Asian Baseball Championship defending champions Taiwan announced its 40-man training roster Tuesday ahead of the upcoming tournament in March to include Japanese pitcher Masaki Takashio, who is completing his naturalization process to become Taiwanese.

The 32-year-old right-hander, who plays for the ANYO Fresh baseball team, posted an ERA (earned run average) of 3 and recorded a total of 16 strikeouts in 21 innings over three games in the 2021 season of Taiwan’s semi-professional Popcorn League baseball league.

However, whether Takashio will make it to the final roster of Taiwan’s national team at the next Asian Baseball Championship, held March 20-28 in Taichung, will depend on his fitness and performance at the training sessions, according to the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA).

The first stage of the training sessions will be from Jan. 5-26 in Taitung, before a further roster will be announced for the second stage. The final roster for the Asian Baseball Championship will only have 24 players.

Meanwhile, former Major League Baseball outfielder Cirilo “Tommy” Cruz Dilan will also take on the role of hitting coach for the Taiwanese team.

The 70-year-old Puerto Rico-born Cruz first coached in Taiwan in 2014 for the Taiwanese U-18, U-21, and U-23 national teams.

Throughout the years, Cruz has been part of the coaching team of the CTBC Brothers, Fubon Guardians, and the Rakuten Monkeys in Taiwan’s CPBL professional baseball league.

Cruz’s work visa is currently being processed and he is expected to arrive in Taiwan after the Lunar New Year, according to the CTBA.

The Taiwanese team will be led by ANYO Fresh head coach Wu Ssu-Hsien (???). Wu competed for Taiwan’s national baseball team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, where it won silver.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel