CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #297
Five CPBL Foreign Players Released on August 31
It’s the August 31 trade deadline in the CPBL. As always, this is when all the CPBL teams must set their final four foreign players on their active roster and release all the extra foreign players within their organisation.
As per CPBL regulation, the released foreign players can no longer play in the first team for the rest of the season but can still play in the CPBL minor league.
Most of the time, foreign players who were released tend to leave Taiwan and return to their home country. But occasionally, some teams would want those foreign players to stay and continue to play in the CPBL farm league so the teams can evaluate them more and decide whether they want to re-sign them for the next season.
Note: It is technically a “removal from the active roster” or “de-registration”, but for ease of reading, I will refer to this sort of transaction move as “release” since it is more or less the same thing.
Rakuten Monkeys News: Sato Yoshinori
On August 31, the Rakuten Monkeys announced the release of Sato Yoshinori (佐藤由規). The 33-year-old Japanese right-hander finished his 2023 CPBL season with ERA, WHIP over 0.1 innings. Sato Yoshinori only made one relief appearance in the first team, where he gave up one run on three hits and struck out one.
Rakuten Monkeys' foreign pitcher Sato Yoshinori (佐藤由規) made his #CPBL debut last night and recorded his 1st strikeout. pic.twitter.com/3LhFb7QcQV
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) August 28, 2023
Fubon Guardians News: Stephen Woods Jr.
On August 31, the Fubon Guardians announced the release of Stephen Woods Jr. The 28-year-old American right-hander finished his 2023 CPBL season with a 12.54 ERA and 2.68 WHIP over 9.1 innings.
The Guardians’ manager revealed that they believed Stephen Woods Jr just needed more adjustment, and the team wanted to keep him in the minor league to evaluate him as a potential option for next year’s foreign player.
CTBC Brothers News: Tyler Viza
On August 31, the CTBC Brothers announced the release of Tyler Viza. The 28-year-old American right-hander finished his 2023 CPBL season with a 4.27 ERA and 1.47 WHIP over 59 innings.
Tyler Viza is currently on the injured list with minor arm inflammation caused by bone spurs. Because the injury happened so close to the trade deadline, the Brothers have decided to part ways with Viza.
Uni-Lions News: Logan Ondrusek
On August 31, the Uni-Lions announced the release of Logan Ondrusek, who is currently on the injured list with a fractured finger.
Despite letting Ondrusek go early, the Uni-Lions immediately re-signed him back for the 2024 season with a 12% pay rise. This “release and signed back” move is most likely a way to prevent other CPBL teams from approaching and signing Logan Ondrusek during the 2023 off-season.
Logan Ondrusek, the 38-year-old American right-hander, finished his 2023 CPBL season with a 2.35 ERA and 1.01 WHIP over 84.1 innings.
Uni-Lions Logan Ondrusek tossed 8 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts. #CPBL pic.twitter.com/URGnsYprpQ
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) May 25, 2023
Wei Chuan Dragons News: Tucker Smith
On August 31, the Wei Chuan Dragons revealed the final four foreign players they wanted to keep for the remainder of the 2023 CPBL season. In doing so, they sort of announced the release of Tucker Smith.
The 26-year-old American right-hander has not pitched in any official CPBL games since joining the Dragons on August 23. The Dragons’ manager hinted on August 27 that they might keep Tucker Smith in the farm team so they can assess his performance as one of the potential foreign player candidates for the 2024 season.
Further Readings
Foreign players comes and goes, therefore we compiled a foreign players tracker to keep track of all the foreign players signing for the 2023 CPBL season.