Meng-Cheng Tseng

Meng-Cheng Tseng (曾孟承)
formerly known as Chao-Hao Tseng

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 187 lb.

• School National Chiayi University
• High School Meiho High School

• Born October 31, 1980 in Taitung County Taiwan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Meng-Cheng Tseng pitched in the CPBL for 13 years.

Amateur Career

Tseng played for Taiwan in the 2001 Asian Championship, when they won the Gold Medal for their first outright Asian title in 14 years. In the 2002 Intercontinental Cup, he had a 1-1, 4.91 record. He was horrible in the 2002 World University Championship, going 0-1 with 6 hits and 5 runs in one inning. He starred in the 2002 Haarlem Baseball Week with a 2-0, 0.53 performance. He allowed the lowest OBP (.111) in the tournament and tied Kyle Sleeth and Eelco Jansen for the most wins in the competition. Tseng had a save and a 2.25 ERA in the 2003 World Port Tournament. In the 2003 Baseball World Cup, he tossed six shutout innings (two hits, no walks, four strikeouts). He did not pitch in the Bronze Medal game of the '03 World Cup, which Taiwan lost to Japan.

Pro Career

Tseng was the first overall pick of the 2003 CPBL Draft, taken by the Chinatrust Whales. He went 2-2 with a save and a 2.43 ERA as a rookie reliever in 2004, but he fell to 4-6, 4.78 in 2005. In 2006, the right-hander was excellent at 12-7, 2.51 and won the CPBL Most Improved Player Award. He was 6th in the league in ERA (between Wei-Lun Pan and Eric Cyr and tied for 7th in wins. He was also selected into the 2006 CPBL All-Star Game, and he notched a hold with a shutout inning. In 2007, he faded to 4-3, 4.48 and he was atrocious in 2008 (0-1, 7.10, 43 H in 26 2/3 IP). He turned it around again, though, going 3-2 with a 1.72 ERA in 42 outings (2 starts) in 2009, now with the La New Bears after the Whales had folded in a gambling scandal.

The Taitung County native was a workhorse in 2010, setting a CPBL record with 70 games pitched (breaking the one-year old mark of 66 set by Chien-San Kao) while going 4-7 with two saves and a 2.67 ERA. Tseng attended the 2010 CPBL All-Star Game, and he notched another hold with a shutout inning. He also set a new record for holds (25, breaking Matt Perisho's record of 23). The Bears became the Lamigo Monkeys in 2011 but was not as sharp (Sv, 3.13 in 22 G). In 2012, Tseng was 4-5 with a 5.05 ERA then turned in a fine start in game 2 of the 2012 Taiwan Series. He allowed 2 runs in 5 innings in that game and ended up with a no-decision. Tseng then started in Game 5, and he outdueled Jon Leicester as he only allowed 2 runs in 6 innings. The Monkeys beat the Uni-President Lions in 5 games.

Tseng was selected into the 2013 CPBL All-Star Game, and he pitched a shutout inning with a strikeout. He was 9-8 with a 3.75 ERA in 2013, and he ranked 6th in ERA (1.05 behind Andrew Sisco). He slumped to 1-6 with a 4.01 ERA in 2014, and he pitched 4 1/3 shutout innings in the 2014 Taiwan Series. The Monkeys beat the CTBC Brothers in 5 games. Tseng struggled in 2015 as his ERA rose to 7.15 in 25 appearances, and he only pitched 3 games with the big club in 2016. He announced his retirement after the 2016 season

Tseng threw a slider, sinker, curveball, changeup, forkball and fastball (peak 91 mph).

Overall, Tseng was 46-48 with a 3.76 ERA, struck out 440 and pitched 914 innings in 13 seasons in the CPBL.

Sources

• CPBL player page
• Taiwan Baseball Wiki
• Defunct IBAF site
• International baseball statistician Harry Wedemeijer