CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #288
CTBC Brothers News: Francisco Peña
On August 12, the CTBC Brothers announced the release of Francisco Peña. The 33-year-old Dominican catcher finished his 2023 CPBL season with a slash line of .216/.278/.392 over 59 games.
According to the CTBC Brothers manager, the reason for letting go of Francisco Peña was not performance related, but it was due to the lack of available starting pitchers. The team need to add more foreign pitcher to the active roster.
CTBC Brothers Francisco Peña hammers a solo shot for his 4th home run of the season. #CPBL pic.twitter.com/fkldEZTdnC
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) June 10, 2023
“Francisco Peña is fully aware of the situation and understands the team’s needs. Of course, we hope he can come back next year,” said the Brothers’ manager Peng Cheng-Min to ETtoday.
“I’m delighted to spend the past two years with the CTBC Brothers. When I first arrived in Taiwan, I didn’t know anyone, but my teammates treated me like family and welcomed me with open arms,” said Francisco Peña. “There is always a chance of returning for the 2024 CPBL season, but for now, I want to spend time with my family back home and prepare for the upcoming season in the Dominican Winter League.”
With Francisco Peña leaving the team, the Brothers have added Eric Stout to the active roster. The 30-year-old American left-hander is set to make his CPBL debut against the Dragons on August 13.
As of today, the CTBC Brothers currently have José De Paula, Tyler Viza, Emilio Vargas and Eric Stout on their active roster. With the August 31 trade deadline approaching, this should be the Brothers’ final foreign player roster update for the rest of the 2023 CPBL season.
SLIP 'N SLIDE!
CTBC Brothers' Francisco Peña entertained the fans on the rain-drenched tarp during a rain delay at Game 1 of the 2023 #CPBL All-Star Game. pic.twitter.com/qhSeF54CA8
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) July 29, 2023
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.
I have my doubts whether a good starter is worth a good catcher. Pena hits OK for a CPBL starting catcher (only the Monkeys and the Dragons appear to have obviously better hitting catchers), and he is far and away the best catcher in the league at preventing the running game, if baseball reference’s numbers are accurate (the Monkeys and Dragons are dead last here). I don’t know how good Pena is at framing pitches or calling pitches, although I assume the Brothers’ manager or pitching coach could have been calling the pitches relayed through Pena.
There still isn’t much running in the CPBL this year, even with less offense, so the Brothers may figure that Pena’s exceptional ability to stop other teams from running doesn’t have a great deal of value. The move looks to me like one made simply to shake things up because management feels like the team is under-performing.
I hope that CBPL teams in 2024 with the addition of the Hawks will allow teams to carry an extra foreign player who has to be a position player. There should clearly be a place in the CPBL for a player like Pena, who definitely made the league better by his presence.
Francisco Pena should definitely sign with the Hawks next season. It make the most sense. The Hawks young pitching staff could benefit from an experienced catcher (in terms of game calling) like him. Also, Pena won’t have to worry about losing his foreign player slot to pitcher as well.