On June 18th, 85 amateurs from various high schools, universities and the industrial league will gather at the Xinzhuang Stadium for the 2018 CPBL pre-draft tryout.
The tryout is the annual event with the purpose of giving those players who are not eligible to enter the draft a chance to do so. It also give the teams an opportunity to find some rare gems which might get overlooked by their scouting department.
Due to the amount of people, pitchers will only face seven batters, while batters will be given five at-bat. Players will try and impress the coaches in attendance that day and get the recommendation to enter the draft.
#CPBL coaches and scouts at the selection tryout today. More info about the upcoming CPBL draft here. https://t.co/yNB9oPPVij pic.twitter.com/thmUIXCjll
— CPBL STATS (@GOCPBL) June 19, 2017
2018 CPBL Tryout: What to Expect
Out of 85 players, 38 of them are pitchers, 8 catchers, 18 infielders and 21 outfielders. It is also worth mentioning there are 13 players have had previous experience playing for the Taiwan’s national development squad.
In 2017, out of 106 players who participated in the tryout, 42 received recommendation to enter the draft. And 8 of them ended up getting drafted by the CPBL team.
- 4th round draft pick – 蔡齊哲 (Tsai Chi-Che) – Brothers.
- 5th round draft pick – 黃竣彥 (Huang Chun-Yen) – Uni-Lions.
- 6th round draft pick – 陳韋奇 (Chen Wei-Chi) – Guardians.
- 7th round draft pick – 林勝傑 (Lin Sheng-Chieh) – Uni-Lions.
- 7th round draft pick – 陳勤宗 (Chen Chin-Tsung) – Guardians.
- 8th round draft pick – 鄭佳彥 (Cheng Chia-Yen) – Brothers.
- 9th round draft pick – 蔡岱霖 (Tsai Tai-Lin) – Brothers.
- 10th round draft pick – 吳蔚驊 (Wu Wei-Hua) – Brothers.
Wang Wei-chung’s greatest strength so far in the KBO is his ability to limit home runs, only five in 71 innings pitched. That’s great in a hitters’ league.
Right now the biggest concern is whether he can handle a full season as a starting pitcher in the KBO.