Chih-Hsien Chiang

From BR Bullpen

Chih-Hsien Chiang (蔣智賢)

  • Bats Left, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 2", Weight 170 lb.

BR minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Chih-Hsien Chiang played in the minor league and the CPBL. He is the brother of CPBL infielder Chih-Tsung Chiang.

Chiang was a star in the 2003 World Youth Championship, leading the event in RBI and cracking a key homer against Cuba. In the 2004 World Junior Championship, he hit .267/.267/.467 while facing pitchers up to a couple years older than him. Chiang was signed by the Boston Red Sox in October 2005, having been scouted by Jon Deeble. In 2006, he made his US debut, hitting .287/.318/.410 in 33 games for the GCL Red Sox and .278/.308/.472 in 9 games for the Lowell Spinners. His 10 errors with the Sox tied for the Gulf Coast League lead among second basemen. Chiang spent all of 2007 in full-season A ball at age 18. He batted .262/.310/.392 with 27 doubles. After 12 errors in 42 games in 2006, he only made 12 in 97 contests in 2007. One negative was his relatively high strikeout rate, with 81 Ks in 355 AB. On May 31, he fell a double shy of a cycle against the Hickory Crawdads. Chiang joined the senior national team for the 2007 Baseball World Cup and was 4 for 10 with 2 walks as the backup 2B to Chao-Hang Cheng.

In the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, Chiang hit .278/.286/.500 as Taiwan's starting second baseman but made three errors in six games (a .889 fielding percentage). He tied for third on the team on slugging as Taiwan qualified for a slot in the 2008 Olympics. Chiang began 2008 with the Lancaster JetHawks. In the 2008 Olympics, the 20-year-old hit .290/.313/.355 as the starting second baseman for Taiwan. He committed a fatal error in the 10th inning which caused Taiwan lost to China. During the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Chiang was 2 for 7 to finish 5th on a weak offense in OPS (661). That season, he hit .303 with 19 doubles and 9 homers in 83 games for the Lancaster JetHawks of the California League. In 2009, he moved to the Salem Red Sox in the Carolina League, where he hit .264/.323/.415 in 85 games. His production was actually the equivalent of the previous year's, given that Salem is a much harder hitting environment than Lancaster, known as the most hitter-friendly ballpark in all of organized baseball. He also moved from 2B to the outfield that year.

In 2010, Chiang moved to the AA Portland Sea Dogs of the Eastern League, where he hit .260/.312/.420 in 121 games, with 35 doubles and 11 homers, driving in 65 runs. He tied Kirk Nieuwenhuis for 6th in the Eastern League in doubles. He had a better OPS (732-729) than outfield and country mate Che-Hsuan Lin, a far more hyped prospect. He returned to Portland to start 2011 and excelled, putting up a sparkling .338/.402/.648 batting line in 88 games with 36 doubles and 18 homers. He was leading the EL in average, slugging, doubles, runs (68) and RBI (76). He played in the 2011 Futures Game for the World team, batting 7th and spending the whole game in left field. He grounded out against Brad Peacock in the second, grounded out versus Matt Moore two innings later, drew a Drew Pomeranz walk in the 6th (scoring on a double by Sebastian Valle and struck out against Jarred Cosart in the 8th.

At the trading deadline on July 31st, the Red Sox dealt him to the Seattle Mariners along with Tim Federowicz, Stephen Fife and Juan Rodriguez, in return for Ps Erik Bedard and Josh Fields. The M's immediately sent the three other players they acquired to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Trayvon Robinson, but they held on to the Taiwanese outfielder. Chiang hit .208/.255/.262 for the Jackson Generals in 2011. He had a .252/.289/.386 batting line for Jackson in 2012, and the Mariners promoted him. Chiang hit .245/.265/.321 with the Tacoma Rainiers, and he became a free agent.

The Texas Rangers signed him, and Chiang hit .263/.298/.416 with AA Frisco RoughRiders. That was not enough to help Chiang stay with the Rangers, and the Baltimore Orioles signed him. He also represented Taiwan in the 2013 East Asian Games. Chiang split time between A+ and AA in 2014, and he hit .221/.302/.353 with the Frederick Keys while recording a .219/.264/.333 batting line for the Bowie Baysox. He then announced that he would return to his homeland Taiwan. Chiang then played for Taiwan in the 2014 Asian Games, and he was 7-for-18 with a homer. The CTBC Brothers selected Chiang in the first round of the 2015 CPBL Draft, and he hit .306/.331/.441 in 30 games in 2015. In the 2015 Taiwan Series, Chiang hit .357/.419/.536 with a homer and 6 RBI, but the Brothers were still beaten by the Lamigo Monkeys in 7 games. He represented Taiwan in the 2015 Premier 12, and he was 1-for-6 with a RBI.

Chiang had an incredible 2016 season. He tied Chang-Ming Cheng's CPBL record with a 21-game hitting streak from opening day on April 23, and he also crushed 2 homers in the same game. Chiang also became the fastest player to reach 30 homers and 100 RBI in a season, using 81 games and 80 games respectively. He ended up hitting .402/.455/.738 with 30 homers and 104 RBI, ranked 2nd in batting (.012 behind Po-Jung Wang), 3rd in homers (4 behind Chih-Sheng Lin and Kuo-Hui Kao), 4th in RBI (4 behind Hung-Yu Lin) and 5th in hits (59 behind Wang). His .738 slugging percentage is still the CPBL record as of 2023, and he won his first Best Ten as a third baseman. Chiang and Chih-Sheng Lin were the first and only pair of teammates to reach 30 homers in a season as of 2023. He was also selected into the 2016 CPBL All-Star Game, and he was 1-for-2 with a RBI. In the 2016 Taiwan Series, Chiang hit .300/.462/.500 with 6 RBI, but the Brothers were still beaten by the EDA Rhinos in 6 games.

The Taitung native made it onto Taiwan's roster for the 2017 World Baseball Classic, and he was 5-for-14 with 4 runs scored. He hit .335/.379/.590 with 21 homers in 2017; he ranked 4th in homers (10 behind Wang), 5th in batting (.072 behind Wang), 6th in RBI (27 behind Wang) and 6th in hits (61 behind Wang). However, Chiang had some sex scandals after this season, and the Brothers released him. The Fubon Guardians picked him up, and Chiang had another great year. He hit .331/.373/.545 with 18 homers, and led the league in doubles and RBI. He won his second Best Ten, ranked 3rd in homers (4 behind Chih-Hao Chang), 7th in hits (23 behind Chieh-Hsien Chen and 8th in batting (.044 behind Chun-Hsiu Chen). He also attended the 2018 CPBL All-Star Game, but he was 0-for-1.

Chiang suffered from a shoulder injury in 2019, so he only played 66 games with a .316/.385/.521 batting line. He recovered in 2020, and he collected 13 homers with a .309/.374/.495 batting line. Unfortunately, Chiang hurt his right shoulder again on April 7, 2021 and he missed the rest of the season. The veteran only hit .241/.323/.398 in 2022, and his batting line fell to .197/.284/.242 in 2023.

Sources[edit]

Related Sites[edit]

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