Wang Po-Jung

[Eye Black]

I am interested to see how Wang Po-Jung’s impending posting from the CPBL turns out. News broke last week from the Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (LINK) that he will go through the posting process:

 

It is official, the Lamigo Monkeys announced they will post 25-year-old outfielder 王柏融 (Wang Po-Jung) this offseason. According to the Monkeys’ general manager, the posting process will begin on November 4 after the Taiwan Series.

 

“Wang Po-Jung will be the first player in the CPBL history to use the posting system,” said Monkeys’ general manager Justin Liu. “We hope everything will go smoothly and we can wrap everything up before the end of December.”

 

He just turned 25 years old in September. According to scouting reports he still needs to improve defensively in the outfield.

 

The CPBL is an offensive league overall, but Wang Po-Jung has been clearly the best offensive player in the league. His CPBL stats are below (doesn’t include the various international competitions he has participated in)...

 

[pre]Year Team G AB H HR RBI SB Walk|BB SO GIDP BA OBP SLG OPS

2015 Lamigo 29 111 36 9 29 0 10 22 2 .324 .377 .640 1.017

2016 Lamigo 116 483 200 29 105 24 51 59 5 .414 .476 .689 1.165

2017 Lamigo 115 437 178 31 101 16 76 44 6 .407 .491 .700 1.192

2018 Lamigo 118 453 159 17 84 9 51 63 7 .351 .446 .547 .993[/pre]

 

 

Selfishly part of the reason I would love to see the Brewers consider taking a chance on Wang Po-Jung is I could fantasize about him hitting a walk-off home run in the NLCS to beat the Dodgers or Cubs immediately followed by giving them his signature bat flip...

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/images/4/1/2/157331412/111415_wsbc_premier12_wang_hr_med2_uz9zo7zo.gif

 

 

 

 

Below is the Fangraphs overview of Wang Po-Jung written by Sung Min Kim from last February...

 

The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is not covered as thoroughly in the US anywhere near to the degree of the NPB or KBO. In recent years, many of the circuit’s top amateur players have signed directly with the MLB teams instead of going to the CPBL because of league-wide instability that has resulted from a series of game-fixing scandals. As a result of fiasco, the CPBL has reduced to four clubs total and lost out on many amateur talents to MLB — but it is still checked and scouted. Recently, after the 2015 season, the San Diego Padres were interested in the top infielder Chih-Sheng Lin; however, due to the posting fee and Lin’s age (he was then 33 years old), it didn’t happen.

 

However, there is a talent who took the CPBL by storms by putting up video-game numbers: Po-Jung Wang. (His name is pronounced closer to “Bo-Rong Wang,” but is spelled using the “Wade-Giles system,” which is one of the four ways to romanize Chinese characters.) Wang hit an eye-popping .407/.491/.700 in 115 games in 2017, winning the quadruple crown (average, hit, home run, RBI) — and, of course, the league MVP.

 

Sure, it is true that the CPBL is quite offensively inclined. There are many reasons for that — a number of talented positional players, a lack of talented pitchers, a shrinking strike zone, and juiced balls — and it makes you wonder how Wang would adjust if he were to head to the NPB or MLB. However, there’s no doubt that the 24-year-old is talented. Here is Wang taking the aforementioned Takahiro Norimoto deep over the center-field wall during an international match:

 

 

Former Royals and White Sox reliever Andy Sisco, who has pitched around the globe (Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Dominican Republic), is quoted at the CPBL English site as saying that Wang “definitely projects as a major league player.” Continues Sisco: “He hits for power, he hits to all fields, he can hit a good fastball. He’s not a guy who can be overpowered.” Wang also garnered some attention from the American media in 2017 by unleashing one of the most awesome and flamboyant bat flips humanity has ever seen.

 

An international scout told me he sees potential in Wang to succeed in the NPB/MLB but that he has to fix some flaws, saying, “He has holes in his swing that make him vulnerable to inside pitches in the next level.” This evaluator added that Wang’s glove isn’t anything special, meaning “he’s pretty much stuck in the corner-outfield slots.”

 

Due to a recent rule change in the CPBL, players are eligible to explore going international after three years of service time and with their club’s permission (including posting fee). Wang now has two seasons under his belt, so hypothetically, he could head elsewhere after the 2018 season. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the Athletics, Diamondbacks, Pirates, and Reds have had scouts to see Wang, though it seems likely that Wang will go to Japan first before challenging himself to go to the MLB. There is plenty of NPB interest in him, meanwhile. Wang himself has said that, ultimately, he’d like to go to the MLB but would not mind stopping by the NPB before it happens.

 

Here is video of all 159 of Wang Po-Jung’s hits in 2018:

 

[clancyphile]

Get him, move Braun to first, and now the Crew could move Thames and Aguilar for prospects. Ray also becomes a trade piece.

[long ball]

That bat flip is legendary.

[clancyphile]

That bat flip is legendary.

 

I'm more in love with the BB/K ratio, and the ability to his for average. It may not be .400, but if he is a .300 hitter with those OBP skills... he'd go well with Yelich and Cain over the long term.

[HiAndTight]

Get him, move Braun to first, and now the Crew could move Thames and Aguilar for prospects. Ray also becomes a trade piece.

 

 

So we're moving on from a guy who has posted an 871 OPS(OPS+ of 127) and hit 53 HR's with a respectable slash line in what amounts to roughly a year and a half of regular AB's for a guy from a league that is offensive dominant, not the least bit tested?

 

We have a cost controlled power hitting 1st basemen who struggled a bit after the ASB...but I do NOT get the desire to find any reason to move him.

[jonescm128]

That bat flip is legendary.

 

I'm more in love with the BB/K ratio, and the ability to his for average. It may not be .400, but if he is a .300 hitter with those OBP skills... he'd go well with Yelich and Cain over the long term.

 

Wasn't thames like a .340 hitter in Korea? We all see how that translated to the US.

[clancyphile]

That bat flip is legendary.

 

I'm more in love with the BB/K ratio, and the ability to his for average. It may not be .400, but if he is a .300 hitter with those OBP skills... he'd go well with Yelich and Cain over the long term.

 

Wasn't thames like a .340 hitter in Korea? We all see how that translated to the US.

 

Wang is younger, has more upside. He will get better, being 24 years old.

 

Thames wasn't awful in 2018, racking up a 106 OPS+, and posting a good walk rate. His BABIP went down about 25 points - pretty much showing the difference between the .247 average he posted in 2017 and the .219 he had in 2018.

[TURBO]

I think Thames WAS awful, and will not be sad to see him go. We just don't have anyplace for the guy to play.