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Taiwanese Baseball Team's Top Pitcher Stuck in Minors Despite Dominating Performance

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Ongoing story
  • Japanese pitcher Sakurai Shuto leads the Chinese Professional Baseball League's minor league with 10 wins and is top in strikeouts.
  • Despite his dominant performance, Sakurai has not been registered for the main team, with the deadline for foreign player registration approaching.
  • Sakurai has seven years of experience in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball before joining Taiwan's CTBC Brothers last season.

Sakurai Shuto, a Japanese pitcher for the Wei Chuan Dragons, delivered a strong performance in a recent minor league game. He started against the Wei Chuan Dragons, pitching four scoreless innings and striking out four batters, lowering his ERA to 4.47.

Sakurai brings significant experience, having played seven seasons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball from 2018 to 2023, first with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars and then with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2024. He joined the CTBC Brothers in Taiwan last season, where he appeared in four games for the main team, securing two wins with a 2.45 ERA. He remains with the CTBC Brothers this season.

Despite his success in the minor league, where he currently leads with 10 wins and is the top contender for strikeouts, Sakurai has not yet been registered for the main team. He is waiting for an opportunity to be promoted to the top-tier league.

With the "August 31st deadline" approaching, CTBC Brothers' pitching coach Xiao Ren-wen admitted that Sakurai's name was not mentioned in recent coaching staff meetings regarding foreign player selections. This suggests he may not be among the players considered for the final roster spots.

Coach meeting did not mention Sakurai Shuto.

— Xiao Ren-wenThe CTBC Brothers pitching coach admitting Sakurai was not discussed for promotion.
About this summary

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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