Taiwan to announce 24-player Asian Games baseball roster on Sept. 7, with Liu Chih-jung among possible replacements

Taiwan’s 24-player baseball roster for the Asian Games has been finalized, but several original selections may give way to replacements when the team list is announced on Sept. 7.

Liu Chih-jung, Hsu Hsiang-sheng, Yang Po-hsiang and amateur pitcher Yu Tsung-ju are among those expected to move into the squad. The changes follow injuries and career developments involving Hsu Jo-hsi, Sun Yi-lei, Cheng Tsung-che and Chuang Chen-chung-ao.

Hsu underwent lower-back surgery in Japan, while Sun was promoted to the Nippon-Ham Fighters’ top team. Cheng, who plays in the United States, has a chance to return to Major League Baseball, and Chuang has been placed on the injured list. Those developments forced Taiwan to revise the roster originally announced on July 14, which included 11 pitchers and eight players with overseas experience.

The Baseball Association said the national-team selection meeting concluded on Sept. 5. The roster must still go through review and confirmation by the Ministry of Sports, the Olympic committee and the National Sports Training Center.

Five Chinese Professional Baseball League players are included: Liu Chi-hung of the Wei Chuan Dragons, Huang Wei-sheng of the CTBC Brothers, Chen Chen-wei of the Rakuten Monkeys, and Chu Chia-en and Chang Hsiang of the Uni-Lions. They are expected to report after their Sept. 9 games and hold their first combined practice on Sept. 11. Taiwan will play three warm-up games from Sept. 14 to 16 against the Uni-Lions’ second team, the Fubon Guardians’ second team and Taipower before leaving on Sept. 18.

South Korea has won six of the past seven Asian Games baseball gold medals since professional players were admitted in 1998. Taiwan won the only exception, at the 2006 Doha Games, and is viewed as South Korea’s biggest obstacle as it seeks a fifth straight title.