Taipei, Feb. 28 (CNA) Taiwan’s 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) team set out on Saturday for friendly games in Miyazaki, Japan, before heading to Tokyo for the WBC pool stage.<\/p>\n
Led by 2024 WBSC Premier12 MVP Chen Chieh-hsien (\u9673\u5091\u61b2), affectionately nicknamed Captain Taiwan, the team will play at Miyazaki’s Sokken Stadium against Nippon Professional Baseball’s Orix Buffaloes on Monday and then against Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on Tuesday as part of the WBC official exhibition games.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters before departure, Chen pledged that the team will do its best to reach Miami for the elimination round of the competition.<\/p>\n
The Taiwanese team will then play its first pool stage match against Australia on Thursday inside at the Tokyo Dome to compete for one of two spots in the quarterfinals in Miami, United States, on March 13.<\/p>\n
Team Taiwan took off from Taoyuan International Airport six players short of its official 30-man roster.<\/p>\n
Six of Taiwan’s overseas-based players joined the team in Miyazaki.<\/p>\n
The six players are all Major League Baseball-affiliated, including pitchers Sha Tzu-chen (\u6c99\u5b50\u5bb8), Zhuang Chen Zhong-ao (\u838a\u9673\u4ef2\u6556), and Lin Wei-en (\u6797\u7dad\u6069), who play in the Athletics, as well as pitcher Lin Yu-min (\u6797\u6631\u73c9) in the Arizona Diamondbacks.<\/p>\n
The other two players in the MLB system are Cheng Tsung-che (\u912d\u5b97\u54f2) in the Red Sox and Lee Hao-yu (\u674e\u705d\u5b87) in the Detroit Tigers.<\/p>\n
A number of overseas-based players had already joined the team for practice games in Taiwan, including Taiwanese-American outfielder Stuart Fairchild.<\/p>\n
However, fellow Taiwanese-American Jonathon Long, who plays in the Chicago Cubs’ minor league system, bowed out of Team Taiwan due to an injury, after having previously signed on to represent the nation.<\/p>\n
(By Su Chih-yu, Hsieh Ching-wen and James Lo) <\/p>\n
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