An article published on the MLB’s official website has named second baseman Lin Li (??) as the best player on Taiwan’s roster for the World Baseball Classic (WBC), which kicked off in Taichung on Wednesday.

In the article, sportswriter Michael Clair selected one player from each of the tournament’s 20 teams that would be key to their chances of winning a spot in the WBC semifinals and championship in Miami later this month.

Regarding Taiwan, Clair said international audiences were likely to be most familiar with infielder Chang Yu-cheng (???), who is with the MLB’s Boston Red Sox and played for the Cleveland Indians/Guardians from 2019-2022.

But the real player to watch in the WBC, Clair argued, is Lin Li, a 27-year-old second baseman for the Rakuten Monkeys in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL).

The article noted that Lin had won the CPBL’s MVP award and batting title in 2022, finishing with a league-leading .335 batting average, as well as a .391 on-base percentage and a .517 slugging average.

Lin also hit 14 home runs in 2022, which tied for most in the league alongside Wei Chuan Dragons catcher Kungkuan Giljegiljaw, who is also on Taiwan’s WBC roster.

Lin is “known for hitting the ball hard with plenty of gap power,” Rob Liu, founder of the CPBL stats blog, told Clair.

Among the other teams in Taiwan’s Pool A group, the article selected Cuba center fielder Luis Robert Jr., Italy first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, and Netherlands shortstop Xander Bogaerts as the best players on their respective teams.

As for Panama, which will face off with Taiwan on Wednesday night, the article said center fielder Jose Ramos was the player to watch, as someone with “more power than almost anyone” at the plate.

In the WBC’s first round, the five teams in each of the four pools play in a round-robin format, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the quarterfinals.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel