Ying-Chieh Lin

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Ying-Chieh Lin (林英傑)

  • Bats Left, Throws Left
  • Height 6' 0", Weight 196 lb.

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Ying-Chieh Lin was a star pitcher in the Chinese Professional Baseball League and has played for the Taiwanese national team. He has not been as successful in Nippon Pro Baseball, due in part to injuries.

Lin represented Taiwan in the 1996 World Youth Championship and 1999 World Junior Championship. He debuted professionally in 1999 with the Kaoping Fala, going 3-1 with a 3.07 ERA. In 2000, the teenager was 3-7 with a 4.84 ERA, allowing 120 hits in 102 1/3 IP. Lin turned the corner in 2001, with a 13-3 record, one save and a 2.73 ERA. He gave up 114 hits and 36 walks in 141 2/3 IP, striking out 115. He led the Taiwan Major League in wins and strikeouts and was named to the Best Nine at pitcher. He did not pitch in 2002-2003, due to mandatory military service.

In 2004, when Lin returned, the TML and Kaoping were defunct. He signed on with the Macoto Cobras and went 14-10 with 3 saves and a 1.73 ERA. He whiffed a Chinese Professional Baseball League record 203 batters in 187 innings while only giving up 124 hits. Lin broke Will Flynt's 10-year-old strikeout record of 200. He also led the league in ERA, by .04 over Jien-fu Yang. He won two monthly MVP awards and made the Best Ten team. His strikeout record only lasted two years before another Lin, En-Yu Lin, broke it. In the 2004 Olympics, Lin had a 9.53 ERA in two appearances, allowing 2 runs in 4 1/3 IP in relief against Cuba and 4 runs in 1 1/3 IP against Team Canada.

The left-hander was 12-10 with a 2.34 ERA in 2005 and struck out 174 in 212 innings. He finished 4th in the league in ERA, again led the CPBL in strikeouts and also was again a two-time monthly MVP. Lin pitched one game in the 2006 World Baseball Classic for Taiwan. He relieved En-Yu Lin in the 4th inning with two outs, one one and a 1-0 deficit against South Korea. He retired Jin-young Lee to end that inning. In the fifth, he allowed a Jin-man Park single. Jong-kook Kim bunted Park over. Lin struck out Byung-kyu Lee but Jong-beom Lee doubled home Park to make it 2-0 South Korea (which would be the final score). Lin recovered to retire Seung-yeop Lee. In the sixth, Dong-joo Kim singled. Hee-seop Choi flew out but Sung-heon Hong singled for the 4th hit off of Lin in an inning and a third of work. Wei-Ming Chu then relieved Lin.

Lin joined the Rakuten Golden Eagles for 2006. He battled control problems and an elbow injury and spent some of the year in ni-gun. He was 0-2 with a 4.33 ERA in five games for Rakuten, allowing 22 hits in 27 innings, striking out only 9 and walking 13. The injury decreased his fastball to the mid-80s and made him rely more on his changeup. Lin only pitched four games for Rakuten in 2007, all in relief. In the 2007 Baseball World Cup, Lin struck out 10 in a win over the South African national team. He was 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA in the event, whiffing 15 in 12 innings of work; he was second to En-Yu Lin on the Taiwan staff in strikeouts.

In the 2007 Asian Championship, he got the easy game, facing the Philippines. He allowed 4 hits and one walk in 7 shutout innings, striking out four and getting Taiwan's only win of the tournament they hosted. Lin only pitched 5 games with a 5.23 ERA for the Golden Eagles in 2008, then he was released.

Lin then returned to the CPBL, and the Sinon Bulls drafted him in the second round of the special draft held when Macoto was expelled. Lin was 6-6 with a 4.43 ERA in 2009, then he improved to 9-7 with a 2.69 ERA in 2010. He was also named the starter of the 2010 CPBL All-Star Game, and he pitched a shutout inning. Lin was 6th in ERA (.52 behind Carlos Castillo), 5th in strikeouts (35 behind Orlando Roman) and 10th in wins (5 behind Castillo). In the 2010 Taiwan Series, Lin started in Game 3 and he only surrendered one run in 6 1/3 innings. However, Roman outdueled him with a shutout, and the Bulls were swept by the Brother Elephants.

Lin then represented Taiwan in the 2010 Asian Games. He pitched 4 shutout innings against Hong Kong, and Taiwan won Silver. He slumped to 3-14 with a 5.36 ERA in 2011, and he led the league in losses. On July 16, he allowed 7 unearned runs in a game, and that was the CPBL record until Shao-Ching Chiang broke it in 2022. He still attended the 2011 CPBL All-Star Game, and he pitched 1/3 of an inning. Lin bounced back in 2012, and he was 5-5 with a 3.43 ERA. He extended his solid pitching in 2013, having a 6-5 record with a 3.56 ERA. He attended the 2013 CPBL All-Star Game, but he allowed 8 runs in 1/3 of an inning and got the loss. It is still (through 2023) the All-Star record for most runs allowed by a pitcher. In 2013 Taiwan Series Game 1, he relieved Matthew Torra in the 7th inning, but he allowed 3 runs in 2/3 of a inning and got the loss. The EDA Rhinos (the Bulls had changed their name) were swept by the Uni-President Lions.

The Taitung native suffered from a left elbow injury in 2014, so he only pitched 3 games. The Rhinos then released him, and the CTBC Brothers signed him. He had a 4.24 ERA in 20 games in 2015, and he became the third player to strike out 1,000 players in the CPBL and TML on July 10; the batter was Chang-Yung Fang. However, his ERA rose to 10.29 in 2016, and he was released again. Lin signed with the Lamigo Monkeys in 2017, and his ERA was 5.40 in 11 appearances. He announced his retirement after this season. Lin then became the bullpen coach of the Rakuten Monkeys in 2020.

Lin's repertoire included a fastball (peak 91.3 mph), sinker, slider, changeup and forkball.

Overall, Lin was 78-74 with a 3.36 ERA, struck out 1,022 and pitched 1,329 innings in 14 seasons in the CPBL and the TML. He had a 0-4 record with a 4.57 ERA in 3 seasons in the NPB. As of 2023, Lin was 15th in wins (89 behind Wei-Lun Pan), 9th in losses (40 behind Pan) and 8th in strikeouts (492 behind Osvaldo Martínez) in the CPBL.

Sources[edit]

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