Yueh-Ping Lin

Yueh-Ping Lin (The Big Pancake) (林岳平)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 154 lb.

• High School Sanmin Senior High School

• Born January 28, 1982 in Kaohsiung City Taiwan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yueh-Ping Lin was a star closer for the Uni-President Lions and later a manager. He threw a fastball (topped out at 96.9 mph), slider, forkball and curveball.

Lin allowed 2 runs in 9 innings for Taiwan in the 2001 World Port Tournament. He was back in Holland the next year, with a 1-0, 1.74 record in the 2002 Haarlem Baseball Week. He also pitched for Taiwan in the 2002 Asian Games. In the 2002 Intercontinental Cup, he went 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA and struck out 16 in 13 innings. He finished 7th in strikeouts, trailing four South Koreans as well as Jose Ibar and Roger Deago. Lin was 0-1 with a save and a 6.14 ERA in the 2003 World Port Tournament. he pitched in the 2003 Asian Championship.

The Uni-President Lions drafted Lin in the first round of the 2003 CPBL Draft. He allowed one run in 3 1/3 IP for Taiwan in the 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week. In 2005, Yueh-Ping made his pro debut, going 7-3 with 3 saves and a 3.87 ERA for the Lions; he struck out 111 in 135 innings. He was also selected into the 2005 CPBL All-Star Game as a rookie, and he pitched 2 shutout innings. Lin was 5-6 with 10 holds and a save and a 3.22 ERA for the 2006 Lions. He was 2nd in appearances (16 behind Ming-Chin Lee) and 3rd in holds (6 behind Lee). Lin attended the 2006 CPBL All-Star Game, and he recorded another 1 1/3 shutout innings. In the 2006 Taiwan Series, he pitched a shutout inning in Game 1 and got a hold. However, Lin gave up a run in 1 1/3 innings in Game 2 to get a loss, then he had another loss as he surrendered 4 unearned runs in Game 4. The Lions were swept by the La New Bears.

Back with the national team, he appeared in the 2006 Intercontinental Cup (1 run in 4 innings) and the 2006 Asian Games. In the 2007 CPBL, Lin only pitched 2 1/3 innings due to heart problems that required surgery. Lin was back in action by 2008, now being used as the Lions' closer. He was 7-4 with 17 saves and a 3.87 ERA for the top team in the CPBL regular season. Lin ranked 2nd in saves, 3 behind Jermaine Van Buren. Despite being a reliever, he was used as Taiwan's starter in the 2009 World Baseball Classic against China; the move did not pay off as Lin gave up 3 runs in 4 2/3 innings in taking the loss, Taiwan's second ever against China.

Lin was 4-5 with 26 saves and a 2.97 ERA in the 2009 CPBL, leading the league in saves for the first time (six ahead of Ryan Cullen); the Lions went on to win the 2009 Taiwan Series though he struggled in the Series; he had a 6.75 ERA in 6 2/3 innings. He became the head of the players' union in 2010 (he would serve two years) and was 1-6 with 14 saves and a 3.67 ERA, 3rd in saves behind Cullen and Shingo Takatsu.

In 2011, he hit 156 kmph (96.9 mph) on the radar gun, setting a CPBL mark (broken two years later by Miguel Mejia). He was 0-4 with 28 saves and a 2.91 ERA, finishing second in saves (two behind Ming-Chieh Hsu). He saved Seth Etherton's win in Game 1 of the 2011 Taiwan Series, allowed the tying homer to Hong-Yu Lin with two outs in the 9th in Game 2 and saved Ching-Ming Wang's Game 4 win as the Lions won.

Lin fell to 1-4, 4.50 in the 2012 CPBL but his 23 saves tied Brad Thomas for first. He became the CPBL career leader in saves when he notched #125 in 2013; he broke the record held by former teammate Mike Garcia. Lin was 2-4 with 20 saves and a 2.66 ERA on the year, finishing second to Thomas in saves. The Lions won the 2013 Taiwan Series for their last title of his playing career. He allowed 4 runs in a inning in that series.

The right-hander fell to 3-4, 4.97 in 2014, finishing 8th in the CPBL in games pitched (43, between Hung-Chih Kuo and Boof Bonser) as former major leaguer Kuo took his closer's job from him. He struggled badly in 2015 (0-1, 5.79 in 18 G), 2016 (13 H, 12 R, 9 ER In 5 IP) and 2017 (3-2, 6.15). Lin announced his retirement after the 2017 season as the CPBL all-time saves leader until Yun-Wen Chen broke his save record in '23. Lin was a minor league pitching coach for the Lions for two years, and he became manager in 2020. He led them to the 2020 Taiwan Series title. Lin also managed Taiwan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Overall, Lin was 33-43 with a 3.88 ERA, collected 36 holds and 129 saves in 468 games, pitched 692 innings and struck out 517 in 13 seasons in the CPBL. As of 2023, he was 7th in appearances (168 behind Chien-San Kao) and 2nd in saves (15 behind Yun-Wen Chen).

Sources

• CPBL Player Page
• Harry Wedemeijer's international tourney stats
• Defunct IBAF site
• Taiwan Baseball Wiki
• World Baseball Classic