C.C. Lee

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Chen-Chang Lee (李振昌)

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Biographical Information[edit]

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Chen-Chang Lee was one of Taiwan's top college prospects in the middle of the first decade of the 21st Century. He was on Taiwan's senior national team roster for the 2008 Olympics. With a low three-quarters arm slot (nearly sidearm) Lee has been timed at 97 mph at his peak. He throws a slider and forkball in addition to the fastball.

Lee was with Taiwan for the 2004 World Junior Championship. He pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings against the USA, striking out four. Against Japan, he had a no-decision versus Yu Darvish, allowing one earned run in 3 2/3 IP. It was rumored in October of 2005 that the Cleveland Indians had made an offer to Lee and had been turned down. Lee threw 7 hitless, scoreless innings against the Czech Republic in the 2006 World University Championship. Against Cuba, he allowed two hits in 8 1/3 innings and fanned 6; Taiwan went on to win in 15 innings, its first win against Cuba in a couple decades. He pitched for Taiwan's senior team in the 2006 Asian Games and 2006 Intercontinental Cup (10 H in 5 2/3 IP, 4.76 ERA, no decisions in two games). He pitched for the Anchorage Bucs in the Alaska Baseball League in 2007.

The Penghu native pitched for Taiwan in the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, allowing 4 runs in 2 1/3 IP in a loss to the South Korean national team. Poor defense by Che-Hsuan Lin and Yi-Chuan Lin did not aid his cause; two of the tallies were unearned. Lee was 0-1 with a 0.77 ERA in the 2008 Haarlem Baseball Week. He was 0-1 with a 4.76 ERA for Taiwan in the 2008 World University Championship and was one of three amateurs with Taiwan in the 2008 Olympics. In Beijing, he was 0-1 with a 2.00 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 9 innings. He tossed six shutout against the Cuban national team in a duel with Elier Sánchez but lost 1-0 when Frederich Cepeda homered in the 7th. Lee then allowed one run in a relief stint against the U.S..

Scout Jason Lee of the Cleveland Indians signed Lee in September of 2008, reputedly for $400,000. The Indians had actually offered Lee a contract out of high school, but he went to college instead. Taiwan made Lee their game one starter in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, facing South Korea. He was toasted for 6 runs in 1/3 of an inning for the loss. He started by walking Jong-wook Lee, hitting Keun-woo Jeong and walking Hyun-soo Kim; only 2 of his first 11 pitches were strikes. Tae-kyun Kim singled home two. Lee retired Dae-ho Lee on a long fly, then walked Shin-soo Choo. A grand slam by Jin-young Lee knocked out Chen-Chang, who was replaced by Kai-Wen Cheng. Lee made his US debut on April 9, 2009, tossing two scoreless innings for the Kinston Indians against the Winston-Salem Dash. Lee was awarded the Bob Feller Award for 2011 as the Cleveland Indians top minor-league pitcher of the year.

When Lee got the call to the Show on July 12, 2013, commentators remarked how appropriate it was that he was now pitching for the Indians, given his name comprised that of the Indians two most recent Cy Young Award winners - C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee. He made his debut for the team on July 14th, coming in in relief of Ubaldo Jimenez with a man on and nobody out in the 5th inning of a game against the Kansas City Royals. He proceeded to walk the first batter he faced, Salvador Perez, but retired the next three on fly balls to escape the inning unscathed. He then hit Johnny Giavotella with a pitch to start the 6th, but got Alcides Escobar to pop-up a sacrifice bunt attempt for the first out, at which point he was replaced by Rich Hill. Except for a bit of wildness, he had done quite well, allowing the Indians to come back and win the game, 6-4, with Hill getting credit for the win. Lee ended up having a 4.15 ERA in 8 relief outings in the big leagues in 2013.

In 2014, Lee pitched 37 games with a 4.50 ERA with the Indians, and he got his first career win against the Chicago White Sox on September 6. He mainly stayed in AAA with the Columbus Clippers in 2015, and he 5 saves with a 3.39 ERA there. He also pitched 2 games in the major leagues. Lee requested the Indians sell him to the Seibu Lions of NPB, but he struggled there. His ERA was 6.48 in 18 games in 2016, then the Lions released him. He then signed with the Colorado Rockies, and he had a 5.54 ERA in 27 games for the Albuquerque Isotopes. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed him with a minor league contract in 2018, and he pitched 22 games for them with a 3.91 ERA. He left the team on June 4 and returned to his hometown Taiwan.

The CTBC Brothers selected him in the first round of the 2018 CPBL Draft, and he soon became their closer. Lee notched 13 saves in 2018, and his ERA was an elite 1.42. His performance was even better in 2019, as he lowered his ERA to 1.26 in 52 appearances while collecting 10 saves. He was 3rd in saves (14 behind Yun-Wen Chen) and 4th in appearances (13 behind Kai-Wen Cheng). He also attended the 2019 CPBL All-Star Game, and he allowed a run in 2 innings. In the 2019 Taiwan Series, Lee pitched 1/3 of a inning in both Game 1 and Game 3, then allowed a run in an inning in Game 5. The Brothers lost to the Lamigo Monkeys in 5 games.

Lee notched a league-leading 23 saves in 2020, but his ERA rose to 3.86. He allowed 2 runs in 3 innings in the 2020 Taiwan Series, and the Uni-President Lions beat the Brothers in 7 games. Lee bounced back in 2021, and he had a 2.42 ERA in 53 games with 24 saves. He ranked 3rd in saves (8 behind Yun-Wen Chen) and 8th in appearances (5 behind Hung-Cheng Lai). He notched a save with a shutout inning in 2021 Taiwan Series Game 1, then closed the door for the Brothers in Game 3 with another shutout inning. The Brothers swept the Lions, and Lee won his first Taiwan Series title.

When the Brothers turned Yen-Ching Lu into a reliever, Lee shared the closer spot with him. He notched 8 holds and 11 saves with a 3.15 ERA in 42 relief outings, and he ranked 6th in saves (25 behind Bradin Hagens). He was on Taiwan's roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and he pitched 1 1/3 shutout innings against Panama with 2 strikeouts (against José Ramos and Luis Eduardo Castillo). He then relieved Che-Yuan Wu in the 8th inning against the Netherlands. Lee struck out Xander Bogaerts, but he then gave up back-to-back walks to Didi Gregorius and Jonathan Schoop before Kuan-Yu Chen relieved him. Lee was injured in a car accident in 2023, so he only pitched 8 innings.

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