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Staff writer, with CNA, TOKYO
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Hsu Jo-hsi is to start today in Taiwan’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) opener against Australia, a game Taiwan have to win if they hope to advance in the tournament, manager Tseng Hao-jiu said yesterday.
The 25-year-old right-hander who in December last year signed with a Japanese pro team, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, was tapped, because he was the best-prepared pitcher on the roster, Tseng said at a news event in Tokyo.
Hsu has also shown poise and controlled the tempo in previous big-game outings, Tseng said, adding that he was looking forward to him delivering a strong performance today.
Taiwan’s Hsu Jo-hsi takes part in a practice session in Tokyo yesterday.
Photo: CNA
Hsu described today’s game as bigger than any single player, but he said he would try to relax and remind himself that he simply had to do his job and compete as best he could.
Hsu said, in his final preparation for the opener, he on Tuesday threw in the bullpen during Taiwan’s warm-up game against the Hawks’ farm team in Miyazaki, Japan, and made some adjustments to his breaking ball, but otherwise felt fine.
During a previous exhibition game between Taiwan and the Hawks in Taipei on Thursday last week, Hsu threw three scoreless innings for the Japanese team.
He gave up only one hit as his fastball topped out at 159.3kph, tying his career high, in a game in which the defending Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) champions beat Taiwan 4-0.
Last year in the CPBL, Hsu tossed 114 innings in 19 starts and fanned 120 batters with a 2.05 ERA, the lowest among all local players.
The fireballer declared international free agency in late October last year and was pursued by several NPB and MLB teams before he signed with the Hawks in December last year on a three-year US$15 million deal.
Meanwhile, Australia coach Dave Nilsson said his team is calling on 29-year-old lefty Alex Wells to face Taiwan.
Wells pitched in the MLB for the Baltimore Orioles in 2021 and 2022, and had a 2-3 record in 13 games, eight of them as a starter, with a 6.60 ERA.
He plays for the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League.
In his past two seasons, Wells started 19 games and pitched 108 innings. He struck out 101 batters and had a 2.41 ERA and an 11-4 record.
Wells pitched in a league game for the Blue Sox as recently as Jan. 15.
After the opener against Australia, Taiwan are to come up against Japan tomorrow evening, the Czech Republic on Saturday morning, and South Korea on Sunday morning.
Only the top two teams from the five-team group are to advance to the knockout stage in Miami.
