Coach Ye Credits Foreign Talent, Hitting Maturity for Dragons' Success

The Wei Chuan Dragons baseball team is experiencing a strong season, building on last year's performance to become a league leader. After missing the playoffs in the previous year, the Dragons secured the first-half championship this season and are currently second in the second half, having recently achieved their 50th win.

Head coach Ye Chun-chang highlighted key factors behind the team's resurgence. He pointed to a significant difference in the quality of foreign players this year compared to the past two seasons. Additionally, he noted a maturation in the players' hitting approach and an overall improvement in team atmosphere and confidence, which he believes have had the greatest impact on their success.

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The biggest difference is the foreign players; this year is indeed a big difference compared to the past two years. Secondly, the players' hitting mentality is more mature.

Coach Ye also emphasized the enhanced depth of the team's roster. "What's better about the team now is that we can use more players," he stated, referring to the increased flexibility between starting and bench players. A particular area of improvement is pinch-hitting, where the team has transformed from simply substituting a player to having pinch hitters consistently deliver results.

This improvement is reflected in the statistics. Last season, the Dragons' team batting average for pinch hitters was a league-low 17.4%. This season, their pinch hitters are batting .324 with 16 RBIs, both leading the league. This demonstrates a substantial leap in clutch performance and offensive contribution from players coming off the bench, solidifying the team's overall strength.

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What's better about the team now is that we can use more players, with more people available for the starting lineup and the bench. The biggest difference is pinch-hitting; last year it was just swapping one person out, but now pinch hitters mostly perform.