2019 CPBL Draft: Our Predictions
The annual CPBL Draft is upon us once again. 145 talented amateurs from various high schools, universities and the industrial league will enter the 2019 draft and hopefully get the opportunity to turn professional.
The draft order this year is the following. With the Wei Chuan Dragons being the expansion team, they will get to draft twice in the first four rounds.
- Wei Chuan Dragons
- Chinatrust Brothers
- Fubon Guardians
- Uni-Lions
- Lamigo Monkeys
- Wei Chuan Dragons
Will the teams pick the high school prospects and spend time developing them? Or select players that are CPBL first team ready and trying to get a boost in the second-half season? Or just simply pick the best available players at that time regardless of their position.
As always, here are our 2019 CPBL Draft predictions for the first round. We will also include video highlights and some quick information about those players.
First Round Predictions
Once again, huge credit to Taiwan Baseball Notes for uploading all the video of those amateurs players. TBN is probably the best online resource for anything student baseball related.
Wei Chuan Dragon – 江國豪 Chiang Kuo-Hao) RHP
- 21 years old, university right-handed pitcher
- Starting pitcher material
- Fastball topping at 149kph
- Sinker, Curveball, Slider, Changeup
- Great control of his pitches
- Members of Taiwan’s U-23 National Team
Dragons being the expansion team, it will make sense to draft as many potential first team ready pitchers as possible.
Chinatrust Brothers – 劉基鴻 (Liu Chi-Hung) SS/3B
- 18 years old, high school shortstop / third baseman
- Not the cleanest swing, but can hit for power
Fubon Guardians – 岳政華 (Yueh Cheng-Hua) OF/LHP
- 18 years old, high school, outfielder
- Used to be pitcher, but decided to enter the draft as positional player
- As pitcher he throws 145kph fastball, curve and changeup
- Great bat control, line drive hitter
- Great defensive range
Uni-Lions – 林安可 (Lin An-Ko) OF/LHP
- 22 years old, university left-handed pitcher / outfielder
- Used to be pitcher, but decided to enter the draft as positional player
- Former top tier amateur pitcher in Taiwan with fastball at 147kph
- Throws curveball, changeup and slider
- Great athleticism, quick powerful swing and able to go opposite field if needed
- Members of Taiwan’s U-18 and U-18 National Team
Lamigo Monkeys – 徐若熙 (Hsu Je-Hsi) RHP
- 18 years old, high school right-handed pitcher
- Great late movement with his fastball (topping out at 149kph)
- Throws curveball, forkball. All three pitches have identical release point
- Great athleticism, great control and able to keep the pitches down
Wei Chuan Dragons – 朱益生 (Chu Yi-Sheng) LHP
- 19 years old, university left-handed pitcher
- Former high school ace
- Late movement with his fastball
- Throws slider, curveball and changeup
- Could potentially develop into a #5 starting pitcher
