Han Lin

From BR Bullpen

Han lin.JPG

Han Lin (林瀚)

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 9", Weight 187 lb.

Biographical Information[edit]

Han Lin is an infielder from Taiwan. He is a cousin of former Taiwan national team pitcher Cheng-Hsun Hsieh. Despite not playing in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, he was a regular of the Taiwanese national team from 2009-2015, including two World Baseball Classics.

Lin played for Taiwan in the 2001 World Youth Championship and 2006 World University Championship. In the 2006 Haarlem Baseball Week, he went 1 for 11 in his first action with a senior Taiwan national team. During the 2007 World Port Tournament, he hit .206/.289/.235 and made four errors in nine games.

Lin was drafted by the Chinatrust Whales in 2007. He hit .328/.380/.437 in the CPBL minors in 2008. When the Whales were disbanded following a 2008 gambling scandal, he went to the Uni-President Lions in the 2nd round of the disbursement draft but never appeared for them.

Lin was on Taiwan's roster for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He played in their loss to China, pinch-hitting for Yen-Wen Kuo and drawing a Guoqiang Sun walk in the 7th. In the 9th, he ground out against Kun Chen. Lin hit .226/.294/.226 in the 2009 World Port Tournament and fielded only .870 at third base. He was named the All-Star shortstop in the 2009 Asian Championship; Taiwan won the Silver Medal.

In the 2009 Baseball World Cup, he was Taiwan's top hitter, batting .409/.435/.477 to lead the team in average (.092 over Ming-Jen Kuo) and OBP and tying Ken-Wei Lin for the most runs. He fielded .977 as their starting shortstop. He was 4 for 4 with 3 RBI against the Netherlands Antilles. He finished the event 6th in average (between Jimmy Gonzalez and Miguel Abreu) and tied Terry Tiffee for 6th with 18 hits. In the 2010 Intercontinental Cup, he was 0 for 1 with a hit-by-pitch in the preliminary round and 1 for 4 with a run in the 4-3 Bronze Medal Game loss to Italy, scoring a run in the 2nd off Cody Cillo to tie it at 2-2.

He was absolutely dominant in the 2011 World Port Tournament, producing at a .538/.581/.783 clip with 7 runs in 7 games. He led in average (.109 over Johnny Gregorius), led in slugging (.186 over Kuan-Wei Yang), led in OBP (.050 over Sidney de Jong), tied for second in runs (one behind Yang), led in hits (14, 1 more than Yang), tied for 4th in RBI, tied for first with one homer, led with 19 total bases (1 over Yang) and tied for most double plays turned (6). He won the World Port Tournament Best Hitter award (first Taiwanese player to do so), World Port Tournament Most Popular Player (first Taiwanese winner) and World Port Tournament MVP (again, first Taiwanese winner). Past WPT MVPs had included Cuban stars like Orestes Kindelan, future major leaguer Brian Kowitz and top Dutch players like Dirk van 't Klooster.

In the 2011 Baseball World Cup, Lin hit .318/.375/.545 and fielded .972 while alternating between 2B, SS and 1B. He was second on the team in average (.015 over Kuo-Hui Lo), led in slugging (.019 over Yang) and led in OBP (.030 over Lo). He batted .286/.318/.286 and fielded .957 in the 2012 Haarlem Baseball Week; he was still second on Taiwan in average (behind Po-Ting Hsiao) and tied for first with two runs and two RBI. He was one of only three Taiwanese players in the 2013 World Baseball Classic not under contract with a MLB, NPB or CPBL team and the other two both were MLB vets (Hong-Chih Kuo and Chien-Ming Wang). He appeared twice as a pinch-runner, one game staying in at second base, but did not bat in the Classic.

Lin was 2 for 15 with two walks, three runs and a .867 fielding percentage in the 2013 World Port Tournament. He helped Taiwan win Bronze in the 2013 East Asian Games. In the 2014 Asian Games, he hit .313/.350/.313 with 4 runs and 5 RBI in five games, with 12 error-free chances as their starting third baseman. He tied Pin-Chieh Chen and Yen-Wen Kuo for the lead in RBI on the Silver Medalists. He batted .294/.400/.412 with 17 error-free chances in the 2015 World Port Tournament, his fifth World Port Tournament. He was 1 for 7 with 5 walks, 4 runs and a RBI as Taiwan's starting baseman in the 2015 Asian Championship, with 18 putouts and 3 assists afield. He hit .269/.406/.308 in the 2017 World Port Tournament, his sixth WPT appearance; he fielded .936.

In the 2017 Asian Championship, he hit .412/.444/.533 with 4 runs and 4 RBI in six games while playing error-free ball. In the Gold Medal Game, he hit 5th and played 1B, going 1 for 3 with a walk and driving in Chun-Kai Liao with the lone Taiwanese run in a loss to Japan. He was named the tournament's All-Star second baseman. OF Tzu-Chieh Lin was the only other player picked from Taiwan.

Sources[edit]

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