Kai-Wei Lin

Kai-Wei Lin (林凱威)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 175 lb.

• School National Taiwan Sports Institute
• High School Cheng-De High School

• Born March 19, 1996 in Hualien County Taiwan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kai-Wei Lin has pitched in the minors, CPBL and for the Taiwanese national team.

Lin was with Taiwan for the 2014 Asian Junior Championship. He was signed by Arizona Diamondbacks scout Mack Hayashi in 2015. He split the summer of 2016 between the AZL Diamondbacks (2-5, 4.69) and Missoula Osprey (1-3, 6.90). He tied for 8th in the Arizona chain in losses and tied for 6th in the Arizona League in that department. He struggled with Missoula again in 2017 (0-6, 8.28), tying for 4th in the Pioneer League in defeats. In 2018, he improved to 4-1, 3.44 with a save for the Hillsboro Hops; moving to the bullpen, he struck out 44 and walked 7 in 34 innings while reaching 95 mph on the radar gun. In '19, he was 5-3 with 7 saves and a 3.95 ERA for the Kane County Cougars.

He debuted for Taiwan's national team in the 2019 Premier 12, making three appearances in that event. Against Venezuela, he relieved Kuan-Yu Chen in the 8th with a 3-0 lead, one on and one out. He struck out both Alexander Palma and Carlos Rivero then was relieved by Hung-Wen Chen in the 9th. He was hit harder by tournament champion Japan; down 5-1 in the 9th, he relieved Yao-Lin Wang. He got Tetsuto Yamada out but Ryosuke Kikuchi singled and Kensuke Kondo walked. Yu-Hsun Chen relieved and both inherited runners came home, charged to Lin. He also pitched against Australia, relieving Chih-Wei Hu in the 6th with a 1-0 lead. He fanned Robbie Glendinning but allowed a game-tying homer to Logan Wade and a single to Aaron Whitefield before Tsung-Hao Wang entered; Taiwan would come back to win. His 20.25 ERA was highest on the team, Tsung-Hao Wang being second at 13.50.

After the minor leagues were shut down due to the coronavirus in 2020, Lin was promoted to the A+ Hillsboro Hops in 2021. He recorded a 4.78 ERA in 29 appearances there, then he had a 4.41 ERA with the AA Amarillo Sod Poodles in 2022. The D-Backs released him in May, and he went back to Taiwan and joined the CPBL. The Wei Chuan Dragons drafted him in the first round of the 2022 CPBL Draft, and he was soon named their setup man. Lin collected 18 holds with a 2.43 ERA in 33 games in 2022, and he ranked 2nd in holds (8 behind Yu-Hsun Chen). In 2023, Lin was the closer of the Dragons, and he notched 18 saves and 12 holds in 51 appearances with a 3.59 ERA. He was 2nd in saves (4 behind Yen-Ching Lu) and 8th in appearances (10 behind Chun-Wei Wu). In the 2023 Taiwan Series, Lin pitched 2 shutout innings to get a hold in Game 1, then collected another hold with a shutout inning in Game 2. He succeeded Yao-Lin Wang in Game 3, but he allowed 3 runs in 1/3 of a inning and got the loss. He had his third hold of this series with a shutout inning in Game 6, and the Dragons beat the Rakuten Monkeys in 7 games.

Lin was originally on Taiwan's roster for the 2022 Asian Games, but he withdrew due to a foot injury. However, after the event started, Lin appeared in the CPBL on September 26. According to Taiwan's military service rule, Lin couldn't reject to playing for the national team unless he was injured. Thus, there was criticism that Lin reported a fake injury so he could pitch for the Dragons and help them chase the pennant. After the 2022 season, Lin represented Taiwan in the 2023 Asia Professional Baseball Championship. He relieved Chih-Hsuan Wang in the 8th inning against Japan and he gave up a hit to Chusei Mannami before retiring Shogo Sakakura. Makoto Kadowaki added another hit, and Lin retired the next two batters to escape the jam. Taiwan won Bronze thanks to Tien-Hsin Kuo's walk-off hit against Australia.