Hung-Cheng Lai

From BR Bullpen

Hung-Cheng Lai (賴鴻誠)

  • Bats Left, Throws Left
  • Height 5' 11", Weight 168 lb.

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Hung-Cheng Lai has played in the CPBL and for the Taiwan national baseball team.

Lai played in the 2002 Pony League World Series and 2006 World Junior Championship. He pitched 2/3 of an inning in the 2008 Haarlem Baseball Week, allowing one hit and getting a win. He was 0-1 in the Chinese Professional Baseball League minors in 2010, for the Brother Elephants affiliate. In the 2010 World University Championship, Lai gave up four runs in 7 2/3 IP. He was with Taiwan for the 2010 Intercontinental Cup but did not get into a game.

The Sinon Bulls drafted Lai in the second round of the 2010 CPBL Draft, and he stayed in the minors in 2011; he had a 3.00 ERA in 10 starts there. Lai was a swingman in 2012, and he had a 3-7 record with a 5.59 ERA in 26 games (14 starts). He also represented Taiwan in the 2012 Asian Championship. Lai was 4-6 with a 5.54 ERA in 2013, and he also attended the 2013 CPBL All-Star Game; he allowed a run in 2 innings. The Bulls turned him into a full-time reliever in 2014, but he had a 4.77 ERA in 27 games, then he recorded a 4.46 ERA in 27 appearances in 2015.

The Taoyuan native broke out in 2016, and he was selected into the 2016 CPBL All-Star Game. He allowed 3 runs in 2/3 of an inning, and he got the loss. The league used a juiced ball this season, so there were 3 hitters who hit above .400. Lai still managed to reduce his ERA to 4.22, and he notched 18 holds. He led the league in holds (1 ahead of Yu-Hsun Chen) and ranked 2nd in appearances (3 behind Chen). In the 2016 Taiwan Series, Lai pitched 3 shutout innings and got a win in Game 4. The EDA Rhinos beat the CTBC Brothers in 6 games, and Lai won his first Taiwan Series title.

Lai struggled in 2017 as his ERA rose to 8.44, but he soon bounced back and collected 19 holds with a solid 3.63 ERA in 63 appearances in 2018. He attended the 2018 CPBL All-Star Game, and he pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings. Lai was 3rd in holds (2 behind Hao-Chun Chiu) and 2nd in appearances (3 behind Cheng-Che Wu). His ERA rose to 7.09 in 2019, then he had a 4.82 ERA with 12 holds in 42 games in 2020. Lai announced that he would become a free-agent after this season.

The Rakuten Monkeys signed him with a 2-year, 790K NT dollars contract, and Lai led the league in appearances in 2021. He notched a career-high 26 holds with a 4.94 ERA in 58 games, and ranked 2nd in holds (1 behind Chun-Wei Wu). He tied Miguel Mejia's CPBL record as he didn't allow a run in 26 consecutive games (broken by Hsuan-Ta Liu the next year), and he became the third pitcher to collect 100 holds on August 5 (following Chien-San Kao and Yu-Hsun Chen). He ended up having a 2.06 ERA in 37 games. In the 2022 Taiwan Series, Lai only pitched a shutout inning and the Monkeys were swept by the Brothers.

Lai was still a solid LOOGY in 2023 as his ERA was 1.78 in 39 appearances, and he also collected 18 holds. He was 2nd in holds, 6 behind Wu. In the 2023 Taiwan Series, Lai pitched 2 1/3 shutout innings in 3 games but the Monkeys lost to the Wei Chuan Dragons in 7 games. After his contract ended, Lai jumped to the TSG Hawks.

Lai's repertoire includes a fastball (peak 94.4 mph), cutter and changeup.

Sources[edit]

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