Yu-Ching Lin

Yu-Ching Lin (林煜清) (Milk Tea)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.

• School National College of Physical Education and Sports
• High School Chia-Yi Industrial Vocational High School

• Born December 29, 1988 in Chiayi City Taiwan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yu-Ching Lin pitched in the CPBL for 9 years.

Lin played for Taiwan in the 2009 World Port Tournament, going 0-1 with a 5.91 ERA despite 11 strikeouts in 10 2/3 IP. He was 6th in the event in strikeouts. He remained with them for the 2009 Asian Championship, winning Silver. In the 2009 Baseball World Cup, he started off with allowing only one hit (a Pavel Budský homer) in 8 2/3 IP, fanning 13 and going 3-0. He got wins over Petr Minařík and the Czech national team, Australia's Paul Mildren and Arturo López of Mexico. He lost to Johan Lopez and Venezuela. Only Trystan Magnuson had more victories as Lin tied for second with Miguel González, Brad Lincoln, Norge Luis Vera, Todd Redmond, Lucas Harrell, Luis Atilano and Yulieski González.

He also appeared in the 2010 Intercontinental Cup, allowing one hit in 5 1/3 shutout innings of relief to beat Hideki Sunaga and Japan. He tied for the event lead in ERA (0 R in 7 IP) and was 5th in opponent average (.095, between Dalier Hinojosa and David Bergman). He was with Taiwan for the 2010 World University Championship, 2010 Haarlem Baseball Week and 2011 World Port Tournament‎ (one shutout inning, one save). He was 0-1 with a 4.70 ERA in the 2011 Baseball World Cup, losing to Nick Bucci and Team Canada.

The Brother Elephants selected him in the first round of the 2011 CPBL Draft, and he soon entered the rotation as a rookie. Lin was named the opening day starter, and he became the first Elephants rookie to get a win in the opening game. He was selected into the 2012 CPBL All-Star Game, but he allowed 2 runs in an inning. He ended up 8-10 with a 3.91 ERA in 2012, ranking 4th in ERA (1.43 behind Jon Leicester), 4th in strikeouts (29 behind Matt DeSalvo) and 8th in wins (8 behind Yuya Kamada). He lost the CPBL Rookie of the Year to Yu-Kang Fu.

Lin then represented Taiwan in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, and he pitched 4 shutout innings with 5 strikeouts to help Taiwan advance. He started against Pakistan in the 2012 Asian Championship, and he recorded 5 perfect innings with 9 strikeouts. Hung-Cheng Lai and Ta-Yuan Kuan completed the perfecto. In the 2013 World Baseball Classic, Lin surrendered 4 runs in 2 1/3 innings. He was 10-10 with a 3.42 ERA in 2013, and he attended the 2013 CPBL All-Star Game; he pitched a shutout inning. Lin was 2nd in ERA (.72 behind Andrew Sisco), 2nd in strikeouts (27 behind Mike Loree) and 3rd in wins (5 behind Chen-Hua Lin).

The Chiayi native was still a reliable starter in 2014, and he was 9-10 with a 3.41 ERA. Lin led the league in losses, ranked 5th in ERA (.93 behind Kai-Wen Cheng), 5th in strikeouts (19 behind Sheng-Hsiung Huang) and 4th in wins (2 behind Freddy Garcia and Cheng). In the 2014 Taiwan Series, Lin gave up 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning in Game 2 and got the loss. He bounced back in Game 4, pitching 6 innings with only a run allowed to win over Ming-Chieh Hsu and the Lamigo Monkeys. The Monkeys still beat the Brothers in 5 games, and Lin won the Outstanding Player award (a step below the Series MVP, which went to De-Long Yu).

However, Lin suffered from a shoulder injury in 2015, so he was only 1-7 with a 5.48 ERA. His ERA rose to 6.41 in 2016, and he still struggled as he recorded a 6.95 ERA in 37 games in 2018. The Brothers then released him, and the Fubon Guardians picked him up. Lin had a 5.27 ERA in 2019, and he spent nearly the entire 2020 season in the minors. He was released again after this season, and he signed with the Uni-President Lions. Lin only pitched 8 games with a 9.72 ERA for them in 2021, then he announced his retirement.

Lin throws a Vulcan changeup, knuckle curve, and a fastball topping out at 91 mph .

Overall, Lin was 35-47 with a 4.40 ERA, struck out 493 and pitched 655 innings in 9 seasons in the CPBL.

Sources

• Taiwan Baseball Wiki
• 2009 World Port Tournament
• CPBL.com Bio
• 2009 Baseball World Cup Final Report
• 2010 Intercontinental Cup Final Report
• Wayback Archive, 2011 World Port Tournament
• 2011 Baseball World Cup Final Report