Japanese Baseball: Taiwanese Star's Fastball Dominates, Opposing Manager Admits Even Minors Are Strong

Taiwanese fireballer Chang Chun-wei, just 20 years old, delivered a masterful performance in a minor league game on July 16, shutting down the Hanshin Tigers' farm team. The SoftBank Hawks prospect pitched 8 scoreless innings, striking out 9 batters and allowing only one hit. His fastball was clocked at a blistering 158 kph, matching his career high and securing his third win of the season.

This stellar outing follows another impressive start on July 9, where Chang gave up just one run over 6.2 innings against the Orix Buffaloes' farm team. At that time, SoftBank's head pitching coach Shinji Kurano remarked that Chang's pitching was good enough for a spot in the top team's rotation.

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His fastball is over 150 kph. SoftBank's second-string pitchers can almost all throw over 150 kph, which I think is one reason they are so strong right now. But we still have to find a way to cope with pitchers like this.

Hanshin's farm team manager, Katsuo Hirata, acknowledged the challenge posed by Chang's dominance. "His fastball is over 150 kph," Hirata stated. "SoftBank's second-string pitchers can almost all throw over 150 kph, which I think is one reason they are so strong right now. But we still have to find a way to cope with pitchers like this."

Hirata also praised Chang's all-around skill. "He not only has a fast fastball, but his control is also good, and his breaking balls are quite sharp," he said. "However, we can't just be helpless. We have to keep facing pitchers like this and gain experience playing against them, eventually growing to be able to beat them."

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He not only has a fast fastball, but his control is also good, and his breaking balls are quite sharp. However, we can't just be helpless. We have to keep facing pitchers like this and gain experience playing against them, eventually growing to be able to beat them.