Lin Wei-En Signs With Oakland A’s
On June 6, the Oakland Athletics have announced the signing of 18-year-old Taiwanese left-hander 林維恩 (Lin Wei-En) as an international free agent for 1.35 million USD.
“Right now, my goal is to get physically stronger, stay healthy for the full season, and work my way up the A’s system,” said Lin Wei-En.
“In the past 15 years that I have been working in Taiwan, Lin Wei-En is probably one of the best high school pitchers I have seen,” said the A’s scout Adam Hislop at the press conference. “I sincerely hope Lin will bring his dedication, attitude and his smile to the MLB system.”
18-year-old Taiwanese left-hander 林維恩 (Lin Wei-En) is now officially a member of the Oakland Athletics. According to the media, the A’s signed Lin Wei-En for 1.35 million USD. #MLBTW pic.twitter.com/WNEVmG0Ghw
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) June 6, 2024
WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup
Team Taiwan’s 林維恩 (Lin Wei-En) allowed 1 run on 6 hits and struck out 6 over 5.1 innings against Korea. Lin’s fastball velocity topped out at 148 kph. pic.twitter.com/XQz2vjA8aO
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) September 3, 2023
Lin Wei-En stands 189 cm (6’2) and throws a fastball that sits around 145 kph and topped out at 148 kph (92 mph). According to his high school coach, Lin doesn’t throw particularly hard but has a quality fastball with a high spin rate at 2600 rpm.
Regarding offspeed pitches, Lin Wei-En primarily relies on his changeup (120 kph) as the outpitch and throws a curveball and slider.
In 2023, Lin Wei-En represented Taiwan in the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup. He started against Korea, Netherlands and appeared as a reliever against Japan in the gold medal game.
During the tournament, he logged a total of 13 scoreless innings with 14 strikeouts and 1 walk with an impressive 0.92 WHIP.
- Korea 5.1 IP, 0ER, 6H, 6K, 1BB
- Netherlands 5 IP, 0ER, 1H, 5K, 0BB
- Japan 2.2 IP, 0ER, 4H, 3K, 0BB
With the signing of Lin Wei-En, the A’s currently have three Taiwanese players within their organisation. Lin also became the sixth players from Taiwan in the A’s franchise history.
- 2021 – 莊陳仲敖 (Chen Zhang-Ao Zhuang) – 500,000 USD.
- 2023 – 沙子宸 (Sha Tzu-Chen) – 425,000 USD.
- 2024 – 林維恩 (Lin Wei-En) – 1.35 million USD.
17-year-old left-hander 林維恩 (Lin Wei-En) pitched 4 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts. Lin’s velocity topped out at 148 kph (92 mph) today. #TWHSBaseball pic.twitter.com/QeRG978rJz
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) May 28, 2023