polanco is fast. BTW who's the pitcher? A: Jose Contreras.

2014/02/02

Pirates Sign Jen-Lei Liao

According to the minor league transactions page on Baseball America, the Pirates have signed Taiwanese pitcher Jen-Lei Liao to a minor-league deal.

Liao born and raised in Taiwan, but somehow pitched in Japan, for Okayama Kyosei high school in 2010 and 2011 season. He went back to his country, and played for Kainan University last two years.


The 20-year-old righty has a huge 6' 6", 264 lb frame. However, he is not a hard wine&cheese thrower like Luis Heredia. Liao's fastball sits at around 88 MPH and tops out 92 MPH and he mixes it with a curve and forkball. He has trouble repeating his delivery.

Obviously, he is really raw. He still could add to his fastball velocity because of his size/frame though.


Here're his profile and videos.

Jen-Lei Liao (廖任磊)
Born: August 31, 1993
Bats: Right Throws: Right
Height: 6' 6" Weight: 264
Country: Taiwan
College: Kainan University