An-Ko Lin

From BR Bullpen

AnKoLin.jpg

An-Ko Lin (林安可)

  • Bats Left, Throws Left
  • Height 6' 0", Weight 198 lb.

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

An-Ko Lin has won CPBL Rookie of the Year and played for the Taiwanese national team.

Lin was on Taiwan's squad for the 2014 Asian Junior Championship. [1] He was a two-way threat in the 2015 U-18 Baseball World Cup. He hit .333/.393/.500 with 8 runs in 8 games. Playing first base, center field and pitcher, he had 48 chances without an error. He was 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA. He tied for 9th in the event in runs. [2] He played in the 2016 Haarlem Baseball Week. [3] He hit .350/.458/.350 in the 2016 U-23 Baseball World Cup, played error-free ball in CF, LF, 1B and P. He had one save and a shutout inning. [4] He played in the Asia Winter League in '16 and 2017 summer Universiade. [5] He was only used as a pitcher in the 2017 Asian Championship, getting the win over South Korea and working 2 1/3 innings (1 UER). Taiwan won the Silver Medal. [6]

Lin was 3 for 5 with a walk, run and a RBI as a bench player in the 2018 World University Championship and allowed 2 hits, 2 walks and 2 unearned runs in 4 innings, losing to Japan. [7] He was 6 for 11 with a run, two walks, two RBI and two steals while fielding 1.000 again. He did not pitch, playing 1B, RF and DH. [8] He trained with the Rakuten Golden Eagles that winter but did not get an offer from a team in Japan. He then had surgery to remove bone spurs. [9]

The Uni-President Lions took him in the 1st round of the 2019 CPBL draft as a pitcher, the 4th overall pick (after Ji-Hong Liu, Cheng-Hua Yueh and Kuo-Hao Chiang). [10] He hit .255/.336/.377 in 29 games in the 2019 CPBL. He started 2020 stronger, at .331/.410/.621 with 11 homers and 39 runs after 44 games, among the league leaders in several departments. His pace fell off slightly but he finished at .310/.395/.590 with 32 HR and 99 RBI. He led the league in RBI (one ahead of outfield mate Chih-Chieh Su), tied Wei-Chen Wang for 4th in runs (90), led in home runs (four ahead of Su), tied for 10th in steals (10) and made the top 10 in OBP and slugging. The Lions won the 2020 Taiwan Series. He joined Su and Chieh-Hsien Chen as the Best Ten picks in the outfield, as all three Lions won the honor. He also won Rookie of the Year. He broke Po-Jung Wang's CPBL rookie record of 30 HR. [11]

Lin was still solid in 2021, hitting .302/.395/.473 with 16 homers and won the Best Ten again. He was 7th in batting (.050 behind Chun-Hsiu Chen), 4th in RBI (14 behind Yu-Hsien Chu) and 2nd in homers (6 behind Chu). He hit .438/.438/.500 in the 2021 Taiwan Series, but the Lions were swept by the Brothers. Lin fractured his hamate bone in spring training, so he only played 38 games with a .276/.348/.423 batting line in 2022. Lin was red-hot in the beginning of the 2023 season as he was the first player to reach 10 homers. However, he was plunked by Tanner Anderson on June 17 and missed a month. He came back on time so he could attend the 2023 CPBL All-Star Games, and he was 2-for-5, with a solo shot against Kuo-Hao Chiang in Game 1. He ended up hitting .247/.322/.471 with 15 homers, and he ranked 4th in homers (8 behind Giljegiljaw Kungkuan). In the 2023 CPBL Playoff Series, Lin was hit by his own foul ball and he left the game in the 4th inning in Game 1. It was reported that Lin may miss the series, but he miraculously came back and recorded a pinch-hit RBI double against Chih-Hsuan Wang in Game 3. The Lions were still swept by the Lamigo Monkeys.

The Tainan native also represented Taiwan in the 2022 Asian Games (which were held in 2023 after delays). Lin debuted against Thailand, going 1-for-4, with a double against Suppakorn Lin in the 4th inning. He then went 2-for-4 with a RBI triple against Dong-ju Moon of South Korea, and he was 2-for-3 with a 2-run double against Quan Gan of China. In the Gold Medal Game, Lin was 1-for-4, with a single against Woo-suk Go in the 9th inning. Taiwan lost to South Korea and won Silver. [12]

He is the rare Taiwanese player of Taiwanese-Argentinian ancestry; his father is from Taiwan and his mother from Argentina. They met in Argentina, while Lin was born and raised in Taiwan. [13] When he was a pitcher, he threw a standard four-pitch repertoire, his fastball peaking at 91 mph.

Sources[edit]