Chia-Jen Lo

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Chia-Jen Lo (羅嘉仁) (Fireball Jen)

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Biographical Information[edit]

Chia-Jen Lo is a pitcher who has appeared for Taiwan's national teams in junior, college and senior level competition. He began his minor league career in 2009 and reached the major leagues in 2013. Lo throws a curveball and a fastball topping out at high-90s.

Lo was with Taiwan for the 2004 World Junior Championship when they finished fifth; he pitched two innings, allowing no hits or runs, striking out three, walking one and plunking one. He played with the senior team in the 2005 Asian Championship despite still being a teenager. In the 2006 World University Championship, he again represented his country. In the 2006 Haarlem Baseball Week, he threw 3 2/3 innings, fanning four and allowing two hits and a walk while saving one game. He was Taiwan's worst hurler in the 2007 World Port Tournament, with a 5.00 ERA and no decisions in two games.

The Pingtung native returned to the senior team for the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament. He allowed one run in 3 1/3 innings and saved one outing as Taiwan locked up a spot in the 2008 Olympics. His save came against the German national team and was not without difficulty; with a 2-0 lead in the 9th, he allowed a double to Jendrick Speer and Dominik Wulf single but recovered to get cleanup man Kai Gronauer (a future US minor leaguer) and former minor leaguer Michael Franke. He blew a save against Team Canada - with a 5-4 lead and two outs in the 9th, he allowed a Stubby Clapp single and Mike Saunders drove home Clapp. Chien-Ming Chiang relieved and lost the game in extra innings.

Lo threw three scoreless innings for Taiwan in the 2008 World University Championship, when they won Bronze. Lo was ineffective in the 2008 Olympics, allowing 4 baserunners and a run in 2 innings of work. He relieved Fu-Te Ni with two on in the 8th with a 2-0 lead against the Chinese national team and blew the game open, allowing a RBI single to Yufeng Zhang and 2-run double to Wei Wang; Taiwan went on to lose in an upset in extra innings. In October 2008, Lo was signed by Houston Astros' Pacific Rim scouting director Glen Barker for $250,000. He was the first Taiwanese player ever signed by Houston. He was on Taiwan's roster for the 2009 World Baseball Classic but did not get into a game.

The young righty was assigned to the Lancaster Jethawks and made his US debut on April 10, 2009, against the High Desert Mavericks. He tossed two shutout relief innings, walking two, fanning two and allowing no hits. He had a 1.78 ERA in 12 games there, then the Astros promoted him to AA Corpus Christi Hooks. Lo recorded a 2.31 ERA in 30 games for the Hooks. He only pitched 7 games in 2010, then he underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the 2011 season. Lo came back in 2012, and he pitched 11 shutout innings for the GCL Astros then he had a 1.42 ERA in 11 appearances for the JetHawks. Lo had a 3.52 ERA in 8 games for the Hooks in 2013.

On July 31, Lo was promoted to The Show and he debuted against the Baltimore Orioles. Succeeding Brett Oberholtzer in the 8th inning, Lo pitched a shutout inning with his first career strikeout (against Ryan Flaherty). He collected his first career hold on August 7 against Boston Red Sox, then notched his first save on August 13 versus Oakland Athletics. Lo had a 4.19 ERA in 19 games in the Major Leagues in his rookie year. However, he only had a 4.74 ERA in 16 games with AAA Oklahoma City RedHawks in 2014, then he was released. Lo announced that he would join the CPBL.

The EDA Rhinos and the CTBC Brothers both selected him in the first round of the 2014 CPBL Draft after losing on the rights to Chun-Hsiu Chen to the Lamigo Monkeys; the Rhinos won the lottery for Lo. Lo pitched 12 shutout games with 5 saves in 2014. He then pitched for Taiwan in the 2014 Asian Games but allowed three runs (two earned) in one inning, including a poor showing in the title game against South Korea. Lo struggled in 2015, collecting 10 saves with a 5.19 ERA in 49 games. He was 4th in saves (14 behind Hung-Wen Chen) and 6th in appearances (11 behind Yi-Hao Lin. Lo also attended the 2015 CPBL All-Star Game, and he got a hold with a shutout inning. He then pitched for Taiwan in the 2015 Premier 12, and he allowed a solo shot to Tyler O'Neill but otherwise no other runs in 2 innings of work.

Lo injured his right shoulder during the Premier 12, and he missed the entire 2016 season. He never recovered from that injury, and he had a 7.20 ERA in 7 games in 2017. Lo's ERA was 8.35 in 23 appearances in 2018, and he only pitched 3 games in 2019. He was released after the 2019 season, and the Wei Chuan Dragons picked him up. Lo never pitched a game for the big club of the Dragons, and he became their coach in 2022.

Overall, Lo was 6-6 with a 5.25 ERA, collected 8 holds and 15 saves in 94 appearances, struck out 67 and pitched 84 innings in 5 seasons in the CPBL.

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