Wei-Lun Pan

From BR Bullpen

WeiLunPan.jpg

Wei-Lun Pan (潘威倫) (Du Du)

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 0", Weight 215 lb.

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Biographical Information[edit]

Wei-Lun Pan is the greatest pitcher ever in the CPBL since his rookie year of 2003.

Pan represented Taiwan in the 1996 World Youth Championship, 1997 World Youth Championship, 1998 World Youth Championship and 2000 World Junior Championship. He was 0-2 with a 1.17 ERA in the 2001 World Port Tournament; five of the six runs he allowed were unearned. In the 2002 Intercontinental Cup, Pan had a save and a 1.42 ERA in 3 games for Taiwan. He struck out 26 in 20 innings in the 2002 World University Championship, going 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA; he led in strikeouts, five ahead of Alay Soler. He also represented Taiwan in the 2002 Haarlemse Honkbalweek and 2002 Asian Games.

The Uni-President Lions selected him in the first round of the 2003 CPBL Draft, and he soon entered the rotation. He was 13-8 with a 2.43 ERA for the Uni-President Lions in 2003, winning CPBL Rookie of the Year. Pan was also named the starter of the 2003 CPBL All-Star Game as a rookie, and he pitched 2 shutout innings. He finished 4th in the league in ERA (.63 behind John Frascatore), but had the best mark of any Taiwan native. He was 8th with 104 strikeouts (78 behind Osvaldo Martínez) and 4th in wins (3 behind Hisanori Yokota). He was on Taiwan's team for the 2003 Asian Championship; they won Silver and a spot in the 2004 Olympics.

2008LeisureTaiwan Day2 ESPN Wei-lun Pan.jpg

In 2004, he was 12-8 with a 2.14 ERA and again attended the All-Star Game; he pitched 2 shutout innings. He was 4th in ERA (.41 behind Ying-Chieh Lin), 5th in wins (5 behind Jonathan Hurst) and 9th in strikeouts (81 behind Lin). Pan took back the CPBL Gold Glove as a pitcher. In the 2004 Taiwan Series, Pan pitched 7 innings with 3 runs allowed in Game 2, but Osvaldo Martínez of the Sinon Bulls won over him. Pan then started in Game 5, and he only surrendered 2 runs in 7 1/3 innings and ended up no-decision. He relieved Jose Alberro in the 4th inning of Game 7, but he allowed 4 runs in 2/3 of a inning, and the Lions lost the series.

The 22-year-old right-hander starred for Taiwan in the 2004 Olympics, going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA. He tied Norberto Gonzalez for fifth in ERA and tied Hiroki Kuroda, Tsuyoshi Wada, Chris Oxspring, Ryan Rowland-Smith and Luis Borroto for second in wins, one behind Adiel Palma. Against the Dutch national team, he allowed just one hit (a solo homer by Eugene Kingsale) in six innings for a win. He allowed only a single and no runs in six innings for the win against the host Greek national team.

In 2005, Pan had a 12-8, 2.79 record. He fell to 7th in the CPBL in ERA (1.05 behind En-Yu Lin), and he also ranked 2nd in wins (4 behind Len Picota). He again attended the 2005 CPBL All-Star Game, and he pitched a shutout inning. The next year, he went 14-9 with a 2.47 ERA, finishing 4th in wins (3 behind Si-Yo Wu and En-Yu Lin), 5th in ERA (.74 behind Lin) and 6th in strikeouts (103 behind Lin). He was the starter of the 2006 CPBL All-Star Game, but he allowed 2 runs in 2 innings. On September 3, Pan became the youngest pitcher to reach 50 wins in the CPBL. He won his second Gold Glove in this season In the 2006 Taiwan Series, Pan got a no-decision in game one while allowing 3 runs in 6 innings. In game 4, he pitched 5 2/3 innings and surrendered 3 runs, included the losing home run to Chin-Feng Chen as the Lions got swept.

Pan also appeared with the Chinese Taipei national team in three major competitions. In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, he got Taiwan's only win, throwing four shutout innings and striking out five while allowing two hits against the Chinese national team. He was 1-2 with a 4.85 ERA for the Bronze Medalist Taiwan entry in the 2006 Intercontinental Cup. He allowed one run in 7 2/3 IP in relief in a 12-inning comeback win against the South Korean national team. Du Du gave up 3 runs in 2 1/3 innings in a rough loss as the starter against the Italian national team. In the semifinals, he got the start against the mighty Cuban national team but allowed 8 hits and four runs in 3 1/3 innings, fanning no one, in a 5-4 loss to Adiel Palma. He helped them win Gold in the 2006 Asian Games, their only Asian Games baseball Gold (through 2020).

Pan was excellent in the 2007 CPBL season, going 16-2 with a 2.26 ERA. He led the CPBL in wins and was second to teammate Peter Munro in ERA and WHIP (1.16). A shoulder injury limited him to no more than six innings per game after mid-May. He still managed to reel off a CPBL-record 15-game winning streak, and also won his only Best Ten in his career. Pan was named the starter of the [[2007 CPBL All-Star Game|All-Star Game], and he repeated last year's performance - allowing 2 runs in 2 innings. In the 2007 Taiwan Series, Pan allowed 3 runs in 6 innings in Game 3, and Andrew Lorraine beat him. He then completed Game 6, but he allowed 6 runs and got the loss. Chin-Feng Chen proved to be his postseason nemesis, with two homers and five RBI in the game six defeat. The Lions still won the Series, thanks to a fine effort from teammate Nelson Figueroa (3-0). Pan missed the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament due to injury but Taiwan still won a spot in the 2008 Olympics.

His winning streak from 2007-2008 reached 21 games before it was snapped on June 24, 2008. He almost had a perfect game on July 10, 2008. He threw a no-hitter against the Chinatrust Whales for the 6th no-hitter in CPBL history. It was the first time a pitcher had a no-hitter and also walked none. An error by Kuo-Ching Kao cost him the perfect game. Pan ended up 12-2 with a 2.76 ERA in 2008, ranking 4th in ERA (.45 behind Yu-Cheng Liao), 3rd in wins (8 behind Mike Johnson (johnsmi02)) and 9th in strikeouts (55 behind Fu-Te Ni). In the 2008 Taiwan Series, Pan pitched 8 innings while allowing 4 runs to win over Ryokan Kobayashi and the Brother Elephants in Game 2. He then collected another win as he pitched 6 2/3 and surrendered 3 runs in Game 5. The Lions beat the Brothers in 7 games, and Pan was named the Outstanding Player, a step below the MVP, which went to Luther Hackman.

Pan was Taiwan's #2 hurler in the 2008 Olympics, with a 0.93 ERA; only Chih-Chia Chang was lower. Pan fanned 10 in 9 2/3 IP. He tossed shutout ball for over six innings in a start against the Chinese national team but relievers Ni, Chia-Jen Lo and Chien-Fu Yang combined to blow it in an upset loss.

On Opening Day, 2009, Pan allowed the 6,000th homer in CPBL history, a solo shot to Cheng-Min Peng but he gave up just one other hit and no other runs in six innings to get the win. He was the starter of the All-Star Game for the 4 straight years, and he got the win while pitching 4 shutout innings. Pan was 10-8 with a 3.30 ERA in this season, and he became the first pitcher in the CPBL to have more than 10 wins for 7 consecutive seasons. He won his only ERA title, and he was also 4th in wins (4 behind Itsuki Shoda) and 5th in Ks (34 behind Shoda). In the 2009 Taiwan Series, Pan beat Mike Smith in Game 2 and the Brothers as he pitched 7 innings with only one run allowed. He then allowed 4 runs in 7 innings in Game 5. In Game 7, Pan succeeded Nerio Rodriguez in the 8th inning, and he closed the door with a shutout inning to win his second Taiwan Series title.

Pan was still a reliable ace for the Lions in 2010, and he also won his third Gold Glove. He started in the 2010 CPBL All-Star Game, and he surrendered a run in 2 innings. He became the youngest and the fastest player to reach 100 career wins on October 3 as he only used 207 games. Pan ended up 11-11 with a 3.19 ERA, and he led the league in losses. He was 10th in ERA (1.02 behind Carlos Castillo) and 3rd in wins (3 behind Castillo). Pan then represented Taiwan in the 2010 Asian Games and 2010 Intercontinental Cup. In the latter event, he allowed one unearned run in seven to beat Sandy Patrone and Italy and pitched three perfect innings against the Czech Republic. He tied for the event lead in ERA, was 8th in opponent average (.139 between Norge Luis Vera and Miguel González) and tied Dalier Hinojosa for 3rd in K (12, 2 behind Yulieski González and Petr Minařík). He was named the event's All-Star starting pitcher.

After his solid pitching in international events, Pan announced that he would become a international free agent after this season. The SK Wyverns planned to signed him, but they couldn't reach an agreement so Pan stayed with the Lions. He suffered from a right elbow injury in the middle of the 2011 season, so he was only 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA. Pan missed nearly the entire 2012 season due to the same injury. He came back in the end of the season, and he was named the starter of 2012 Taiwan Series Game 3. He outdueled Feng-Hsin Wang of the Lamigo Monkeys as he pitched 6 innings with only 2 runs allowed, and the Lions swept the Monkeys. Pan pitched for Taiwan in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He relieved Yao-Lin Wang in the 2nd inning against the Netherlands, and he pitched 4 2/3 shutout innings to get the win. He then pitched 2/3 of a shutout inning versus Japan. Only Chien-Ming Wang had more innings with a 0.00 ERA for Taiwan.

The ace of Lions collected his 109th career win on July 20 in the next season, and he passed Osvaldo Martínez to become the all-time wins leader of the CPBL. Pan didn't pitch well in 2013, and he only had a 5.47 ERA with a 6-9 record. In the 2013 Taiwan Series, he pitched 7 innings with only a run allowed to help the Lions sweep the EDA Rhinos. He bounced back in 2014, having a 5-1 record with a 2.58 ERA in 10 games. He missed several games due to a right hand injury. Pan was selected into the 2015 CPBL All-Star Game, and he pitched a shutout inning to get a hold. He broke another record of Martínez, as he became the all-time innings leader on May 22, 2015. He was 7-9 with a 4.75 ERA in this season.

Pan then represented Taiwan in the 2015 Premier 12. He debuted against The Netherlands, and he pitched 3 1/3 shutout innings after relieving Yao-Lin Wang in the 3rd inning. He then relieved Chia-Jen Lo in the 8th inning against Cuba, and he pitched 1/3 of an inning before Hung-Wen Chen replaced him. Taiwan won that game with Chih-Sheng Lin's homer, and Pan was the winning pitcher. His last game was against Puerto Rico national baseball team, but he gave up a walk-off home run to Aldo Méndez in the 12th inning and got the loss.

In 2016, Pan slumped to 5-2 with a 5.33 ERA. He then represented Taiwan in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, and he allowed 2 runs in 2 1/3 innings against South Korea. He attended the 2017 CPBL All-Star Game, and he pitched a shutout inning. Pan struck out Wei-Ta Su on May 11 to become the first local player in the CPBL to have 1,000 career strikeouts (the first pitcher was Martinez). Pan had a 6-3 record with a 3.97 ERA in this season. He suffered from a right foot injury in 2018, so he only pitched one game.

The veteran recovered in 2019, and he was selected into the 2019 CPBL All-Star Game; he pitched a shutout inning. Pan got his 142th career win on September 8, and he passed Yi-Hsin Chen to become the all-time wins leader of Taiwanese pro baseball. He was 8-7 with a 5.10 ERA in 2019, and he was 7th in ERA (2.32 behind Mike Loree). Pan was the first pitcher to reach 2,000 career innings when he did so on October 24, 2020. However, he struggled in the 2020 season, as he had a 2-6 record with a 8.62 ERA. In the 2020 Taiwan Series, Pan surrendered 4 runs in an inning in Game 2, then he pitched a shutout inning in Game 6. The Lions beat the Brothers in 7 games.

Pan was 1-1 with a 5.81 ERA in 2021 as a reliever, and he started 10 games with a 2-7 record and a 4.77 ERA in 2022. On September 1, 2022, Pan became the first CPBL pitcher to have 100 career losses. He only had 4 appearances with the big club in 2023, and he announced that the 2024 season would be his last season.

With a three-quarters delivery Pan throws a fastball in high-80s (tops out at 94 mph), cutter, change-up, curveball, and a slider. He is noted for his two-seam fastball which makes him an effective groundball pitcher.

As of 2023, Pan was the all-time leader of the CPBL in wins, losses, starts, pitches, innings, hits allowed, homers allowed, and runs allowed. He was 3rd in strikeouts (107 behind Martinez) and 12th in walks (197 behind Martinez).

Sources[edit]

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