Chia-Hao Sung

From BR Bullpen

ChiaHaoSung.jpg

Chia-Hao Sung (宋家豪)

  • Bats Left, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 0", Weight 202 lb.

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Chia-Hao Sung pitched in NPB. His cousins are CPBL pitchers Wen-Hua Sung and Chia-Hsiang Lee

Sung was on Taiwan's team in the 2013 World Port Tournament, allowing two walks, three hits and one run in 1 2/3 IP. He appeared in the 2014 Haarlem Baseball Week. In the 2014 Asian Games, he allowed three hits, a walk and a run in 1 2/3 IP, whiffing two, the work spread over three games, going 1-0; Taiwan won the Silver Medal. He had a 0.00 ERA in 12 innings in the 2014 U21 Baseball World Cup, winning Best Pitcher honors. He was timed at 94 mph that year.

He helped pitch Taiwan to a first-place tie at the 2015 Universiade, with 5 1/3 shutout IP (3 H, 5 K). In the 2015 Premier 12, he was effective in his lone start, throwing 6 1/3 innings against Cuba and allowing only one unearned run (on 7 hits), striking two. He was relieved by Yu-Hsun Chen with a 1-1 tie and Taiwan went on to a 4-1 win. Only four pitchers in the event worked more innings with a 0.00 ERA - Shohei Otani, Scott Diamond, Miguel Lahera and Jared Mortensen. The Uni-President Lions took him in the second round of the 2015 CPBL draft (they took Tzu-Wei Lin in round one) but he did not sign, instead inking a deal with Japan's Rakuten Golden Eagles.

Sung spent 2016 in the Japanese minors, faring well at 6-3, 2.44. He would have been second in the Japanese Eastern League in ERA had he qualified. He started one game in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, giving up six hits and four runs in 3 1/3 IP in a no-decision against the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Shao-Ching Chiang would relieve with a 4-3 deficit and Taiwan would lose, 6-5. His 10.80 ERA was actually the best of any of the team's starters in the Classic as Kuan-Yu Chen was at 11.25 and Chun-Lin Kuo was at 54.00. All three, incidentally, were members of NPB teams. Sung reached the big club in 2017, but he only had 5 appearances.

The Taitung native broke out in 2018, and became an important part of Rakuten's bullpen. He recorded an elite 1.73 ERA in 40 appearances, and also notched 6 holds. Sung extended his solid pitching in 2019, collecting 24 holds with a 2.18 ERA in 48 games. He ranked 8th in holds in the Pacific League, 19 behind Naoki Miyanishi. In the 2019 PLCS first stage, Sung pitched a shutout inning to notch a hold in Game 1 against the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, then allowed two singles and struck out two batters in Game 2. He relieved Takayuki Kishi in the 7th inning in Game 3, but Seiichi Uchikawa blasted a game-winning solo shot against him, and Sung got the loss. He struggled in 2020 as his ERA rose to 6.94 in 38 appearances, but he still collected 10 holds.

Sung bounced back in 2021, collecting 24 holds with a 2.23 ERA in 63 games. He ranked 2nd in appearances (4 behind Naoya Masuda) and 5th in holds (15 behind Mizuki Hori). He was also selected into the 2021 NPB All-Star Games, and relieved Takahiro Norimoto in the 8th inning of Game 2 with a 3-1 lead. Sung allowed a single to Ryosuke Kikuchi first, then Hayato Sakamoto added a double. He struck out Dayán Viciedo, and forced Yohei Ohshima to hit a third-base grounder. However, Nobuhiro Matsuda committed an error, and Jefry Marté added a single; the CL had tied it. Sung retired Munetaka Murakami and Seiya Suzuki to end this inning, and got the win thanks to his teammate Hiroaki Shimauchi's clutch RBI against Ryoji Kuribayashi. He was still a reliable reliever in 2022, notching 20 holds in 54 games with a 2.61 ERA. He ranked 8th in appearances (7 behind Kaima Taira) and 9th in holds (14 behind Taira).

After the 2022 season, Sung made it onto Taiwan's roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He debuted against Panama and pitched a shutout inning, then relieved Yen-Ching Lu in the 8th inning against Italy. He forced David Fletcher to ground out, then retired Vinnie Pasquantino and Dominic Fletcher. Brett Sullivan then hit a single, but Sung struck out pinch-hitter Robel García to hold Taiwan's 4-run lead and got the save. He then replaced Kuan-Yu Chen in the 8th inning against the Netherlands when runners were at first and second. He forced Chadwick Tromp to fly out, then retired Jurickson Profar in the 9th inning. Ray-Patrick Didder then blasted a solo shot, but Sung still struck out Xander Bogaerts and retired Didi Gregorius to notch his second save of the event. He tied Ryan Pressly, Wendell Floranus and Giovanny Gallegos for the event lead in saves.

Sung was still reliable in 2023, having a 2.89 ERA in 49 appearances and collecting 18 holds. He was the first Taiwanese pitcher to notch 100 career holds in Japan, reaching that mark on September 17, and also became the eighth foreign player to do so.

Sources[edit]

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